The anti-war message is very Miyazaki -- it seems that a number of his movies have dealt with the same idea -- but I hated the hamhandedness of it in this particular case. He's done plenty of other projects with the same general message that weren't so much a smack in the face. That particular aspect of it doesn't strike me so much as a Western vs. Japanese thing as simply overly simplistic storytelling.
I did notice, though, that the overall portrayal of war in the movie is as something that just *happens* ... sort of like a natural disaster. You're going along minding your own business, and suddenly you're in a war. And if the people at the top decide to stop having a war, then the war just stops. War is not in any way a means to an end; it's just a thing unto itself, a one-word concept. Very top-down, very Japanese, like you're saying. Maybe the reason it rings false to me is because I'm used to thinking of war as being a more chaotic, less hierarchical thing.
Also an interesting point about Japanese vs. Western childhood. I dunno, though ... while it's true that most of his characters tend to conform to Japanese behavior ideals, I don't think Miyazaki is necessarily incapable of doing Western children. The girl mechanic in "Porco Rosso" was tough and cheeky and all the things that Sophie *could* have been if he hadn't taken her down a different path. It is true that his kids tend to be usually much more docile and servile than we think of as being normal for children, though... I hadn't really thought about it that way.
If it comes to that, though, it's pretty rare for kids to act like kids in Western entertainment, too. Especially animated movies, in spite of the fact that they're supposed to be *for* children. Dunno if you've seen "Lilo & Stitch", but one of the things I loved about that movie is that the little girl acts like a very realistic four-year-old who is having some emotional issues. She's neither an ultra-cutesy, obedient little kid, nor is she a total brat -- just a believable child.
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I did notice, though, that the overall portrayal of war in the movie is as something that just *happens* ... sort of like a natural disaster. You're going along minding your own business, and suddenly you're in a war. And if the people at the top decide to stop having a war, then the war just stops. War is not in any way a means to an end; it's just a thing unto itself, a one-word concept. Very top-down, very Japanese, like you're saying. Maybe the reason it rings false to me is because I'm used to thinking of war as being a more chaotic, less hierarchical thing.
Also an interesting point about Japanese vs. Western childhood. I dunno, though ... while it's true that most of his characters tend to conform to Japanese behavior ideals, I don't think Miyazaki is necessarily incapable of doing Western children. The girl mechanic in "Porco Rosso" was tough and cheeky and all the things that Sophie *could* have been if he hadn't taken her down a different path. It is true that his kids tend to be usually much more docile and servile than we think of as being normal for children, though... I hadn't really thought about it that way.
If it comes to that, though, it's pretty rare for kids to act like kids in Western entertainment, too. Especially animated movies, in spite of the fact that they're supposed to be *for* children. Dunno if you've seen "Lilo & Stitch", but one of the things I loved about that movie is that the little girl acts like a very realistic four-year-old who is having some emotional issues. She's neither an ultra-cutesy, obedient little kid, nor is she a total brat -- just a believable child.