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Alfonso Arellano - Reaction Paper 1

The document provides a summary and analysis of the 2001 animated film Spirited Away. It discusses the film's plot, in which a young girl named Chihiro gets trapped in the spirit world and must work in a bathhouse to free her parents who have been turned into pigs. It also analyzes themes of identity, with Chihiro needing to reclaim her name from the bathhouse owner Yubaba. Work and hustle culture are criticized as things that can cause people to lose themselves, as seen with how Yubaba controls her workers. The pandemic is discussed as giving people a break to reevaluate their lives and identities outside of work, similar to Chihiro's journey.

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92 views

Alfonso Arellano - Reaction Paper 1

The document provides a summary and analysis of the 2001 animated film Spirited Away. It discusses the film's plot, in which a young girl named Chihiro gets trapped in the spirit world and must work in a bathhouse to free her parents who have been turned into pigs. It also analyzes themes of identity, with Chihiro needing to reclaim her name from the bathhouse owner Yubaba. Work and hustle culture are criticized as things that can cause people to lose themselves, as seen with how Yubaba controls her workers. The pandemic is discussed as giving people a break to reevaluate their lives and identities outside of work, similar to Chihiro's journey.

Uploaded by

Alfonso Arellano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Alfonso Arellano Reaction Paper 1 Sept 2, 2022

Spirited Away tells the story of a ten year old girl named Chihiro, who in the midst of moving to a

new town finds herself trapped in the spirit world and her parents cursed into pigs. While coping with

the new reality she has been dealt she meets Haku, who insists on her finding a job at the massive

bathhouse she had seen earlier. After much insistence Yubaba reluctantly gives Chihiro a contract to

work for her and decides to give Chihiro a new name, Sen. The next day Sen realizes that she has

forgotten her real name after looking at a goodbye card she had brought upon entering the spirit

world. Haku warns about how that is how Yubaba takes control over people, by taking their names

and if she ever forgotten her name like he has then she will stuck in the spirit world. After much trials

and tribulations working at the bath house, her journey eventually leads her to Zeniba, Yubaba's twin

sister, who lives an isolated life in a house surrounded by greenery. After some advice Zeniba had

given Sen, she realizes on her way back the bath house Haku’s true identity as Kohaku river freeing

him from the will of Yubaba. Once she gets back Yubaba tests her one last time to break from her

contract and her parents curse. When she succeeds she heads back to the entrance of the spirit realm

where her parents are waiting for her and unaware of the recent events. The Family continues forward

to their new home with only Chihiro remembering what had happen.

The iconic character of No-Face he is a clear commentary and criticism of over-indulgence in

Japanese lifestyle. Back in the booming economy of 80s Japan, Tokyo was known as the the work-

hard, party-hard capital of the world and was infamous for the amount of money corporate employees

would spend on a night out. We can see this in “No-Face” and how much he spends and the bath

house. He literally has gold coming out of his hand, throwing them out like confetti and an army of

servant hold trays of food at every moment. We see him physically grow from nothing more than a

thin shadow and a mask, to what looked like a bloated sludge monster. He had developed a large

grotesque mouth that almost encompassed the entire from of his body. He grows so hungry that he

even starts eating some of the staff of the bathhouse, which could be a commentary on how poor the

service industry treats its workers. Its only after Chihiro feeds No Face the gift she received from the

purified river spirited that He starts to violently throw up all that he had consumed and he returns back

to normal. He also decides to stay with Zeniba in a quiet house isolated from everyone else. This

theme of gluttony can also be scene with Chihiro's parents. Her parents at the start of the movie come

across an unmanned stall which has delicious all around it. Both of her parents start guzzling down

Alfonso Arellano Reaction Paper 1 Sept 2, 2022

the food, and when Chihiro airs her concern to her dad says not to worry as they had cash and credit

cards. Her parents were as a result punished as the were eating the food for the spirits and were turned

into pigs.

One the movies biggest theme has to be one of identity. When Chihiro makes the deal with Yubaba,

she also takes away her name and is given a new one “sen”. We find out this is done to all who work

in the bathhouse and his how they get stuck working for Yubaba. From the themes of the film that a

persons identity is key to setting them free. Chihiro must correctly guess which among a group of pigs

are her parents in order to free them, and it it only after Chihiro discovers the true name of Haku that

he is free from Yubaba. I think this is commentary on how we can loose our own identity to our work.

Yubaba quite literally take people names away to control them. Majority of the film spends its time

following Chihiro and her work in the bathhouse which while entertaining to watch is clearly not

appropriate for a 10 year old to be doing. The bathhouse is depicted as always busy and bustling and

huge distraction to Chihiro and her goal. Its only when they move the much quieter place of Yubaba

that she is given time to reflect and figure out Haku’s real name. I think this is an important point to

make given the recent hustle culture mindset we had just recently has and due to the pandemic we see

the backlash to that sort of mindset like with he Lying-Flat movement in China and the Quiet-Quitting

movement in America. I feel like because of the Pandemic people we're given a break from the hustle

and bustle from their normal working lives and reevaluate how they want to move forward. Not to say

that the pandemic was a good thing that needed to happen, but instead that it was and extraordinary

event that lead to extraordinary situations. Much like Sen plenty of people where given time alone to

figure our their identity and what they really want to do with their lives. I think for myself I find

myself relating a lot to this movie, I’m still pretty young so I'm still in search of my own identity

much like many of the characters here are. I feel like if I just jump right into the hustle of corporate

industry I too will end up like them and become lost with my own identity. Around early in the

pandemic was when I was having this issue about what I wanted to do with my life ultimately I just

decided that I needed to experience more of life to find that out.

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