Studio Ghibly research on how women are represented in modern films.
My main focus film is Princess Moniok and how the main female roles are presented in it. This post will be based on the three female characters San, Eboshi, and Moro.
In this film there are 3 females who occupy significantly different positions in relation to the nature/cultural dichotomy that exists as one of the main themes in the film.
San and Moro exist as a mother-daughter team working with nature. This is opposite to the "civilisation" of Tatara over which Eboshi rules. Eboshi can be viewed perhaps as a kind of artificial mother of the codefamiliarisesTatara.
San is a human, but she rejects her humanity as she has been raised and nurtured by wolves.
When she was a baby, the wolf goddess(Moro), attacked her parents who were found damaging the forest. San's parents threw her to Moro as a sacrifice to save their own lives. Moro raised San as her own daughter and San treats Moro as her mother and Moro's two natural pups as brothers.
Her voice over in the British version of the film was done by Claire Danes'. This actress is very well known in America and Britain for other rolls she has played which include Romeo and Juliet, Terminator and the television series Homeland . San can perhaps be paralleling our female western Eco warriors.
San’s primary concern is protecting the forest her home and her adopted family of woodland inhabitants.
She has attempted to assassinate Lady Eboshi of Iron town many times, Eboshi is a leader and a business women, driven and ambitious. San believes perhaps naively that Eboshi’s death will result in the end of Iron town and human expansion into the surrounding forest.
The theme of nature being overwhelmed by culture is the principal theme of the film and this is highlighted by San's slow acknowledgement of her human side but only as a result of the affection and care by Ashitaka's (the only male).
After the battle for the Forest Spirit's head, San tells Ashitaka that he is very dear to her. However, she cannot forgive the human race for what they have done to the forest and will continue to live apart from them. Her role as leader is more important to her than romance. San returns to the forest while Ashitaka remains in Irontown. Although, before separating Ashitaka promises that he will always be near and he will visit her in the forest whenever he can, and she agrees.
In this film Miyazaki (the director) is subtly
playing with gender boundary's behind the screen of nature/cultural dichotomy. It is clear that the cultural dichotomy is present in the three main female protagonists, they have characteristics and traits traditionally found in men. There are no male heroes in the film however the character of
Ashitaka is male.
It is perhaps to easy to suggest that the use of females in conventionally male-coded roles is an example of the films overall attempt to portray Destabilisation of a society.
Moro who at first glance could just as easily been made into a male wolf does not have any of the conventional maternal characteristics as seen in Hollywood Blockbusters (mother or wife material e.g The Lion King). This departure from Hollywood convention is another example of Ghibli's attempt to destabilise the norm of where female roles are presented.
This is also the case with Eboshi. In most standard historical dramas main female characters act as a vehicle for tradition. Eboshi's character corrupts the conventional notion of the judicial female role. She is the leader, in charge despite being female. She is in charge of making arrangements and governing a colony .Rather than having a typical evil male warlord the use of a female provides a change of perspective from the traditional nurturing role to one of brutal reality of leadership. However using the female to portray both destructive and rebuilding traits creates a conflict within the film, as again this is a departure by Ghibi on established film norms of the male versus female roles and characters. In the film's presentation she may be perceived as a tragic figure by not looking out for the Forrest with its natural beauty. However the real tragedy is that she is not actually evil but is forced into destructive action by her responsibility and need to protect her human utopian collective against San who in her own way is doing the same thing.
Eboshi's character thus defamiliarises both our notions of femininity and of Culture showing a more complex face of femininity.
