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Text|Henk's loneliness
Editor's | Henk's Loneliness
Reproduction of real society
Miyazaki is good at showing real and profound social phenomena in his works to express his thinking about his time.
In "Spirited Away", Miyazaki not only sets the hierarchical relationship between logic and reality, but also sets up many characters with obvious personalities, so that the work as a whole appears plump and thick.
Japanese society has always been a collection of hierarchies and a clear division of labor.
Especially after World War II, Japanese society ushered in the second and most thorough modernization process, which led to a fundamental change in its social structure.
The development of manufacturing, industrialization and commercialization has made the hierarchical division in its society stricter and more obvious, while the long-term lifelong occupational system of Japanese companies has made the division of labor in its society clearer, and the proficiency and dedication of people above the post to their own occupation have reached a level that is difficult for other countries and societies to achieve.
Therefore, in the process of modernization, the hierarchical concept and division of labor in Japanese society have been greatly strengthened under the influence of multiple factors, and the people living in it have each assumed a clear and completely different social function.
The reason why society can function normally, in addition to good institutions must need better managers, the characteristic management mechanism in "Spirited Away".
Japanese society generally admires the strong and has a high degree of efficiency, which is not unrelated not only to the introduction of the Western industrial system after the Meiji Restoration, but also to its own relatively strict hierarchy.
Especially in Japanese society, the practice of professional tenure has made respect for seniors and strict hierarchies even more prominent.
Its characteristics can be said to be not only expressed in real society, but also in many literary and artistic works, Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" is an excellent example.
The oil house described in "Spirited Away" is like a relatively complete social system.
There are many characters, and these characters were planned and managed by Miyazaki in traditional Japanese society, so that it was well organized, and high and middle managers were set up to make the operation of the oil house smoother.
In "More than a Thousand Spirited Away", like the structure of real society, in addition to managers, there are more specific laborers at the bottom.
They accept the tasks assigned by the management and do their best to complete them to achieve the purpose of providing services.
As the story progresses, Miyazaki shows the state of many low-level workers in the oil house.
When Chihiro follows Hakuryu into the oil house, it is when the oil house is open, and there are many employees receiving Tenjin and introducing him into the oil house along the way, which is a true portrayal of real society.
The situation of the employees on the ground floor is not only the role of welcoming guests outside, but also the role of the boiler grandfather alone on the ground floor of the oil house to boil the medicinal bath for the guests.
Judging from the story, Grandpa Boiler has long been working alone alone, accompanied only by a group of enchanted coal ash elves.
But even so, Grandpa Boiler seems to be unkind, but he is the most gentle and kind, and this can be interpreted from Grandpa Boiler's outright refusal to work Chihiro at the beginning to later letting Xiaoling help him as his granddaughter.
The boring work content and lonely work environment seem to be the things that everyone must face after entering a highly commercial society, but even this is the boiler grandfather who seems to be very warm, perhaps this is Miyazaki's true view of Japanese society
In the business society, managers and workers serve customers, and customer first has become the basic principle of business service, and the same is true in "Spirited Away".
For example, when the river god entered the oil house, the people in the oil house mistakenly thought it was a rotten god and had the idea of not receiving it.
But when the river god entered the oil house regardless of it, Granny Tang could only mobilize the strength of all the staff to serve it.
Although when the river god gave the honorarium to Granny Yu, Granny Tang did not dare to accept it, but instructed Chihiro to receive the honorarium and bathe her, which shows that the commercial services in the oil house also follow the principle of customer first
Otherworldly deities that need to be revisited
The story design of "Spirited Away" not only strictly follows the organizational form and structural model of real society, but also greatly interprets some characteristics of traditional Japanese society.
For example, in the oil house at night, the characters of the gods appear, and they also need to soak in the soup and cultivate like humans, so that they seem to be full of life.
In traditional Japanese culture, there has always been a view that everything is spiritual, and the deities who are in charge of some of the real things that can be seen everywhere in real life can be found in their traditional culture.
According to current research, the number of gods in Japan is also extremely large in the world.
There are deities who are important to us, such as the deities in Japanese culture who govern students' reading and study, and there are deities that we don't think we need to be in charge of a dedicated god, and these are all shown in Miyazaki's Spirited Away
The gods in traditional Japanese culture, despite their divine powers, are not omnipotent and helpless.
Take the river god as an example, he has become more and more old and powerless over the years, and he also needs to rely on external forces to return to his original state.
It can be seen that the gods also have human characteristics, and they also need to soak in the soup to achieve a state of rest and recuperation and continue to serve people.
In Japanese culture, bathing has long been considered a way for gods and humans to relax and recuperate, which is why so many hot spring baths can be found in Japan today.
It is with this that Miyazaki connects his own environmental protection concepts with traditional culture, thus leaving a deep impression on the audience.
Miyazaki shows the real state of Japanese society today, where the control of traditional culture is gradually lost in the process of modernization, and people used to be in awe of things under the influence of animist culture, so Japan has always been able to live in harmony with nature despite its lack of resources and large population.
However, in the process of rapid modernization represented by commercialization, it is inevitable that society will be lost, and in "Spirited Away", Miyazaki is able to advance the story so smoothly by setting up many lost and rescuers.
Although Chihiro's parents appear very little throughout the film, they also have a great effect on the development of the story.
From the beginning, Miyazaki set the fate of the lost generation for him.
For Miyazaki, loss not only exists in real society, but even in the oil house, where the eight million gods rest, there is still a phenomenon of commercial interests corrupting the soul.
And in "Spirited Away", Granny Tang and many waiters in the soup house can be described as the best representatives.
In Miyazaki's writing, in addition to those who cannot stand temptation in the face of money, there are also various people who have been lost in the process of modernization.
Hakuryu was originally the river god of Amber River, but because the river was buried and lost his place to live, he committed himself to learning magic from Granny Yu.
However, it is a pity that the white dragon forgot his original name, and was even planted by Granny Tang in his body to make him obey Granny Tang.
Faceless men can be a lonely group that has been suppressed for a long time in the process of rapid social modernization, and they not only lose their normal form in terms of physical appearance, but also lose their normal ability to express themselves in speech.
It is worth noting that when everyone is lost, Grandpa Boiler and Mother-in-law Qian appear to be unusually awake, and Grandpa Boiler only knows how to boil his medicinal bath every day.
And Granny Qian, despite her powerful magic, did not run a huge bathhouse to earn money like her fellow sister Granny Tang.
It is a comfortable life in a very remote place, and in this regard, both represent a life of desirelessness and innocence and naturalness, as in the traditional culture of the past.
summary
From the character design and experience in "Spirited Away", each of its characters represents a certain social phenomenon, shoulders a certain social mission, and expresses Miyazaki's thinking about reality and the future.
The suffering and joy experienced by the characters in the play show that today's people can only truly achieve self-growth and eventually take up future responsibilities after experiencing deep inner growth.
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