Comparing Princess Mononoke And Pocahontas: Relationships With Nature
Princess Mononoke and Pocahontas: Relationships With Nature
Princess Mononoke and Pocahontas provide a great foundation for the study of human/feminine-nature relationships. Even though they were made in different countries and produced by different companies, they both have a common theme of nature and this makes them a good choice for examining different perspectives on nature and humans. This essay will study the relationships that the characters have with female/human nature, explain how they relate to the spirits found in nature, and show how destroying nature leads to destruction. One of the biggest differences in the female/human nature relationships in these two films is in their attitude. Both movies have dealings regarding the …show more content…
sanctity of nature and the impact that the spirits have when humans interfere with the environment. Pocahontas is light-hearted and charming, despite the poignant parting of Pocahontas and John Smith at the end of the film even as Princess Mononoke is bleak, vicious, and gloomy. Smith does not understand that humans can commune with the natural world until he meets Pocahontas. Similarly, these films show that progress lacks humanity, affection, and compassion. In the emergence of progress lies the death and destruction of the environment. Assuredly for this reason, San detests human civilization; thus she and Pocahontas are both portrayed as superior, and the other characters are shown to be uncaring about the destruction caused by progress. According to Kaori Yoshida “Pocahontas and Mononoke encapsulate the destructive aspects of modernization and industrialization…of changing nature with guns…” (5). Some characters suggest that while humans understand the importance of the environment and its spiritual realms, they feel that progress is more important than nature.
Having a spiritual connection with nature is more pronounced in Princess Mononoke than Pocohontas ; however, both movies make an undeniable statement. Accordingly, these films declare that nature is a spirit or collection of spirits and thus, worthy not only of respect but deference. San and Pocahontas were both raised in nature. Both women love the forest and will do what is necessary to save their environments. Pocahontas is the characteristic "nature child," singing to Smith about "living naturally in tune with the Earth" and educating him in the importance that "every rock, tree and creature has a living spirit" (Pocahontas (1995)). San is raised by Moro a female wolf, who is the Great Spirit God and is in tune with the spirits of nature. She hates all humans and human civilization. She wants to continue to live with the forest spirits in the forest where she was raised. In Susan J. Napier’s chapter, “Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, The Feminine, and the Myth of ‘Progress,’” she relates, “San is clearly possessed by the fearsome spirits of nature” (179). She is trying to save the forest and the spirits from being exterminated by Lady Eboshi. Pocahontas on the other hand, is also in tune with great spirits such as Grandmother Willow, who she goes for advice about which path to travel and her mother who is represented as leaves blowing. In their article ”Redesigning Pocahontas,” Gary Edgerton and Kathy Jackson refer to a song which Pocahontas sings about following the spirits, “[s]hould I choose the smoothest course [s]teady as a beating drum [s]hould I marry Kocoum [i]s all my dreaming at an end? Or do you still wait for me, dreamgiver? Just around the riverbend?” (Pocahontas (1995)). However, some characters are not in tune with the spirits and need both San and Pocahontas to guide them into doing what is right. San and Pocahontas have the ability to commune with the spirits of nature. Furthermore, since humans are a part of nature, when they set out to destroy nature, they are in fact destroying themselves. Lady Eboshi is destroying the forest and killing the spirits so that she can pursue her goals, whereas, Ratcliffe comes to the new world and starts digging up the land and cutting down trees trying to find gold.
What Pocahontas and San understand that the others do not is that there is an oneness to nature and that violating any part of it can damage it all.
This hints that the variance between man and nature embodied by the characters is one that is beyond repair. In Princess Mononoke the narrator suggests “In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed” (Princess Mononoke (1997)). In its disparity to man and mankind, their disrespect for nature, stands Lady Eboshi, who has "constructed Tatara as a utopian refuge" for lepers and outcasts (Napier179). The apparent allusion about Irontown is of an industrialized town that is booming and since the iron ball that killed the boar god was made there, this symbolizes both death to nature and progress. In Princess Mononoke, the film takes a stronger position in making this point, while Pocahontas just suggests it with the building of the fort and digging for gold. These films suggest industrialization in some form, and that progress is an enemy to the environment. Pocahontas explains to Smith that "Indians are able to paint with all the colors of the wind," which is a suggestion that American Indians are more in harmony with their environment and able to use it imaginatively (Pocahontas (1995)). In closing, both films show characters interacting with each other to show that the destruction of nature leads to devastation of humankind, how spirits guide and are found in nature and how nature is important to the world around us. These films take such differing points of view whereas Princess Mononoke is dark and violent and Pocahontas is cute and fun. They both have the same message for viewers, that nature is an important part of our world and we need to have respect for it.
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Works Cited
Edgerton, Gary, and Kathy Merlock Jackson. "Redesigning Pocahontas: Disney, the “White Man 's Indian,” and the Marketing of Dreams." Journal of Popular Film and Television 24.2 (1996): 90-98. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Napier, Susan Jolliffe. "Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, the Feminine, and the Myth of "Progress"" Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave, 2001. 175-92. Academic Search Complete. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Pocahontas. Dir. Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. Perf. Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1995. DVD.
Princess Mononoke, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, Per. Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver. Toho Company, 1997. DVD.
Yoshida, Kaori. "National Identity (re) Construction in Japanese and American Animated Film." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO, 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Princess Mononoke and Pocahontas provide a great foundation for the study of human/feminine-nature relationships. Even though they were made in different countries and produced by different companies, they both have a common theme of nature and this makes them a good choice for examining different perspectives on nature and humans. This essay will study the relationships that the characters have with female/human nature, explain how they relate to the spirits found in nature, and show how destroying nature leads to destruction. One of the biggest differences in the female/human nature relationships in these two films is in their attitude. Both movies have dealings regarding the …show more content…
sanctity of nature and the impact that the spirits have when humans interfere with the environment. Pocahontas is light-hearted and charming, despite the poignant parting of Pocahontas and John Smith at the end of the film even as Princess Mononoke is bleak, vicious, and gloomy. Smith does not understand that humans can commune with the natural world until he meets Pocahontas. Similarly, these films show that progress lacks humanity, affection, and compassion. In the emergence of progress lies the death and destruction of the environment. Assuredly for this reason, San detests human civilization; thus she and Pocahontas are both portrayed as superior, and the other characters are shown to be uncaring about the destruction caused by progress. According to Kaori Yoshida “Pocahontas and Mononoke encapsulate the destructive aspects of modernization and industrialization…of changing nature with guns…” (5). Some characters suggest that while humans understand the importance of the environment and its spiritual realms, they feel that progress is more important than nature.
Having a spiritual connection with nature is more pronounced in Princess Mononoke than Pocohontas ; however, both movies make an undeniable statement. Accordingly, these films declare that nature is a spirit or collection of spirits and thus, worthy not only of respect but deference. San and Pocahontas were both raised in nature. Both women love the forest and will do what is necessary to save their environments. Pocahontas is the characteristic "nature child," singing to Smith about "living naturally in tune with the Earth" and educating him in the importance that "every rock, tree and creature has a living spirit" (Pocahontas (1995)). San is raised by Moro a female wolf, who is the Great Spirit God and is in tune with the spirits of nature. She hates all humans and human civilization. She wants to continue to live with the forest spirits in the forest where she was raised. In Susan J. Napier’s chapter, “Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, The Feminine, and the Myth of ‘Progress,’” she relates, “San is clearly possessed by the fearsome spirits of nature” (179). She is trying to save the forest and the spirits from being exterminated by Lady Eboshi. Pocahontas on the other hand, is also in tune with great spirits such as Grandmother Willow, who she goes for advice about which path to travel and her mother who is represented as leaves blowing. In their article ”Redesigning Pocahontas,” Gary Edgerton and Kathy Jackson refer to a song which Pocahontas sings about following the spirits, “[s]hould I choose the smoothest course [s]teady as a beating drum [s]hould I marry Kocoum [i]s all my dreaming at an end? Or do you still wait for me, dreamgiver? Just around the riverbend?” (Pocahontas (1995)). However, some characters are not in tune with the spirits and need both San and Pocahontas to guide them into doing what is right. San and Pocahontas have the ability to commune with the spirits of nature. Furthermore, since humans are a part of nature, when they set out to destroy nature, they are in fact destroying themselves. Lady Eboshi is destroying the forest and killing the spirits so that she can pursue her goals, whereas, Ratcliffe comes to the new world and starts digging up the land and cutting down trees trying to find gold.
What Pocahontas and San understand that the others do not is that there is an oneness to nature and that violating any part of it can damage it all.
This hints that the variance between man and nature embodied by the characters is one that is beyond repair. In Princess Mononoke the narrator suggests “In ancient times, the land lay covered in forests, where, from ages long past, dwelt the spirits of the gods. Back then, man and beast lived in harmony, but as time went by, most of the great forests were destroyed” (Princess Mononoke (1997)). In its disparity to man and mankind, their disrespect for nature, stands Lady Eboshi, who has "constructed Tatara as a utopian refuge" for lepers and outcasts (Napier179). The apparent allusion about Irontown is of an industrialized town that is booming and since the iron ball that killed the boar god was made there, this symbolizes both death to nature and progress. In Princess Mononoke, the film takes a stronger position in making this point, while Pocahontas just suggests it with the building of the fort and digging for gold. These films suggest industrialization in some form, and that progress is an enemy to the environment. Pocahontas explains to Smith that "Indians are able to paint with all the colors of the wind," which is a suggestion that American Indians are more in harmony with their environment and able to use it imaginatively (Pocahontas (1995)). In closing, both films show characters interacting with each other to show that the destruction of nature leads to devastation of humankind, how spirits guide and are found in nature and how nature is important to the world around us. These films take such differing points of view whereas Princess Mononoke is dark and violent and Pocahontas is cute and fun. They both have the same message for viewers, that nature is an important part of our world and we need to have respect for it.
(975)
Works Cited
Edgerton, Gary, and Kathy Merlock Jackson. "Redesigning Pocahontas: Disney, the “White Man 's Indian,” and the Marketing of Dreams." Journal of Popular Film and Television 24.2 (1996): 90-98. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.
Napier, Susan Jolliffe. "Princess Mononoke: Fantasy, the Feminine, and the Myth of "Progress"" Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation. New York: Palgrave, 2001. 175-92. Academic Search Complete. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
Pocahontas. Dir. Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. Perf. Irene Bedard, Mel Gibson. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1995. DVD.
Princess Mononoke, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, Per. Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver. Toho Company, 1997. DVD.
Yoshida, Kaori. "National Identity (re) Construction in Japanese and American Animated Film." Academic Search Complete. EBSCO, 30 Sept. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.