A few of my friends have come to spend the New Years with me. This will be my first time spending New Years with anyone outside of my family. Similar to Christmas, my family did not put much of an emphasis on New Years (regular), favoring Chinese New Years which has a different date every year. For 2026 (Year of the Horse), it seems to be Feb 17th.
I spent a good amount of time today relaxing and letting loose, to properly enjoy my Winter Break before I have to return to College. Finals definitely sucked out a lot of my energy and passion for art. There's no faster way to kill someone's love for a subject than to force them to remove every bit of their love for it and make it as technical as possible. Although I definitely improved, I didn't want to draw anything this entire winter break, until my friends came over and we all decided to draw while listening to movies.
I was watching Princess Mononoke while drawing, which significantly influenced the final product. I've always had a special love for Studio Ghibli films, and I am well aware that many people hold this sentiment. They feel real to me. Much of western animation is currefntly owned by giant megacorporations with the intent to make a product or work instead of art, which I deeply despise. There is no self-expression, no identity, just whatever can hook children on the fastest and make them instantly want 500 toys of the franchise. it's why every single film recently has followed a similar art formula with very little deviation. Kids respond the best to round shapes and bright colors, and Disney is willing to exploit that.
I have a big hatred for political messaging bleeding into disney work recently. It seems that every recent film is judged on how many niggers and trannies can be fit into every storyboard in the name of "muh representation," usually done by women who either
a. isnt a minority
b. IS one, and is sad that people arent worshipping them/p>
NONE of these people are artists. They're businessmen trying to make their work (NOT ART) appeal to the lowest denominator so they can get money out of it. This is also why you have seen less hand-drawn/frame by frame work in the last few decades. it's cheaper to make 50 puppets or a 3d model and ship it to China for child slaves to make inbetweens for than to pay American animators. Also, THERE IS NO GOOD ARGUMENT YOU CAN MAKE FOR "REPRESENTATION." If you need mickey mouse to tell you its ok to be black, you are RETARDED.
I love Ghibli films because they bleed authenticity. Many, many people agree with me. Seeing something made by humans, touched minimally by executives trying to profit will always be better to me than any massive corporate product. (This also applies to Live Action. I like B films.) Of course, Ghibli is still a big company, and profits immensely. But the fact that they can create without an executive focusing purely ON profitability is what sets it apart from the likes of Disney.
Additionally, I enjoy the ambiguity of Ghibli films. They don't have true "meanings," and instead of serving as a work that is meant to peddle a certain message, it is allowed to exist as a story. Many western films try to push a certain message, "Be yourself." I'm not saying there's anything inherently WRONG with that messaging, but it's very obvious, almost patronizing even for kids. Children are more intelligent that people think, the concept that adulthood or age of maturity is 18 is incredibly new and not the norm. 15/16 has been widely acknowledged as adulthood for most of history. There's even people campaigning to raise the age of consent to 21 or 25. That's bullshit. 25 year olds are NOT still young adults. If you're 25, you should be looking into purchasing a house or having children (If wanted or possible.) The dumbing down of films for children, stuff that is simplified, open-and-shut, happy with no troubling themes ever adds to this issue. If you treat children/teenagers like they're incompotent babies, they'll start acting accordingly.
Of course, I don't think children have the emotional capacity of adults, or that we should give them cars and beer as soon as they're born (even though it would be funny as fuck) but I do think that we do not give kids the credit they deserve. Let children see death, let them not get completely happy endings, let them sit and be comfortable with change and ambiguity, let them draw their own conclusions. The real world will never coddle them and they should learn it and adjust. Discomfort is how we grow as humans. Allow children to grow and become their own person. Ultimately, censoring this will harm them more. The mass censorship or "dark" topics is exactly why we now have so many crybabies who can't even read Lolita without crying.
There's probably no reason for me to complain about a field I will eventually enter due to the nature of my major. Maybe one day I'll be employed at disney making the next big slop film.
You are welcome to execute me like a rabid dog if that day ever comes.