A Marxist Analysis of Spirited Away

[@revolutionaryth0t]

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[@phangkuanhoong7967]

i don't get why ppl think marxism is to assume the labour class is "always right". we're not. we're just the oppressed class. being oppressed doesn't automatically make u "good", "right", or "nice".

[@ciro_costa]

Exactly. This completely disregards the work of ideology in maintaining capitalism.

[@getcrepuscular9755]

Yeah Marxism is more interested in agents of history than as moral figures 4:25

[@jaredmcdaris7370]

The vast majority of people don’t know what Marxism is. They don’t even know what capitalism is. It’s all just a football game, to most people.

[@sigalius]

@@phangkuanhoong7967 they superimpose liberal ideology onto marxism because they’re too disinclined to actually understand what marxism articulates. liberal ideology is inextricably linked to internal orientation and individualism, which causes people to fail at understanding systemic forces and the context of material conditions.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Exactly this!

[@comradethatmetalguy]

You can forget Marxism, but not class consciousness. Miyazaki knows what the causes of the antagonisms and degradation of our society and nature are, and he shows it in everyone of his movies.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Absolutely!

[@DubGamin420]

Real! My favorite animated movie is probably Princess Mononoke. Commentary about imperialism industrialism religion and environmentalism and it all works sooo well in the plot!

[@darkranger116]

"You can forget Marxism, but not class consciousness" is this a typo? im confused.. class consciousness was literally part of his entire point

[@comradethatmetalguy]

@darkranger116 You can have class conscious and still not be a Marxist. Marxism, as a guide to revolutionary practice lets you know that the goal of class consciousness is the revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Miyazaki may not be a Marxist and may not believe the revolution is possible, but he is aware of the disasters of capitalism and the dynamics of class struggle. Anarchists are class conscious, but their analyses and solutions are different.

[@link199100]

Yeah, I wouldn't say "You can forget Marxism"...

[@stephenwood6663]

Of note here: a sen is a coin, worth one hundredth of a yen. They stopped making them in 1945. In naming Chihiro 'Sen', Yubaba is effectively saying "Your value as a person is directly tied to how financially useful you are to me (which is to say, not very, so watch it.)" In WW2, one nickname used for the common soldier was "Senrin", a reference to the price of the postage for a letter of conscription - one sen, one rin. The implication being: this is how much it costs to replace you.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

That's very interesting!!

[@Survivalist-of-war]

Your value is the worth of one postage. As we are seen today.

[@lydianoack4552]

So is the Rin (Lin) and the Haku. No-Face is originally named "onaji" which has a meaning of resembling something or someone, which makes him an interesting rabbithole of a spirit as well. Yuu-Baba's "Yuu" designates "oil" but can also be capital if I remember correctly. Zeniba could come from "zeni" meaning "well-meaning".

[@stephenwood6663]

@@lydianoack4552 Good catch! :D

[@lydianoack4552]

@@stephenwood6663 thanks, knew some words and looked up the rest. Didn't know the "senrin" story until now, but ouch damn, that is bitter.

[@seese9456]

Ohh we need MORE class analysis of media. The majority of "critics" don't even bother with using dialectical materialism.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

I'll definitely be doing more Marxist analyses of media in the future!!

[@k-onlegacy]

@@revolutionaryth0t Yess I find it very inspiring to incorporate it into my own work as well ^^

[@Midnightmonty97]

A 34 minute long Marxist analysis of spirited away. This seems like a productive use of my time at work.

[@bringerofjellity]

Boss makes a dollar I make a dime, that's why I watch a marxist analysis of spirited away in company time.

[@erinrising2799]

1:00 he was more than a hero, he was a union man

[@redacted3740]

Love that episode

[@lentoperoavanzo4007]

Critical support for Grand Nagus Rom ✊

[@ciro_costa]

Only Marxism and socialism can save us from impending climate doom. Please guys, get educated on it and then get organized politically. Whichever is your branch. We must create a wide anti capitalist political field.

[@raquetdude]

It’s odd that Miyazaki said that Marxism is not the future while writing his most environmental film and said that he doesn’t agree with the system in his writings. Vast majority of Marxists are mostly either third world nationalists or they are Stalinists sadly.

[@ciro_costa]

@@raquetdude huh. What do you consider 'stalinists' because that isn't a thing. Also, what's wrong with being a third-world nationalist Marxist? Don't you know that for the same job you receive around 9 times less in the third world? Anti imperialism is a valid cause for people to stand behind here.

[@ciro_costa]

@@raquetdude Ok, I'll concede. I've seen some weirdos that seem to love the ussr esthetic. And say things like 'Stalin did nothing wrong'. But besides these types, which have no political significance anyway, Stalinism isn't a thing. If what you're calling stalinists are people who don't take a stance against real socialism and instead are willing to study those experiences and learn what went right and what went wrong, then I don't agree with the use of this term.

[@dannylo5875]

Who builds your goods. Slaves or well paid equally represented workers!? That they have rights or don't have rights or equal human rights or retooling to meet change means, markets, demand, or progress.

[@ciro_costa]

@@dannylo5875 Yeah, there isn't ethical consumption under capitalism. But still we need these things. I'm not sure if I'm getting your point here....

[@alexeyvlasenko6622]

This is great! I'm actually beginning to think that Miyazaki's choice not to call himself a Marxist is more about choice of words than substance.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@MOCHERlK]

I'm leaning towards that as well, seems like he just got some definitions wrong or they got lost in translation etc. and he turned against those "false" definitions. He still seems to view stuff through a anti-capitalist sense, so he can't be FULLY opposed to Marxism

[@Boydar]

It's very hard not to dunk on capitalism really

[@MasterOfBaiter]

The thing about growth through labor is in my opinion to be taken more universally. To paraphrase the slave aspect of the slave master dialectic while the masters sense of self can only be asserted in relation to others the laborer has an actual impact on the world changing it and thus being changed by it. While the conditions of labor are exploitative the act of laboring itself is beneficial for personal growth. You get to literally see your own impact on the world and see yourself become proficient in something. Hence why communists don't want to abolish labor itself but rather the exploitative conditions it operates within.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

I feel like I finally get Hegel after reading this comment. Absolutely agree with this, I wish I had come up with this so I could have put it in the video haha

[@getcrepuscular9755]

Alienation is very underrated by Marxists as a Marxist concept. It's individually focused on the rights of the person and holds that capitalism is a shitty form of collectivism

[@MOCHERlK]

Alienation might be THE term when it comes to class consciousness, if you don't notice exploitation through other sources, you WILL notice it when you yourself turn into a replaceable machine, only alive to bring in profits!

[@Wolfiemlm]

Princess Mononoke would be an interesting one to analyse from a Marxist perspective

[@purolemon]

How are you this based and cool

[@revolutionaryth0t]

I do my best!

[@lifesbrink]

Yeah this! But the opposite

[@firedbolt]

Ahhh, anticapitalism right in the morning. No better way to start your day (it's 7 am where I live)

[@ramennnoodle]

I think it kinda makes sense those colonial ideals are left over, while Miyazaki is anti-war I always get the feeling he's anti-war for the reason that Japan suffered and not because he's meaningfully opposed to imperial or colonial expansion (which in fact, Japan's own expansion was the very reason they went to war with China and eventually the rest of Asia and the Western powers). It's for that reason I find the anti-war messaging in his films to be starved of meaningful purpose, as opposed to other anti-war Japanese media like Ningen no Joken whose stance is explicitly critical of imperialism.

[@Rosie-xm7ry]

Yes I feel like many Japanese people value “peace” (absence of tension) rather than true justice and liberation. I think it’s because, as you said, they felt the horrors of war during WW2 but never had to use armed resistance to strive for their own liberation like many other countries had to.

[@takeshibrb7495]

What you have just described is the thinking of the ordinary Japanese, who form their worldview mainly through the mainstream media. Mainly, television dramas with a large audience always show the horrors of war from the point of view of the civilian population of the time. But never, ever, not even in the slightest, do they reflect on Japan's acts of aggression, the reasons for the war, on international geopolitics. On how Japan modernized itself at a time when the political thinking was that great countries are empires (explicitly). Therefore, the Japanese ruling class concludes that Japan should become one too, a decades-long process, which would inevitably lead to a clash with other powers. In contrast, Miyazaki, as described in the English Wikipedia, condemned Prime Minister Abe's attempt to reform the Constitution, to revise the clause outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes. And also disapproved Abe's denial of Japan's military aggression, stating Japan "should clearly say that [they] inflicted enormous damage on China and express deep remorse over it". He felt the government should give a "proper apology" to Korean comfort women who were forced to serve the Japanese army during World War II... Furthermore, After the release of The Wind Rises in 2013, some online critics labeled Miyazaki a "traitor" and "anti-Japanese", describing the film as overly "left-wing" However, it must be admitted that these interview excerpts have little repercussion. The media themselves have no interest in publishing content that they deem to be anti-Japanese. And of course the director cannot use his works explicitly for political enlightenment (or indoctrination). A delicate balance, if a creator has such concerns consciously.

[@worksbeforedeath]

i feel this isnt true since he has talked abt how japan's actions in china were a "war of aggression," how he said japan should formally apologize for their actions, that regular civilians have a responsibility to reflect more on the war, and that his father should have acknowledged his role as an arms manufacteror in the war. i am not entirely sure why some of his films, including his more recent ones, are not all that reflective of his views.... but he has definitely been very clear on it. i worry it is more nuanced than what you're saying in this comment, and i say this bc i fear he has lost some control on his say in ghibli movies. as an example, he has had to fight against AI in his own company. it could be an issue of stockholder interest or something like that. so overall, i disagree with the movie's expression of his anti-war sentiments, but i fear it is not entirely on miyazaki or a true representation of his beliefs.

[@ramennnoodle]

@@worksbeforedeath That's very unfortunate then, because his views really do not come out in his movies; this is especially unfortunate because earlier directors like Kobayashi Masaki had the backbone to impart their anti-imperialism straight into their works.

[@CopingContinuous]

It feels like tyranny of the masses is being criticized. His class change absolutely produced the change in his attitude

[@revolutionaryth0t]

For sure, it's wild that he tried to claim otherwise!

[@CopingContinuous]

@@revolutionaryth0t but also kind of proves the power of class thinking. I wouldn’t be surprised if before his death he reverts to a Marxist or at least anti capitalist stance.

[@Денис-н6т3д]

Да, обозревателям произведений с позиций марксизма в России и СНГ ещё учиться и учиться до такого. Спасибо Вам большое.

[@benzur3503]

The development of class solidarity comes through labor. Kamaji doesnt know how he feels towards a random girl who pops in and disrupts his work routine. He knows how he feels and what hes willing to give to help to a person he recognises strives towards similar goods as he does. Conditions of labor->labor->class solidarity-> class interests solidfy-> class warfare occurs to materially mainfest the common class interests->abolishment conditions of labor becomes enabled through the conditions of labor, reducing alienation towards the world, each other and the selves who pass through it to build a better world

[@jaredmcdaris7370]

I think the spirits could also be viewed as the landed aristocracy and/or nobility. The centuries the Eurocentric typically label as primitive accumulation saw the burgeoning bourgeoisie and petit-bourgeoisie providing bespoke services to the landed gentry while simultaneously siphoning off their wealth in the gradual process of usurping their position as the ruling class. Given Miyazaki’s (not at all uncommon) sympathy for nobility-coded magical super-beings, the spirits could be read as the common nostalgia among the petit-bourgeoisie (like Miyazaki himself) for the mythologized pre-capitalist era, when super-powered nobility controlled the world (and would surely elevate the worthy out of penury, as Haku figuratively elevates Chihiro). Or not, whatevs.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Ooh interesting perspective, I feel like that would also make sense.

[@ThePaultism]

And with that, you've done something seldom achieved: gotten me to watch a piece of popular media via marxist analysis

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Yay!! 🫶

[@CayleeR]

What's funny is that I once saw someone on KZbin claim that Spirited Away was anti-capitalist but didn't take her seriously. After transitioning from male to female and becoming a Marxist, I decided it would be a good idea to watch Spirited Away while super high on weed, but then it ended up being the most anxious experience I ever had watching a movie under the influence. The whole movie suddenly became anti-capitalist propaganda, and I was like, "Oh no, it's true." 😅

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Haha I love this for you! Aside from it being an anxious experience, that doesn't sound ideal haha

[@gilliansteele8296]

I understand the anxiety after getting baked and watching media. I watched finding Nemo after finishing an essay for my early childhood development class and im like… wow Nemo’s dad actually kinda sucked…

[@CayleeR]

@@gilliansteele8296 As a trans woman with daddy issues, duly noted.

[@yoonahkang7384]

If you dont know what capitalism is, youll never see the capitalism in society. You will think society is like it is, as a natural phenomenon

[@CayleeR]

@@yoonahkang7384 I already know that.

[@guzax729]

The algorithm has blessed me with this channel

[@DubGamin420]

Dope analysis. ! I'm a finance graduate and have been burned by capitalism way too many times. Learning more about other finance systems and never noticed the capitalist critique of my beloved movie

[@mayamayhemmusic]

really good way to teach newer lefties about theory concepts in an easily digestible way!~ >w< cc:

[@sigalius]

isn’t it? i love this channel

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@CaptPeon]

I think that the "villains" of this story demonstrate how the base structure turns well meaning individuals into "monsters" solely due to their sociopolitical situation; the environment they find themselves in influences their actions. This is classic Marx, a beautiful movie, and a great critique! No wonder I, as a Marxist, love this movie so much!

[@ariace3602]

It's finally time the weebs join the revolution!! Oh how many shows get cancelled or their quality dropped due to captalistic exploitation!

[@collinbeal]

And how the production schedules and wages given are untenable for workers. Large investment firms fund shows from animation studios with a fixed budget from the onset with no way for those studios to secure additional time or funding if they go over their allotment; this leads to animation studios having to cut into both the home life and income of its workers, giving them less for working more. If the investment firms didn't siphon so much money off the top of the value produced by anime, if studios actually had adequate time and resources to produce shows, and if they weren't forced to delegate responsibilities to other studios or cheap freelance animators overseas to meet the stringent guidelines set forth by investors, workers would have the power to unionize, leading to a sea change in animation quality and an end to consumerist drivel like the 97th isekai or otome or reincarnation plotline with all the soul sucked from it. In other words, we could have had a quality anime adaptation of Junji Ito's _Uzumaki._ Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[@ariace3602]

@@collinbeal y'know with universal healthcare, Mr Muiria would've finished Berserk

[@ariace3602]

@@collinbeal Glad to listen to your talk, Ted

[@Lavanderhair]

Great video, Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@KU84SH33]

Damn, no wonder I grew up a Marxist 😅 Thank you for covering a part of my childhood. Great video as always, keep it up! ✊🚩

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!! I watched this movie like almost daily as a kid haha so of course I had to do a video about it!

[@MOCHERlK]

@@revolutionaryth0t We should have more leftist undertone in mainstream movies! does anyone know A bug's life?

[@ron9543]

Subscribing. After seeing the first 6 1/2 minutes of you being meticulous in dialectical and historical materialism, I know you know your stuff. I figured you must have 500k+ subscribers and somehow I never heard of you, or you're a new channel. It would be cool if someone like Second Thought or Hasan gave you a shout. All I know is you deserve some algorithm love, and people need to hear your words!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you so much! I appreciate it :)

[@Darragoth]

On my first watch Spirited Away despite its stunning animation mostly left me confused. Thanks for injecting some DiaMat to make it make sense! Veliko hvala vam tovariš za vaš trud!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Glad it was helpful!! Большое спасибо!

[@Otacult]

Miyazaki's father Katsuji Miyazaki was the director and brother of the owner of a factory that manifactured airplanes during WWII. This seems to deeply impact several of his films in a more obvious ways in films such as The Boy and The Heron and The Wind Rises. But I believed it may have also shaped his aversion to capitalism at least in his youth. The topics of human development and war impacting nature an human wellbeing are extensively discussed in several of the studio's movies.

[@feliperamedeiros]

Watching Ghibli movies lightly high on psychedelics throughout my 20's was some of the most delightful experiences, and I know they have a big impact on my core political and social views - and emotional too, damn those movies make me cry liters of pure joy (sometime rivers of sadness 😭) It started with Spirited Away, and since then every movie from Ghibli is kind of a transcendental experience to me... I'm still completely blind on that last movie about the bird cause I want some shrooms to see it 😂

[@jorgsss]

nenhuma experiência é única mesmo kkkkkk

[@fallenswan1670]

[@renanaugustomoraesconceica6976]

Great analysis. This video is great to use in my sociology classes on how to use historical materialism to analyze broad contexts.

[@FernandoNSalgado]

Yubaba is most a slave owner than a bourgeoisie, after all, she don't pay her workers. They can't leave, don't have they names anymore, only rest or eat when Yubaba let. But your analisys is solid as a rock, I love it.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

True, or maybe like a more extreme version of one of those old industrial capitalists that corralled all their workers into company towns. Perhaps a combo of the two. Thank you!

[@n366_thinking]

I've shared many of the insights you mentioned with my friends, but they didn’t fully understand me. Your explanation is incredibly clear, and I hope it encourages others to view this movie with deeper reflection😁

[@superbeltman6197]

I was just about to study

[@Shimansaji]

It’d be fun to see an alternative SA where Chihiro is a red-diaper baby, and salts the bathhouse workers, concluding in a union imo.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

That would be so cool haha

[@ДаринаБерман]

Удачи в продвижении канала! Не останавливайтесь, ваш канал обязательно увеличит число подписчиков в юлижайшее время

[@Rosie-xm7ry]

Yo I always felt bad for the bath house workers!!! Like they were just stuck there forever ? 😭 Now I can hope that they have a worker’s revolution lol

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Right!? I hope so too lol

[@Far_for_people]

Please, russian subtitles! This things is really important

[@samirateixeira6954]

OMG ok I just shared your channel with my friends and they thought I was plugging my own KZbin channel COMPLIMENT OF THE CENTURY

[@brentt6714]

I've never had any particular interest in watching Spirited Away, and this will likely be the best way I can be exposed to it; as a practice in analysis. Miyazaki didn't forsake Marxism because he was never actually a Marxist; he fundamentally misunderstood Marxism by assuming it was just a shorthand way of categorizing people into "good" or "bad" based on their position in class society, and then apparently not understanding the Marxist delineation of class beyond "rich" or "poor." Not intending to disparage Miyazaki; he's an icon of Japanese animation after all.

[@camillel0100]

Lord, I subscribed and liked at 1mn30, that's analysis that I've NEVER EVER SEEN before on this platform!

[@DMFTexTex]

30:38 the real capitalism is the friends we make along the way

[@bastiancu2365]

The one thing I couldn't quite understand: Why is Haku petty bourgeoisie? Does he perform labour? Does he own the means of production with which he performs labour?

[@phobos_irl]

watched this video last night offline and i Had to come back to say that i absolutely loved it and will recommend it to my fellow uni students (im a political science major) if they need a clearer understanding of what marxism is when applied like that !

[@Plutonium_Che]

An EXCELLENT analysis! I enjoyed the video so much and immediately subscribed!. Never have I seen such a theory-driven analysis, best of yet, it's of my favorite film! Too often I see a "marxist analysis of [insert movie]" that is good but lacking; your video Is rich and great!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you so much! 🫶

[@superbeltman6197]

2:17 Bro is married!?

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Yes lmfao

[@changingpeopleslivesmoon2993]

​@@revolutionaryth0t 🤯

[@VeganMarx]

Thankful for the algorithm for suggesting this video and this channel tonight!

[@BradyRamaker]

Miyazaki also narrowly comes close to making a salient point in Kikis Delivery Service, where Kiki loses her sense of wonder and joy, as well as her physical health due to a toxic work culture but then swerves at the very end wjth an "oh look, a baloon crash!"

[@aidyn5916]

I saw that ending as her using flying disconnected from labor to save somebody important to her. She was able to rediscover her love for it only by seeing it used for something more meaningful than work.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

I love that movie but you know it's definitely fiction because Kiki's boss/landlord is super nice and chill lmao

[@BradyRamaker]

@@maplemiles3381 i see you're fluent in pure gibberish

[@tobikohai]

Loved this. Would love so see a similar unpacking from you of Attack on Titan. Dreaming>

[@Sunaki1000]

24:20 did she say she wants to test Chihiro later? Im pretty sure thats a Dub only. In the original, in the final she explained the test was part of the worlds rules, and she had to test her.

[@AllegraPersephone]

Also "People's Century 1929 Breadlines" is a part of a whole series documentary that go through the time periods in history, and they're all, including previously mentioned, available on this platform. Definitely all worth watching if you have time. And while I'm here I might aswell include "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" a 3 parter by a great docu maker who has made a lot of great documentaries. Not sure if this one is available on this platform, but definitely on others. I'm sharing these because they are extremely informative and enlightening.

[@hindigente]

This is such an underrated channel.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thanks!! 🫶

[@ephraimjohnson8146]

You cooked with this one fr. I love this video.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@icallmyselfARI]

Awesome analysis, subscribed!

[@zainmudassir2964]

Good video 👍. Hayao's mentor Isao Takahata also made Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968) which had socialist and solidarity values

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you! I think Isao Takahata was a Marxist for his entire life, if I remember correctly. I gotta check that movie out at some point!

[@fallenswan1670]

Second thought, what came to me during yesterday, some time after watching this video: 1) I suspect that Miyazaki "dropped Marxism off" because it was treating his movies success: movie theatres and dvd retail companies, etc are owned by capitalists, and his movies both, need quite lot of money to be produced, and are depend on channels to "sell" the movie (literally, or just right to watch it one time in one certain room). 2) While I believe he really believes in the idea, that good people are good no matter what system they live, and bad people are bad similar way, no matter which system they live...that is very blunt thought. First of all, no one born to be evil or bad. Miyazaki's words indicates that such would be true - that some people just born to be bad or evil, and other people just born to be good, and environment does not effect on that. You can find bad people from inside of socialism (unfinished society model what is still under threat and under development and construction) - drunkard Yeltsin is very visible example of such person, he even managed get quite high ranking position in socialism - and you can find good people inside of capitalism (and many of those good people may fight against capitalism, like, let's say "Che" Guevara, who was from rich family, and dedicated his life to fight against such system). But amount of "good" and "bad" people change. I remember, there been research which point out, that "western" nations has more sociopaths/psychopaths (=people with lack of empathy skills) than other societies, and this is because capitalist society courages people to suppress their empathy skill, making people sociopaths in order to - not only to survive in system, but become "successful" in the system. Get higher positions in the hierarchies. This is not purely question about system, but also question about "marketing/propaganda": what people hear to be model for themselves, what they should be. What kind of heroes society rise to be examples. The "story of two wolves" is much closer to truth in case of who becomes "good person" and who does not. What people feed inside of themselves, and what other people feed inside of them. And it is quite complex matter how it ends up. You may have two siblings, one of them end up "bad" person, one end up "good person". There is incredible lot of details happening in human life, that is is impossible to say generally why such happens, but it is much more possible to look their lives and seek out the reasons. Some times reasons can be very indirect. One, quite "angry old man" told, that he didn't realise his teeth had problems, but once he ended up to go dentist, and they fixed something there (I do not know what, the man probably knows), he realised that he had for years quite pain, and once it was gone, he started relax and be less angry and less "hostile" (and less depressed too). Meaning, that better health care system would helped in this. (There is months waiting line for dentist in public health care. Some areas you even need wait to get waiting line, since lines are only 3moths long, and, so if you have only once in month change to get yourself to waiting line before all appointments are gone again. But if you are rich, and can just pay 500+ euros for visit, you can get appointment for 1h from now. Both of these systems are paid by government, but one is for profit and to serve rich people, and other is for poor people. Doctors escape from public health care to "private" one, because public one is always on lack of money and resources, and there is more work to do, than workers, so they escape endless stress (and many of them are very interested also salary which is even better in private sector, although their salary is already higher than minister's salary even in public sector... but usually only rich people's kids has means to study to become doctors, and often they become such only because of salary, not because they want help people...I seen very few doctors who are interested to actually help people (possibly because they are themselves so stressed and depressed - "given up"), while I seen much more helpful nurses - and their salary is horrible, it is wage slave job, and masses of them quitted during Corona crisis, especially since government tried to make law that they cannot legally quit from their jobs (instead of tried help those nurses, or give them extra payment for crisis, like Russia did...). Anyway... I believe that there is big chance that Miyazaki knows much more deeply about this topic, than he publicly says. But because of "1)" of this text, he sees this as excuse to say "I am no longer socialist! Do not shoot me!". I just would hard to believe, that person who really knows and understands so much, would have such blind spot. Then again, when I look Varoufakis, I always end up be puzzled how so brilliant mind has so big blind spots... Do he just chose to have those blind spot to protect himself? His status? I do not know... (I mainly mean his "believe in "democracy"", and hostility against every socialism existing. In ancient Greece, people did not vote leaders in democracies. It was oligarchs where they did so. In democracy, they picked leaders with lottery, in order to make sure, that leaders are ordinary people, and not oligarchs. And in democracy, people voted about decisions, while in oligarchy those elected leaders made decisions as they pleased. But I would like to remind, that masses are not automatically right on their decisions. Socrates was executed by democratic voting. Slightly over 50% of voters saw him as guilty for ruining youth of Athena, and therefore he should be executed. That was completely non-sense. People blamed Socrates from decisions what he did not, and could not make, like that Athena went wars and lost them.)

[@matthewmcree1992]

Spirited Away has been my favorite movie ever since I saw it as a kid (and have seen in tons of times), and yet somehow I never made the connection to Marxist political economy despite being a Marxist. Perhaps because I associate it with childhood, so I kind of bracketed it out from ideological analysis. This was a fantastic video, and only makes me like Spirited Away even more than I already did.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!! 🫶

[@aunti_fa]

this was a genuinely very useful video that helped me better understand some marxist conepts id been confused by in a quite symple and sesynced manor. great vid !!

[@tophtopherson8920]

This is such a good video! I love this movie so much, what a great take on it. Such a delightful thing to revisit and I had never really thought this hard about the themes. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to go listen to the Anastasia videos again while I work because those are also delight

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!! 🫶

[@lokcachte]

Oh this is exciting! At uni, a film theory professor had us do this as a challenge. It was most of the class’ first anime and Americans tend to lack class consciousness , so engaging with Marxist theory was challenging for most of the class. I’m curious to see how many points in this video line up with what we spoke on.

[@AndrewTalgatov45]

Damn. I'm late but i never knew an anime could be so based

[@tasfa10]

9:06 that's wrong. Marx clearly states prices tend to align with value and profits are maximized either temporarily by technological advancement (which when eventually caught up with causes the rate of profit to fall) or by reducing wages / increasing work hours. I agree that in monopoly capitalism cartels can break competition and raise prices, but that's not Marx, perhaps Lenin

[@DerekSpeareDSD]

I was hoping for a new video from you! Keep up the excellent work!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@dotEmfour]

Oh hey, this was great. Appreciate you, comrade ✊✊✊

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!! 🫶

[@Shot5hells]

This is a really great video! I kind of realised how good this movie is at illustrating the capitalist class structure watching it again recently but you elucidate it so well here, and there’s a lot of things I didn’t even notice or consider.

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@twosunies]

Great video. Immediately subscribed!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!

[@AllegraPersephone]

Have you seen "Inside" + "Job" (2010) documentary about the 2007/08 recession. Also "John Perkins Zeitgeist Extended Interview". Very much worth watching. You know there's a collected works of Marx and Engels that's about 50 volumes available around if you seek it. If only I had the power Clark Kent has to read a book in seconds. Attention issues.... But yeah you seem knowledgable and I like you and your perspectives and work.

[@SPAnComCat]

I just Discovered your Channel and it is on Point and Brilliant!

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@SPAnComCat]

@@revolutionaryth0t No Worries, Mate!

[@nadyavazquez2948]

I love your channel so much ❤

[@schoobydooby]

This was amazing, keep up with the amazing work

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@michaelfloriani9460]

I would bring in kropotkin anarchist communist here and say that the collective ownership of *everything* is an important perspective instead of just the means of production. That is to say, the means of production and the community would be indistinguishable. It further revolutionizes the individual past their labor power in relation to the means of production into their full selves in relation to the other and to nature as a whole. Murray bookchin fully fleshed this idea out with social ecology.

[@chrisstahl2653]

Great video. I have only watched Spirited 2 or 3 times, but I love that movie and all other Miyazaki movies. Thanks for making me love this movie even more! 🥰

[@revolutionaryth0t]

🫶

[@estacion7386]

Wasn't that commentary about the witch a little projection? I mean by the presumed notion that giblhi had work issues

[@revolutionaryth0t]

I think so lol it's honestly wild how he got his start at a unionized animation studio but Ghibli has no union. Hmmm 🤔

[@mazamatov]

We’re not the doctors, we’re the pain

[@DanJuega]

Saving this one for later.

[@sigalius]

this is exactly what I needed today. thank you so much for your work

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@communismenjoyer1858]

Great video, subscribed

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!

[@moe3235]

Comrade ✊✊

[@MaxSwenson]

I’m a leftist and would happily tear down capitalism. While laboring for the profit of capitalists is neither fulfilling nor character developing, the act of laboring towards achieving a difficult goal either individually or alongside others can absolutely build character. I’ve worked in tree service for years now and that work has absolutely helped shape me, but the structure of that labor has been so much more team based than most, and the owner-worker relationship is less distant than most other forms of labor as well.

[@RedKnight231]

Speaking of Japanese works of fiction , in the novel Kani Kosen , which was actually written by a Communist author , there was a proletarian revolt , inspired by the influence of a Soviet sailor . So therefore an outsider acting to help to liberate the people from class oppression . I suppose that even foreign comrades , at the time , such as the Japanese Communist Party , viewed the U.S.S.R. as holding a leading role in the international proletarian socialist revolution , rather than simply writing it off as being social imperialism .

[@mileslugo6430]

Japan is different. There's this Japanese ice cream company that had to increase the price of their prime product because the value of wooden popsicle sticks increased. So the ice cream company released an advertisement where the entire company kowtowed to the customer because they would have to increase the value of their ice cream and that they were sorry for the increase in value. There's this Japanese TV show from the 80s that just recently got to the states via Netflix. The show follows a literal toddler performing a chore for their parents where they are handed a few yen and expected to leave for a shop to get the thing and return. It's seen as such a normal thing that one of the kids that was on the show when he was a kid wanted to put his own kid on the show because it was so nostalgic.

[@friendofvinnie]

Why isn't he a Marxist anymore? What happened?

[@-bret]

Also, driving through the woods in a car is not only upsetting the harmony of the forest but has destroyed it to do so. 7:33

[@RedFenianPunk1916]

This is a genuinely pognant video and analaysis! I went to see this film with my then-girlfriend at the cinema when it was on and we both loved it, despite it being, at times hard to follow (or maybe that was my the-undiagnosed austic/ADHD brain!) The criticisms of capialism were always obvious, though, even if Miyazaki has gone all pertit-bourgeois SocDem! I'd love to see a follow-up where all the workers in the bathhouse take over and depose Yubaba. Of course, that'll never be canon, but just like the idealistic and metaphyical nature of this movie... we can dream! 😉 🥰

[@ShiningSta18486]

Miyazaki just didnt understand marxism bc wtf was that awful critique lol. He got some money and then his class character changed and his ideas devolved bc of it, many such cases

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Yup exactly lol his critique just amounts to "historical materialism is wrong because sometimes bosses can be nice (like me)" which debunks nothing

[@geovanis.tavares6189]

Stay strong humanity :D Força humanidade

[@revolutionaryth0t]

🫶

[@slowpokejpg6]

oh cool, I didn’t realize Miyazaki was a labor organizer

[@obz1357]

What a great recommendation

[@JP-xw2kf]

>She's married DROPPED

[@Pickles9999]

I think my original comment got deleted? I'll try again: I had no idea that Miyazaki considered himself a Marxist! His individualist misunderstanding of Marx makes so much sen especially when applied to Mononoke, where the progressive character of the transition to capitalism from feudalism is explored through Iron Town and Lady Eboshi, and contradictions of this process like exploitation and ecological destruction. The workers, formerly oppressed by feudal society, have been proletarianized. Eboshi exploits their labor but sees herself as the worker' protector, and the workers see her that way too. The workers find their new conditions agreeable. Ashitaka finds himself at odds with the conflict over the evil this mode of production introduces into the world, and how at the same time, the conditions for the workers has improved. The contradiction is expressed as whether Eboshi is a bad person, and those in conflict with iron town are poisoned by "hate". I think it's also very possible to read fascist tendencies in Miyazaki, as well, with his nostalgia for a former age, and wish for a "return to nature". Jonas Ceika has a video exploring these themes, using Miyazaki as a lens to explore the ideas of Heidegger, which is good if you haven't seen it. Also have you seen Pom Poko? I think it's Miyazaki's most radical film. Great video as always!

[@baskefar5564]

Mao and Stalin really was the good guys 🤡🤡🤡

[@lunaumbra5179]

What is your shirt?

[@georgewalton7734]

BoR-jwah That’s how waluigia says bourgeoisie This is good and the correct way

[@nwcr_]

Banger video, feels like an analysis I would enjoy regardless of being a commie or not

[@revolutionaryth0t]

Thank you!!

[@bapabs]

Fuck now I want to go rewatch Spirited Away

[@Huy-G-Le]

Just a side note, Vietnam experience the economic booms during 2010 and look where we are now? Literally in an economic recession and the feudal government of our still pretend that the economy is still booming. Worth side note, our country, without the decisions made by the working population, the government, the bureaucrats already decides and had sold off anywhere from 50% to 80% of our industries to investment groups.