Watched Princess Mononoke twice this week and it is more relevant than ever.

A story worth getting familiar with, especially in times of great stress.

I'm going to focus on what the film is NOT, since times have changed so much since its release over 20 years ago.

THREAD

The story is NOT modern, it is steeped in ancient myth, religion, strong morals, and universal issues relating to humans and their relationship with Nature, greed, violence, and drive for dominance.

It is very complex, but easily pieced together through masterful storytelling.

Ashitaka, the young prince and hero of the story is an actual hero, not like the anti-heros we have grown so used to in 21st century entertainment.

A Christlike figure many have seem to forgotten.

He has a good heart, is well trained, brilliant, has beliefs, faith in the gods, desires peace and harmony, and follows the command by an ancient to

“see the world with eyes unclouded by hate”

...even though he has very strong reason to hate what has happened to him.

We’ve gotten used to stories (ala Game of Thrones/Breaking Bad), where ‘heroes’ are flawed so deeply they commit acts of pure evil and we justify them as viewers (reasons for this are deep + point to our own amorality, but thats another rabbit hole)

Mononoke is not like these.

Ashitaka speaks in poetry + has pure intentions, because of this, he is laughed at and misunderstood by the humans he encounters after being cast out into the cursed ‘real world’ from his hidden tribe which has always tried to live in harmony and peace with the gods and Nature.

Ashitaka is NOT a pushover, amid his truth-seeking and quest for redemption he struggles to control his rage, grief, and helplessness—factors which can cause a young man to create serious ripples through his actions.

There is no one more powerful than an angry young man.

The animals are NOT cute Disney characters, they are killers and warriors driven by vengeance and violence after being violated by humans.

The animal gods are self-actualized and speak from the soul (pay close attention to their dialogue because it goes especially deep).

Princess Mononoke is NOT a typical love interest, she is a warrior-princess who’s soul has been adopted by a wolf-god, a child of the Earth, and protector of the forest.

When we first see her, she is sucking blood from the wound of a wolf and highly mistrustful of any humans.

This is NOT a feel-good movie, it shows what happens when fear and anger can take over someone so deeply that they lose their soul and become a demon--thick blood from gods stain the ground, exploitation/deception abound, and Natures balance does not operate under human logic.

It is NOT an ‘environmental’ or political film—serious issues are dealt with in a mature way, showing both sides, highlighting grey areas, and through the perspective of Ashitaka we move through the story and world as detached observers, witnessing events from a gods-eye view.

Video games and American cartoons have desensitized us to the power of animation--this prejudice should be forgotten about when watching Mononoke because it is the work of a Master who has created a world you can totally immerse yourself in.

Each scene is beautifully done, the colors create mood, nothing is out of place, each detail and word adding to the story.

The film should be viewed on the largest screen possible and taken very seriously.

History has always been punctuated with major conflict—old ways overthrown by new—many times this happens too quickly + violence, destruction, and suffering result

After the carnage, we are tasked with rebuilding--it is our obligation to do so, improved, with new understandings

This takeaway is relevant during a time of pandemic when the world is being shook—economically, socially, spiritually—we most likely won’t see physical violence, but the spiritual war we are facing is more intense than it has ever been…and we are all going through this together

There has never been anything like these times right now, in all of history + there will be panic, death, and ruin…thankfully it isn’t nearly as bad as it could be and most will survive, but this is a major jolt to all the systems we have known.

Old gods are dying.

Mononoke puts all of this into perspective and shares a point of view alien to many Westerners--but even though its told with beliefs steeped in ancient Japanese myth, the human struggles are Universal--something everyone can relate to if they have an open mind.

I’ve seen all of Miyazakis films and this is by far my favorite, the most serious, and the most personally significant.

One of the greatest films ever to be made and I can’t recommend it enough--see it, have the children see it, think about it, and let it influence how you live