Fly Away

(So this is sort of late...but to give an excuse, I've been so busy with packing for moving into a new house and studying for SAT's, tests, etc. =X)



So let's continue our journey of being "Spirited Away." So Chihiro and her family are moving to a new house (like I am in two days) and on the way to their new house, they get lost and find a strange place that attracts them. Through the dark tunnel, you see a place that looks like abandoned train station (which leads to the "abandoned amusement park"--the bathhouse for spirits). The images of stones with strange smiley faces, wind, and clocks are repetitively captured. The stones with faces work as dramatic irony because the viewers already know about the stronge place from watching the trailer or reading the brochure, and the stones give a hint to viewers that they are not in the real world anymore. The wind keeps on dragging hesitant Chihiro towards the "abandoned amusement park." The clocks seemed to be out of batteries or stopped, which shows that in the spirit world, the time is not a matter.


Also another important motif: the card Chihiro's friend gave to her says "Good luck, Chihiro. We'll meet again." In addition to being contrued as "good luck at new school", it can also be interpreted as "good luck in the spirit world!" And the statement "we'll meet again" foreshadows that Chihiro will somehow come back to the real world. But it's very subtle that not many viewers would recognize unless they think through.


So Chihiro's mom and dad turned into pigs and now Chihiro must get a job in the spirit world to save her parents and of course, herself. Chihiro finds great help and comfort in Haku who somehow already knows her name and offers generous help. In the bathhouse, like the real world, there seems to be a motto that "everything should be done quickly--faster, faster!" While everyone is busy doing his/her own stuff, Chihiro, with help of Lin, safely goes to Yubaba to ask for a job in the bathhouse.

Yubaba is the head-principal witch that keeps the bathhouse in orderly system. As Yubaba reluctantly gives Chihiro a job, she takes Chihiro's name and replaces with a new name, Sen. This way Yubaba keeps the person in her hands and can control him/her the way she wants to. The difference in sizes of Yubaba and Sen (no more Chihiro) tells how intimidating and overpowering Yubaba is even in physical appearance.


TBC.........