“Once you meet someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memory to come back to you.” ~ Chihiro
We are exposed to many distinct categories: names, water, food, greed, and bad & evil. The meanings behind Spirited Away are overcoming the barriers. Greed is a huge part in this film, in the beginning of the film Chihirho strives for her parents’ attention, she cries, wines, and desperately mentions familiar things from her home and town. The parents are greedy also; their greed of food leads them into changing into pigs. Yubba is the greediest of them all; her greed leads her to serve those who cause wreckage. For example: No-Face go wild throughout the bathhouse. Another example: when she is so into gold, she forgets about her baby being kidnapped.
Names shows a role in the film; Haku and Yubaba understand the power of names in the beginning , Haku frequently inform Chihiro not to forget her name or she will be imprison in the spirit world eternally. Haku is living proof of what can happen to a person who forgets their name. Names are important in the spirit world, and those in authority keep their control by stealing and changing the “powerless” names.
Water & Food are huge things in the film; water represents trap, freedom, life, and death. For example; when Chihiro tries to escape from the theme park, she notices that the area that is dry is now a vast body of water. While, Sen is working, she saves an unhygienic, dirty river spirit by pouring free water over him. Food is a massive power in Spirited Away; it can be a power for good or evil. For example: At First food sets Chihiro’s journey in a wave. Chihiro’s father and mother devours themselves on the food they found in the theme park, turn into pigs, and Chihiro must save them. Haku pushes Chihiro to eat food from the spirit world so she doesn’t disappear, and he gives her food that he puts a spell on to give her strength. Sen feeds both Haku and No-Face a magic ball to heal them of sickness passed on by what they have consumed. Another example: No-Face use food as comfort and a companionship.
Bad & evil, every character has mixture of good and evil; Chihiro is very unlikeable in the beginning, but she improves her better side only after she come to be Sen. The only character continues to be the same is Yubba, but Yubba has her virtues, for example; her love for her boh, that keeps her from her being a villain. My conclusion; greed, food, water, names, good & evil all intertwine with each other. Water just as food, it can be greedy and it can be either good or evil. Names are good, evil, and greed. For example: everyone fear Yubaba, her name gave fear to people, and Yubaba has power and control over people’s names, which is greed.
The film has great symbolic messgaes , this is also a great film for everyone to see
