I think something that has been ignored (or maybe not, but I've not noticed it mentioned at least) is Empedocles' idea of Love vs. Strife as seen in Spirited Away. Come to think of it, I think the subject has been ignored altogether.
So that leads me to ask- did we just get carried away with other subjects (there are a lot, so it's understandable) and the topic of Love/Strife get thrown by the wayside, or do we think it's a dumb thing to discuss? I ask this because whenever the topic of Love is brought up people seem to get the mindset that it's a fluffy, childish thing that really isn't that important.
So a following question- is it really a stupid topic? If so, why? This I ask partly because I found it interesting to see people's reactions to Spirited Away when it "suddenly turned into a fairytale"- people seemed to suddenly be confused and/or think the whole business suddenly ridiculous.
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Love and strife are not stupid at all, but maybe just a little scary ... and you know how people titter when they're nervous.
ReplyDeleteBig important topics have a way of making people hesitant, and anxious. Open expressions of _feeling_ make us vulnerable to criticism and repudiation. Love, in particular, is especially embarrassing because it's linked to sex, and sex is such a weird taboo in our society.
As for Empedocles ... I think he's brilliant! ... Just for the fact that he came up with a (simplified) version of our elemental model, basically, just out of his head. The fact that he could figure it out before the invention of the microscope means, to me, that the world isn't so complex after all.
I think love is just a difficult thing do define for most people. In class we could probably spend much of our time defining what type of love there is in the movie.
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