Reflecting on the Importance of Knowing Ourselves Through Film: Spirited Away
Introduction
Sometimes we watch a film and make an emotional connection that we continue to reflect on years or decades later. But why do these films leave such a memorable impact in our lives? Perhaps we intuitively relate to the film based on our unique life experiences. We just feel something significant that we may not be able to directly place unless we take some time to reflect on it — and then do we start to make sense of a piece of our own history.
In this essay, I will focus on a Studio Ghibli film that holds a special place in my life: Spirited Away. This is an impactful film that transforms a significant part of the human condition into a work of art with beautiful music, meaningful characters, and fluid, masterful animation. I will reflect on the characters and themes to bring light to the importance of identity and how these themes can inspire us to interpret meaning in our own lives.
Warning: this writing contains spoilers!
Facing fears
The film starts with a scene of a seemingly unhappy girl who is moving to a new town, likely worried about the challenges that come with adapting to an unfamiliar place. Uncertainty and perhaps even overwhelm are natural feelings during life changes — so how will this character, Chihiro, confront these challenges and develop along the way?
At the beginning segment, we have an air of mystery setting up the scene. What are these statues lining the forest road? Where does this mysterious tunnel lead? This is something that Chihiro is not keen to find out, but sometimes we have no choice but to confront these uncertainties head-on with a push from those around us.
At the end of the tunnel is an abandoned town with a stall containing hot food. Despite this abnormality, her parents fall into temptation and indulge until they transform into pigs. This scene sets the stage for the theme of identity in the film — at points in our lives, we may change in undesirable ways, possibly losing pieces of ourselves in the process. Yet, even with this setback, there is still a story and resolution ahead of us. How will Chihiro deal with these unexpected changes and persevere?
As a result, Chihiro is in a state of fear and panic as night falls, surrounded by shadowy figures. Shadows often represent a physical manifestation of fear or the unknown, often alluding to shadows in the context of identity.
Compassion in a time of struggle
Chihiro meets Haku, who at first impression is a kind, gentle, and compassionate person. He sees someone who is scared and overwhelmed and helps her find a place in this mysterious world until she can find herself. He is reassuring and calm and doesn’t blame her when she makes a mistake. Sometimes when we are discovering ourselves, we need a little compassion and help from others to get us back on our feet.
Facing challenges with resiliency
Despite Chihiro’s uncertainty, we begin to see her strengths as the film progresses. She is fearful, yet still moves forwards with determination, knowing she must act with some courage in order to persevere. She is also sensitive and compassionate, as she notices a soot sprite in need and takes some time to help despite her own uncertainty. In response, Kamaji (whose name fittingly means “old boiler man”) speaks up for her and gets her a job in the bathhouse — showing that if we do good acts, we are more likely to receive them from others. Chihiro is scared, yet pushes through the challenge of belonging in a world seemingly unfit for her.
We get another perspective of Chihiro’s character when she meets the witch Yubaba, who makes jabs at her misfortunes. Despite this, she stands up for herself and doesn’t back down in the face of anger or fear, setting clear boundaries to protect herself. Here we see a scared, uncertain girl blooming into a strong character who confronts challenges head-on.
On false identities
The theme of the importance of identity comes through when Chihiro signs a contract and loses her name, which is the most basic form of identity to distinguish ourselves from others. Instead of Chihiro, she is now Sen — and without her name, she loses her connection to the outside world as well as her history.
There is an additional form of identity we use to fit into social roles, referred to as the persona archetype as described by the psychiatrist Carl Jung. In essence, this is a mask we put on in society to maintain an image — aligning ourselves to the external values expected of us instead of our internal values. In Haku’s case, he has to put on a different façade when he’s working — one that is diligent and authoritative.
This seems inauthentic when we compare it to his character when he first met Chihiro on the bridge. While his self at work may be cold, his true self is warm and compassionate — someone who can be there for others when they’re down, listening to them and gently offering help. In which situation does he seem happier? Which version of him makes us feel more belonging? Who were we in the happiest times of our lives?
A brief look into the recurring nature themes in Studio Ghibli films
Chihiro’s kindness comes through when a stink spirit comes into the bathhouse, oozing with sludge and polluting all it comes in contact with. Instead of shirking away like the others, she sees that it is in need and offers her earnest help. In return, she finds out this was a guardian of a river that had been polluted and receives medicine that she uses to help others later on. This is an example of the nature themes that Hayao Miyazaki puts into his movies to bring awareness to the devastation that we can bring to it — but he shows this in a way that gives us hope for a return of its beauty.
The Symbolism of No-Face
A spirit called No-Face is another notable character in this film — one who has no voice and no clear identity. What could be the purpose of this? If we reflect on his character, which traits stand out? The first notable characterization is that he tempted others with gold, consumed them, and continued to take from others until he was uncontrollable. Perhaps in this way, he represents the ruin of temptation, which is presented as a recurring theme in the film.
Chihiro refuses his temptations, however, indicating her virtue of prudence or self-control — linking to the Delphic maxims of “know thyself” and “nothing in excess”. She knows that she doesn’t need gold and refuses to be tempted into excess. She further displays her kindness when she offers No-Face the medicine she got from the river spirit, sensing that he needs help. To her, even the most terrifying creature is still someone who needs some warmth in their life — and by giving this spirit compassion, she gave it a chance to be free. So how could we reflect on the times when we effectively resisted temptation and felt better off for it? Have there been times we have shown compassion for others who hurt us?
Yubaba’s Control and Bo’s Isolation
Yubaba’s baby, Bo, could represent isolation from the outside world. Yubaba is a character that likes to have control — and does so by taking the names of those who work for her and keeping her child isolated. Bo is a character that is kept from experiencing life in all its aspects, and only realizes the beauty of life once he goes outside. As a result, he gains the experience to learn how to stand up against his mother and grow into a stronger character. Despite his initial hostility towards Chihiro, she takes him on a journey with her after he is transformed into a mouse. She is a character that harbors no grudges and offers peace instead — seeing a hostile character as a friend.
Character duality and self-discovery
At the end of the train journey, Chihiro meets Yubaba’s twin sister, Zeniba. She is a kind woman who gives others freedom instead of controlling them and gives No-Face a place to stay. In a way, she is the light side of a dark character, perhaps representing the duality of our characters.
At the climax, we realize Haku had previously met Chihiro as the guardian of a river she had fallen into as a child. He had saved Chihiro from drowning in the past and she returns the gift of life by returning his name — representing the dynamic of give-and-take we need for the greatest interpersonal relationships. When he realizes who he truly is after all this time, he’s set free.
An end could be a new start
In one of the final scenes, Chihiro somehow knew that none of the pigs were her parents. How would she know this? This was likely intuition, or a gut feeling that something is off. If we reflect back on the beginning of the movie, she knows something is off yet still pushes through — going down a path that presented many challenges. Though she may have struggled to find herself during these uncertain times, she still came out better in the end.
At the end, there is a promise that Chihiro and Haku will meet again. This is left up to interpretation but we know for sure that they will live on in each other’s memories. As Zeniba said, “Everything that happens stays inside you… Even if you can’t remember it.” So even if Chihiro does not see him again after all, the friendship she made with him is a drop in the well of human experience shaping her into who she is.
Final thoughts
When I first watched Spirited Away, I felt an intuitive connection that I could not explain — yet by examining it closely many years later, I can better understand its significance. This film conveys a particularly meaningful theme: we may be uncertain and lose confidence in challenging times, yet with time we can find ourselves, grow and gain resilience, and set ourselves free.
As children, we were likely curious about the world — continually learning, exploring, and growing as our most authentic selves. But as we grow and mature, we may lose pieces of ourselves to time. We may forget both positive and negative experiences — yet these memories still remain in our unconscious memory, like an iceberg under the surface.
As time passes, we may go through an adverse event that triggers a need to reflect on who we are. We realize we may have headed down a path that isn’t what we truly wanted — yet on this path, we still learn and gain wisdom. In these times, we may rediscover and embrace the lost parts of who we are and finally feel comfortable in our own skin. So is it the wrong path after all if it turned us into who we are today?
Paradoxically, reflecting on the darkest parts of our lives can lead us to discover ourselves, bring light back into our lives, and heal. For instance, what are we grateful for in these dark times? Who gave us compassion? How did we persevere? By rediscovering these memories, we are able to treat ourselves with compassion, stand up for ourselves, take action to move forward, and make it through challenges. We can effectively set our values and boundaries and be our own advocates in hard times. We can find those who are like us and thrive as our authentic selves. What was a weakness can become a strength again.
Thanks for reading!
