Spirited Away has so many meanings. It is the type of movie that is interpreted differently by every person that sees it. Some see it as a highly mystical spiritual journey, some see it as an almost nightmarish dream, and yet others will see it simply as a story about a girl trying to understand how to be true to herself, and what it means to truly believe in yourself. All in all, it is obvious that every person sees it differently.
And one way that I believe it can be seen as is a critical look at the workplace society in our modern world. It is a metaphorical journey of newcomer to the “real” world of business, responsibility, and loneliness.
And the whole journey begins with the separation of Chihiro from her parents. Her parents are turned into pigs, and she is unable to communicate with them, and is therefore completely separated from them. Metaphorically, this can be seen as the first time that a young adult, or even a teenager is on their own. They are no longer able to fall back on their parents. They are completely responsible for themselves.
The next thing relative thing that occurs is the “job application”. First Chihiro must get past Kamajii, by persistently trying to ask him for a job. Then when she finally reaches the “Boss”, she fills out her contract, whereby signing away her name for a new one.
Ah yes, the names. In this movie, names have a huge importance. They are the symbol of each person’s personality, down to the very core persona. They represent each person’s will to live, goals in life, and basically those things which people hold closest to their heart. By getting a job, Chihiro loses her name for Sen. And if not for her card from her world, she would forget her name, as she almost does the next day. This idea of losing your name because of Yu-Baaba can be seen as a very obvious interpretation saying something very controversial. And that is that work (in this case work you don’t like) will take away your dreams and goals. Yu-Baaba, the boss and representation of the money-grubbing business world, will steal your name, a symbol of your goals and dreams, as well as your understanding of your very own self. Work is a destroyer of dreams, work shall reduce your goals to nothing more than a simple wish for freedom.
And freedom is what the other characters do wish for. Yet not directly. They wish only to get on the train. The train is probably the largest symbol in the movie, excepting perhaps the names. In this movie, the train is the universal symbol for freedom, change, and moving on. It is the escape that all so desperately dream for. They have forgotten their names, or in other words, their true dreams and goals, and are now merely hoping for a way to escape the world in which they live: the cruel business world. They have been beaten so far down, that they care for nothing but freedom from their current life.
“The train only goes one way. It used to go both, but nowadays it’s a one way trip.”
What Kamajii said about the train can also be seen as an interpretation. He is saying that the business world used to be a place where one could easily leave jobs, because they were easier to get, and minimum wage would let you survive. But nowadays, once you get a job, you dare not leave it for fear of not getting another job. True, it’s still quite easy to get minimum wage jobs, but they will not suffice as a means for survival. In this way, jobs steal your name, or in realistic terms, your goals and dreams. Your fear of freedom is what causes you to not be able to achieve your goals. Your fear of the uncertain is what drives you to work at jobs that you hate. The train of freedom used to be like a revolving door, but it is now a turnstile, once gone through, never to return the same way.
All of the symbols are intertwined, giving a larger picture and idea of what Miyazaki is trying to portray. Another symbol he uses is the water. I’m referring to the sea-like water that comes because of the rain. The rain begins only after Chihiro gets a job at the baths. And after it rains, and she and Lyn are looking out onto the water, Lyn comments that it looks like the sea. This symbolizes the loneliness that has come over Chihiro because she is now working at the baths. What once was land, something over which she could travel, is now water, creating an island around Chihiro, symbolizing the isolation she has put herself in by taking the job. She is now living on an island, an isolated space, now that she has the job, when before it was all land. She can no longer leave the bathhouse because it is now an island.
While the ideas in it can only be applied to some jobs in some situations, the basic idea that the movie is saying can still be understood: Work alienates people from their lives. You politicians and sociologists, and possibly psychologists, in the crowd will probably recognize this statement. It is an idea pioneered by Karl Marx, whom, if you don’t know, was the creator of the basic concept of communism. He lived during the height of the industrial revolution, and upon seeing the factory workers in London, noticed that this work would cause so much stress in a person’s life that their work would actually alienate from their lives.
Still, the movie is not necessarily saying that all work is bad. As the movie progresses, Chihiro gains friends, and in the end, makes the bathhouse a much nicer place by slightly softening Yu-Baaba. But she does this because she takes the initiative. I believe that this is the movie’s moral (or at least one of them). Even if a workplace is bad, it does not mean that you must succumb to the drudgery. You may take the initiative to try to fix it, and make it a better place, or you may be the courageous one, and stand up to the tyrannical boss (I’m not saying all bosses are so). You may even be both, and leave the job to find a better one before the job begins controlling your whole life. Chihiro basically does all of these things, and in the end, is a much happier and confident person.
All in all, Spirited Away can be seen as a criticization (fine, I admit it’s not a real word, but it works) of modern society’s work life. While Spirited Away can be interpreted so many different ways, one definite understanding is that it is a look at today’s business world, and how much it has changed into an impersonal, cruel and harsh place full of misery, but not saying that all work is so.
At least that’s what I think.
