Princess Mononoke is a 1997 fantasy/adventure film by Hayao Miyazaki, uniting themes of feminism and environmentalism. Hayao Miyazaki is a prominent Japanese director of animation, renowned for his excellent storytelling, high-quality animation, and well-developed characters (often strong female leads). Princess Mononoke is a critical and commercial blockbuster about a young man, Ashitaka, who was the prince of his village. Ashitaka finds himself in the midst of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, the ironworks. Along his journey, he meets San, the Princess “Mononoke,” which can be translated to “spirit of a thing”.

 

San is a human girl who was raised by wolf gods when her parents abandoned her. Her goal throughout the movie is to protect the forest from the ironworks and drive the humans away. San perseveres to stop these humans from destroying the peace of the forest. She is mostly ruthless when it comes to humans, and wouldn’t hesitate to use violence. In contrast, San is also compassionate. She cares for her wolf mother, as well as Ashitaka. In fact, Ashitaka spends a lot of the film under San’s care. However, San does not exist only to be his caregiver as she states that, although she likes him, she cannot forgive humans fully for the damage they have caused.

 

The owner of the ironworks is Lady Eboshi. She is respected within the town which she practically owns. Lady Eboshi’s ideas are revolutionary for the era, an example of this is when she lets women work in the ironworks--to which they describe as “better than life in the towns.” In addition, these women are given weapons as forms of self-protection. These weapons are created by people with leprosy, who are normally rejected by society. They state that she “treated them like human beings”, implying that she also has a compassionate side. On the other hand, she does attempt to destroy the environment for her own gain. Eboshi refuses to give up on any of her ambitions, even those which cause damage.

 

It could be said that the two female leads represent two opposing sides of conflict. San wants to protect the forest, whereas Eboshi wants to protect the ironworks. They are both similar in the fact that they fight for what is important to them. This shows us that women should not be working against each other, but should be working with each other.

 

As previously stated, aside from San and Eboshi, there are other positively represented female characters. From the beginning, the respected village elder is a woman. Furthermore, Ashitaka’s sister plays an important, yet swift role. She gives Ashitaka a dagger, which is later vital when he gives it to San. I highly admire Hayao Miyazaki for his consistent use of empowering female characters which he describes as “brave, self-sufficient girls that don’t think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart.” He continues, “They’ll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a saviour. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man”.

To finish off, Princess Mononoke was a memorable movie from my childhood because it taught me the importance of environmentalism and how strong women can be. The female characters are not objectified and are not simply romantic opportunities for the male lead. Messages are not exclusively one thing, but they leave the audience to draw their own conclusions. I would highly recommend this movie to all viewers, particularly young women!