A high school girl watches as an unfamiliar face appears on her screen. With its long pink hair and seemingly perfect features, she barely recognizes her new online avatar. She names it “Bell” and selects OK. Suddenly, she opens her eyes to a different, more vibrant city, the virtual world of U.
Mamoru Hosoda’s “Belle” (released here this year and available on major digital platforms) stars Suzu, an online pop sensation from a small town, as she struggles with her mother’s death. Her mom drowned in a flood years ago while trying to save a child, and Suzu still doesn’t know how to deal with the grief. She pours her love, pain, and sorrow into her songs which listeners relate to. Her combination of contradicting emotions is what makes Suzu such a complex character.
Suzu expresses how she misses her mom, but also how angry she is that she died for “a kid whose name she didn’t even know.” Suzu goes as far as to give up her passion for music because it reminds her too much of her mother. However, she also stays in school and keeps a quiet demeanor around others. The torment she goes through from switching between all her emotions while maintaining a facade gives an accurate portrayal of grief, more so than in Western animation.
Disney princesses, like Jasmine or Ariel, never really mention their mothers, even though many of them were still children when their moms died. The movies don’t show a lot of grief and focus almost exclusively on romance. The princesses aren’t seen pursuing passions or hobbies either. Even Rapunzel who covered every tower wall with paint never pursued art further when she became free.
Western animation depicts women as if they’re objects without individual goals. The princesses’ only purpose in their films is to fall in love with a man. They don’t get any other complex emotions or passions, such as grief or art. They don’t get realistic representation.
Misogyny is a huge problem by itself, but popular Disney movies use young children, especially girls, as their target demographic. The audience will grow up with a distorted image of how they’re expected to act as a woman in their heads. The only ones benefitting from this are Western animation companies and the media.
However, their movies have improved over the years. Characters, including Mulan and Merida, break the traditional housewife stereotype. Mulan literally pretends to be a man and fights in a war for her personal beliefs. Without her, the Huns would have conquered China. In “Brave,” Merida wins an archery competition against 3 men and refuses to be married off. She stands her ground and proves more skilled than everyone else. Both movies introduce strong, independent women. They also emphasize the importance of protecting family.
While the animation companies have made progress, they still haven’t caught up to Japan.
Like “Belle,” other Japanese animations also pay extra attention to character development and how each detail connects to reality. This causes the audience to relate to the deep, layered emotions and the everyday experiences portrayed on the screen. The animators create a more meaningful and immersive film that leaves an impression on the viewers.
Ultimately, Japan’s animations create worlds that act as mirrors of our own. Hosoda, Academy Award nominee and director of “Belle,” said that “what we tried to do in ‘Belle’ is not build a character, but build a person: someone who reflects the society in which we live.”
Mamoru Hosoda’s “Belle” (released here this year and available on major digital platforms) stars Suzu, an online pop sensation from a small town, as she struggles with her mother’s death. Her mom drowned in a flood years ago while trying to save a child, and Suzu still doesn’t know how to deal with the grief. She pours her love, pain, and sorrow into her songs which listeners relate to. Her combination of contradicting emotions is what makes Suzu such a complex character.
Suzu expresses how she misses her mom, but also how angry she is that she died for “a kid whose name she didn’t even know.” Suzu goes as far as to give up her passion for music because it reminds her too much of her mother. However, she also stays in school and keeps a quiet demeanor around others. The torment she goes through from switching between all her emotions while maintaining a facade gives an accurate portrayal of grief, more so than in Western animation.
Disney princesses, like Jasmine or Ariel, never really mention their mothers, even though many of them were still children when their moms died. The movies don’t show a lot of grief and focus almost exclusively on romance. The princesses aren’t seen pursuing passions or hobbies either. Even Rapunzel who covered every tower wall with paint never pursued art further when she became free.
Western animation depicts women as if they’re objects without individual goals. The princesses’ only purpose in their films is to fall in love with a man. They don’t get any other complex emotions or passions, such as grief or art. They don’t get realistic representation.
Misogyny is a huge problem by itself, but popular Disney movies use young children, especially girls, as their target demographic. The audience will grow up with a distorted image of how they’re expected to act as a woman in their heads. The only ones benefitting from this are Western animation companies and the media.
However, their movies have improved over the years. Characters, including Mulan and Merida, break the traditional housewife stereotype. Mulan literally pretends to be a man and fights in a war for her personal beliefs. Without her, the Huns would have conquered China. In “Brave,” Merida wins an archery competition against 3 men and refuses to be married off. She stands her ground and proves more skilled than everyone else. Both movies introduce strong, independent women. They also emphasize the importance of protecting family.
While the animation companies have made progress, they still haven’t caught up to Japan.
Like “Belle,” other Japanese animations also pay extra attention to character development and how each detail connects to reality. This causes the audience to relate to the deep, layered emotions and the everyday experiences portrayed on the screen. The animators create a more meaningful and immersive film that leaves an impression on the viewers.
Ultimately, Japan’s animations create worlds that act as mirrors of our own. Hosoda, Academy Award nominee and director of “Belle,” said that “what we tried to do in ‘Belle’ is not build a character, but build a person: someone who reflects the society in which we live.”