“You think this is going to be a movie about two nerdy young women who are eager to assimilate to be accepted by their peers. What it really is, is the story of two very smart young women who are unapologetic about their intelligence, who go through a transformation to realize that they have misunderstood their peers to be one-dimensional when actually everyone around them is also very smart. They’ve just been living their lives differently.” –– Olivia Wilde on pushing back against the stereotypical “boxes” of teen movies with Booksmart (2019).
this scene is even more creepy when you realize Spirited Away was a metaphor for the sex industry in Japan
oh
oh
OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE!
NO IT WASN’T, YOU JACKASSES!
“Totoro’s about dead girls!”
“Spirited Away is about sex!”
You know what I hear?
“Maybe if I make up something that sounds smart, people will think I’m smart, even if it’s a complete fucking lie!”
Hayao Miyazaki is a man of values. He’s a man who believes in the innocence of childhood and has a wonderful imagination. He believes in simplicity, kindness, the beauty of nature, and the old ways. He draws on these beliefs and his personal experiences when he makes movies.
Spirited Away was made for some friends of Miyazaki’s. Specifically, the ten-year-old daughters of some friends he invited to stay at his vacation home. It’s fairly common for Miyazaki to decide that he’s going to make movies targeted at a specific age group. Ponyo is for five-year-olds. Spirited Away is meant for ten-year-old girls, but enjoyed by a much wider audience.
I repeat, SPIRITED AWAY WAS MADE FOR TEN-YEAR-OLD GIRLS.
The bathhouse? Not a brothel. Based on a bathhouse in his home town, which he thought was a place of mystery and wonder when he was a kid. That scene where the bathhouse staff has to clean the polluted river spirit? Based on Miyazaki’s own experiences of a town coming together to clean up a river. This scene? It’s about Chihiro not being greedy, because Chihiro is a positive role-model for ten-year-old girls.
The themes of Spirited Away are courage, strength of character, and individuality. ESPECIALLY individuality. That thing where Yubaba takes away peoples’ names and changes their species? That’s her taking away their individuality. Chihiro’s parents are now pigs, not people. Haku’s name has been shortened so he forgets who he is. When Yubaba changes Chihiro’s name, the only Kanji she leaves spell out “Sen”, the Japanese word for “one thousand”, meaning Chihiro is just another pawn of Yubaba’s, not her own person.
You want to seem cool and intelligent? Talk about the movie’s actual themes. Don’t make up this shock-value bullshit for attention.
One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed about non-natives appropriating our stuff is they never want anything but sage, smudging, and feathers.
Native people will share: our food, our music, our dancing, our art.
But no one is interested in those. They don’t CARE about our food and music. We never see those things in popular culture. Non-natives just want to take our religious items, because they feel entitled to the things people don’t want to share.
A Tribe Called Red (techno Native beats):
Taboo #noDAPL protest music (Native Hip Hop):
Supaman (Prayer loop song, Rap)
Check em out. Add on. Support Native Artists. Spread the love y'all
Good musical options. 🙌🏼
I FRICKIN LOVE A TRIBE CALLED RED!!! Seriously, listen to their stuff it’s so good!!!
Adding to this:
Music!
Snotty Nosed Rez Kids (”I Remember My Name” Native hip-hop)
Frank Waln (”Wokiksuye” Rap)
JB the First Lady (”The Most Unprotected Girl” R&B)
Clothes! There’s also a lot of Native designers doing amazing work blending old and new styles. These are two of my favorites
Sean Sherman - maybe one of the most famous Native chefs. There’s a great little video on him here and his website is here!
Dance! This one is a little trickier because no, you, non-Native person absolutely should not dance at the powwows unless it’s an open dance AND you’ve been invited to do so. (And if you have, please don’t do the white hippie dance. Please.) However, you can and absolute come out and support the circuit & the dancers. Some of my favorite dancers/competitions:
O.B. (Ohh Bizz) who mostly does grass dancing. (Yeah, I know he hasn’t updated in forever. the #NoDAPL protests derailed a lot of people’s lives.) He’s a lot of fun to watch and a complete sweetheart.
FNUC Powwow 2019 (also, yes, the announcer is pretty much typical for a powwow. You want a person who can roast literally everyone in a 10 mile radius? A powwow announcer can do that.)
