Halcyon Realms - Freedom Project/Otomo/anime

Okie...this is the continuation of Miyazaki's intro for Spirited Away form the previous post...

Words are power. In the world Chihiro wandered into, words have a great importance and immutability. At "Yuya" where "Yubaba" rules, if Chihiro were to say "I don't want to do this" or "I want to go home", she would be eliminated by the sorceress. She would be made to wonder about with nowhere to go until she vanishes or is made into a hen to lay eggs until she is eaten. On the contrary, if Chihiro says "I will work here", even a sorceress can't ignore her. In these days, words are thought to be light an unimportant like bubbles, and no more than the reflection of a vacuous reality. It is still true that words can be powerful. The fact is, however, that powerless words are proliferating unnecessarily.

To take a name away from a person is an attempt to keep them under perfect control. Sen shuddered when she realized that she was beginning to forget her own name. And besides, every time she goes to see her parents at the pigpen, she becomes used to seeing her parents as pigs. In the world where Yubaba rules, people must always live among dangers which might swallow them up.

In a dangerous world, Chihiro began to come alive. The sulky and languid character will come to have a stunning and attractive facial expression by the end of the film. The nature of the world hasn't been changed in the least. I am arguing in this film that words are our will, ourselves and our power.

To be continued...