Film Narratives

Speculative Narratives Today

The function of speculative narratives evoke empathy so strongly that we are moved to act on those feelings. Speculative narratives can be found anywhere that a story is told. Long YouTube documentaries, movies on Netflix, a book from a library, fan fiction from some random website, ANYWHERE. I find that the places where I have found speculative narratives are mostly in film. Movies and TV shows that are dark, scary, and beyond our realities (ahemBLACKMIRROahem) help evoke empathy within viewers. We are led to question the world around us because of the nuances and cruelties that exist within the narrative.

very cool picture from season 1, 15 million merits. so angy!

But this entry is not going to be about the profound messages of the Hand Maid’s Tale or Slaughterhouse-Five. Instead, I want to talk about Studio Ghibli!

hayao miyazaki (my bae), co-founder of Studio Ghibli

Focus: Studio Ghibli

Founded by Hayao Miyazaki, Isco Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki on June 15, 1985 Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that has produced many animated feature films.

Miyazaki has directed and animated widely know movies such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and many more movies that are loved dearly by both children and adults today. The detailed worldbuilding and elements of beauty in the animation and art-style of his films are praised by all, but what always stood out the most to me as a child were the messages that I had observed.

I personally am obsessed with the soundtracks. They are so tasty and delicious, please give it a listen.

studio ghibli favskatelyn · Playlist · 63 songs · 4 likes

joe hisaishi, the talented composer behind it all

Speculative Narratives in Ghibli Films

Miyazaki films take place in a range of worlds, from places that are historically accurate to our world to unheard-of fantasy lands. They are whimsical, beautifully animated, and built in a world of unique and interesting characters that have encapsulated both children and adults for decades.

But beneath the beauty and child-friendliness is the speculative narrative that is born, based on the Miyazaki's values and the change he would like to see in the world.

Environmentalism

Films that offer complex narratives regarding mankind's treatment of nature and the new realities and dynamics between nature and man.

cute little guys from princess mononoke

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is a movie that takes place in a world that is a combination of magical fantasy and industrialization. Here, we narrow in on a community of social outcasts who care for each other and work an iron processing factory, which destroys the surrounding land in the process, sparking a battle between them and the natural spirits and dwellers of the land.

The speculation is seen in the lack of an apparent villain, as the humans are pitied for their disownment by society, and the spirits are pitied for the torment that mankind's activities have created. The viewer feels empathy towards both sides, and ultimately can concluded that mankind not only harms nature, but their very own as well

Ponyo

Ponyo takes place in a seemingly normal fishing town, where there is magic embedded into their reality. Ponyo, a magical fish girl, curiously befriends a human boy on shore, and together they form a tight-knit friendship on land. Her father is a wizard of the sea, who demands her return and will do anything to get her back, including insane, nature-defying tsunamis and other events that endangers the human.

Although the story can be viewed as one of friendship and love, many can recognize it as the taking from nature that humans have become accustomed to, the lack of awareness or forethought for the repercussions, and lastly the consequences they face.

ponyo making a magical boat that is so adorable, awwwww

Anti-War Narratives

Films that create worlds that are different from ours due to the harmful cycles of war and the long-term, irreparable damages they inflict.

i wanted to make the picture relate to the theme of anti-war sentiment, but i love this movie and i love this scene where they WALTZ IN THE SKY!!!!! its so cute and the song is gorgeous (joe hisaishi is the best composer ever) you should watch this movie. also every young girl had a crush on that man, look at those luscious locks!

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle takes place in a war-ridden fantasy world that is a reflection of Great Britain. As the movie begins, the fictional country of Ingry celebrates the end of a war, only for it to soon be revealed that a new war was brewing over the assumed (and untrue) kidnapping of a foreign country's prince. As the main character Sophie embarks on a journey of self-discovery and love in this magical setting, her development as a person and with her love interest, Howl, is interrupted with the violence of the war, and alongside that the exploitation and harm inflicted on wizards that are used for military power.

The constant and senseless war, in addition to the cruel exploitation of magical people, is a reminder of how harmful these conflicts can be in the real world. Sophie's experience with the war is a reminder that innocent victims of war are not faceless, but instead people with stories and lives.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that is completetly destroyed by a global war from thousands of year before. The air is toxic, the seas are poisoned, humans live in what is left of the non-polluted lands, remaining human kingdoms are warring, THERE'S A MAN-MADE FOREST FILLED WITH MUTANT INSECT THINGS, it's a lot.

This world symbolizes the irreparable damage that war inflicts. Their broken society's inability to heal, and THE ENTIRE GLOBE'S INABILITY TO HEAL, shows the lengths of violence and destruction that war is capable of going to.

very cool plane things, so nice

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