Important Lessons In “Spirited Away

Spirited Away is a film that continues to attract the attention of both children and adults. In fact, it is considered one of the best films of the century. Today we will look at why it deserves to be seen again and again.

In 2001, Studio Ghibli released for the first time the animated film about a ten-year-old girl, Chihiro, who is trapped in a magical world and has to work in a bathhouse for gods to find a way home again. Through her adventures in this huge bathhouse, we learn about Japanese traditions and spirituality.

In the film we find k amis , spiritual beings who belong to the Shinto religion. For Westerners, they are gods, and in Japan they are linked to elements of nature. We also discover yokai , creatures that are a mixture of demons and the spirits of nature.

Important lessons in “Spirited Away”

Collaboration gives better results than working against others

To begin with, Chihiro must ask Yubaba – a witch who owns the bathhouse – for work. She has been told that it will be difficult and decides to be kind and agree to everything Yubaba asks for.

In this way, she manages to do the work she needs to do to survive in this magical world and one day return to her own world.

When she asks for work, she talks kindly to Yubaba, even though the witch is quite sharp towards her. She calls her “grandmother”, something considered polite in Japanese culture, and even asks her for help in removing the curse from her friend Kohaku.

Everyone has a good page – you just have to look for it

The character No Face, a black shadow with a white face, is at first quite frightening.

Absolutely everyone thinks No Face is evil, but Chihiro goes to great lengths to find his good side. She finally discovers what happened to No Face before and gives him the chance to show his true self.

Chihiro’s journey teaches us that greed makes you a monster

This is what happens to Chihiro’s parents. They eat too much of food that does not belong to them, and they turn into pigs.

Their greed only gives them problems. This is how Chihiro’s adventure begins.

The importance of ecology and nature in Spirited Away

The great value of nature is another strong theme in Spirited Away . In the film, one day a horrible stinking god comes to the bathhouse and creates chaos.

With great patience, Chihiro spends time washing the god, who turns out to be the god of a polluted river. During the wash, Chihiro realizes that the god has accumulated dirt with a bicycle as a starting point, and this cycle is of great importance. It’s there because someone threw it in the river. The film therefore reminds us of the importance of not littering.

If we throw things into the water – like a bicycle – we not only pollute the water but also damage the spirits of the river.

Our consumer society makes us slaves

In the animated film, everyone who gets a job at Yubaba loses his name and forgets his past life. In a way, they become slaves because they do not remember who they really are.

Yubaba, for example, promises one of the main characters in the film, Kohana, a treasure she will never really give him, in exchange for him forgetting his name and who he is. This can be said to reflect how obsessed we are with material things, to the point that we lose ourselves.