Is He An Evil Wizard, Too?
We went to the movies last night, for real.
We go to the movies frequently, but very rarely to the Regal Cinemas, because we are running out of arms and legs.
However, we have friends with prohibitive schedules, and therefore we found ourselves coughing and hacking up ten dollars and fifty cents entry fee. And for Miyazaki's sake, we ponied up for Ponyo.
I think I adored Ponyo, and I think it might have been....wait for it...his best film yet. Maybe I'll watch Totoro again with a critical eye, and perhaps I'll finally get to Kiki's Delivery Service, but it just seemed that Ponyo is exactly the sort of movie I'd want my young children to watch.
There are shimmery spells and watery beasts, great goddess types and respected elders, but I was almost most pleased by the responsible young protagonist. Imagine, if you will, a child who does not whine. He cries, yes, and he breaks some rules that children should probably not be breaking (please don't go down to the oceanside alone when no one knows you're there), but he's a good kid who feels that taking responsibility is something that should be done. He's also surprisingly capable for his five years and has quite a bit more self-possession than, say, 8-year-old Russell from Up. I thought Up was terrific, of course I did. But I get this pedantic twinge that makes me wish we had more characters like Sosuke in our children's media.
Ponyo herself was also a refreshing splash of a girl character, and I appreciated an NPR article that mentioned her as a sort of model for some younger kids on the autistic spectrum.
It just seemed like every depiction of everyday life rang truer in Ponyo. The lights went out and the characters proceeded to follow realistic procedures, grabbing different kinds of flash lights (not just your standard cartoon torch), and then firing up the terrifically detailed generator. When the generator didn't work, everyone discussed the hows and whys of the problem, and solved it, albeit magically.
Apparently, there's a way to raise children that treats them as if they have a brain, and then proceeds to educate them in basic skills like caring for others and the proper use of matches. I guess I feel as if Ponyo is a movie of magic and Montessori, then.
We go to the movies frequently, but very rarely to the Regal Cinemas, because we are running out of arms and legs.
However, we have friends with prohibitive schedules, and therefore we found ourselves coughing and hacking up ten dollars and fifty cents entry fee. And for Miyazaki's sake, we ponied up for Ponyo.
I think I adored Ponyo, and I think it might have been....wait for it...his best film yet. Maybe I'll watch Totoro again with a critical eye, and perhaps I'll finally get to Kiki's Delivery Service, but it just seemed that Ponyo is exactly the sort of movie I'd want my young children to watch.
There are shimmery spells and watery beasts, great goddess types and respected elders, but I was almost most pleased by the responsible young protagonist. Imagine, if you will, a child who does not whine. He cries, yes, and he breaks some rules that children should probably not be breaking (please don't go down to the oceanside alone when no one knows you're there), but he's a good kid who feels that taking responsibility is something that should be done. He's also surprisingly capable for his five years and has quite a bit more self-possession than, say, 8-year-old Russell from Up. I thought Up was terrific, of course I did. But I get this pedantic twinge that makes me wish we had more characters like Sosuke in our children's media.
Ponyo herself was also a refreshing splash of a girl character, and I appreciated an NPR article that mentioned her as a sort of model for some younger kids on the autistic spectrum.
It just seemed like every depiction of everyday life rang truer in Ponyo. The lights went out and the characters proceeded to follow realistic procedures, grabbing different kinds of flash lights (not just your standard cartoon torch), and then firing up the terrifically detailed generator. When the generator didn't work, everyone discussed the hows and whys of the problem, and solved it, albeit magically.
Apparently, there's a way to raise children that treats them as if they have a brain, and then proceeds to educate them in basic skills like caring for others and the proper use of matches. I guess I feel as if Ponyo is a movie of magic and Montessori, then.