A Host of Contradictions: The Director of Princess Mononoke

A HOST OF CONTRADICTIONS: THE DIRECTOR OF PRINCESS MONONOKE

Recently I’ve been asking the question at interviews of successful film directors and producers, as well as critics and studio owners, “What is your philosophy of art?” Usually, they say they don’t have a philosophy. Then I mention Aristotle (who defined “art” as con­trary to nature and has been misinterpreted to promote contrarianism and pushing the envelope in art), Plato (who thought “art” represented the ideal) or Horace (who contended that “art” delighted and informed), and they say that they don’t think it is important to have a philosophy of art. Then I ask if they think it is important to understand meaning and precise­ness of language.

All of this modern deconstructionist lack of clear thinking has to be put in context of the fact that these people have very strong opinions. Fifty years ago, before the dumbing down of education, people who had strong opinions without having to reason those opinions out, thinking through the consequences, or reading seriously on the subjects, were considered “bores.”

The new animated movie, Princess Mononoke, considers another type of boar: a group of false forest gods who turn into demons. In an interview with the director, Hayao Miyazaki, recently, I asked him why the monk was the villain in the movie?

First, Miyazaki said there are no villains. He said this even though the monk is the one who wants to steal the head of the forest god, who betrays the head of Iron Town and who gets the neighboring shogun to attack Iron Town. Perhaps there are no villains if you don’t know the definition of that word, or you are a total nihilist who believes everything is mean­ingless, which is what the academic deconstructionists teach your school-age children.

Then, Miyazaki complained that, throughout Japanese history, religion has asserted a strong control on the government. So, I got the inkling that, although the monk is not a villain, that the director doesn’t like religion, or at least those religions that exerted strong control on the Japanese government. His comments were completely contradictory, how­ever, because Princess Mononokeis actually very religious. In fact, it brings Japa­nese folklore alive. And, I’m not talking innocent childhood fairytales, either. I’m talking about bringing animistic religion alive for children today.

Also in the interview, the director said he doesn’t like computer animation and doesn’t use the computer himself. These opinions seem to reflect the movie’s point of view that man’s technology is bad. After all, it is the people of the technologically advanced Iron Town who are destroying the forest to feed their technology. Miyazaki’s philosophy is a very radical back to nature premise that shows pagan and romanticist roots.

Also, there seems to be a lot of strong opinions in Princess Mononoke about animism and polytheism. This is very interesting because people who indulge in sorcery, magic and witchcraft do so to exert non-physical or supernatural power on other people. In fact, to impose their views on others. Consequently, Princess Mononoke extols the very same things about which Miyazaki complains (religion’s influence on the Japanese government).

The director also said he doesn’t think there is anything wrong with the violence in the film, cutting off heads, arms and so forth. In fact, he mentioned a three-year-old boy who said it was his favorite film. Strange, but you’d think if you were interested in promoting a “back to nature” philosophy, you would be concerned about the vulnerable innocence of children.

All of these contradictions seem to confirm what God says so clearly in his word, “In that last day, people will do what is right in their own eyes.”

With books and schools readily available for persons in developed countries, an edu­cated basis for an opinion should be easy and welcome, especially for those who create and distribute value-laden audiovisual entertainment. Yet, the danger and terror isn’t so much uninformed opinion but the spreading of misinformation and lies. After all, Jesus took simple fishermen and made them his disciples, the first Christians to carry His name and message. Jesus put them through the College of Truth!

Mr. Miyazaki seems to be a disciple of no creed and hence is an uninformed bore, imposing his own poorly thought-out philosophies on unsuspecting youths and the rest of the world, including any government officials who might be watching and listening.