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REVIEW: Turning Point: 1997-2008


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insert name here



Joined: 27 Jul 2011
Posts: 84
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:05 pm Reply with quote
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...as the great animator, writer, and director comes off as very curmudgeonly and disappointed in the world at large. (The exception is when he is observing children.) American readers may be particularly disappointed, as he implies and, on two occasions towards the end of the book, he flat-out says that he believes America to be behind many of the problems with the world...


Well I live in America and I pretty much feel the same way on both counts. I suspect that the disappointment that Miyazaki feels is the kind that can only be felt by someone who cares, and is paying attention enough to see what's going on.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:10 pm Reply with quote
Every time Miyazaki shows up in the news it's to grouse about something (the last time was quite recently), so that his personal writings are more of the same is no surprise to me.
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:24 pm Reply with quote
In terms of the article itself, I feel that the writer repeated the fact that the book is repetitive mores times than was necessary. =p

Quote:
American readers may be particularly disappointed, as he implies and, on two occasions towards the end of the book, he flat-out says that he believes America to be behind many of the problems with the world...


Probably right about American readers. It seems as if the majority of Americans would rather continue living in ignorance, and shrug off any and all responsibility for the government and foreign policies we believe are distinct and separate from our individual selves (or that many of us may even endorse).

Miyazaki also has issues with Prime Minister Abe and his nationalistic agenda. So as stated in the article (and has already been quite well known about Miyazaki), Miyazaki's disappointment with various directions that the world is heading in is no surprise, given his own personal history and the message of the majority of his films. The only thing that's truly surprising, is that people who know of Miyazaki's films or even know about Miyazaki himself would then themselves be surprised that he has these ideologies.
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Doodleboy



Joined: 23 Dec 2013
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:38 pm Reply with quote
This was the guy who didn't attend the Oscar's when he won Spirited Away to protest the Iraq war.

I'm always bemused by the Grandfather image of Miyazaki. I think my view of Miyazaki comes from the Princess Mononoke documentary where he rips one of his key-animators a new one on camera while redrawing his frames.

A jerk, but a jerk with high integrity.

Although right now I want to read his interviews on "The Wind Rises" because that film kind of changes everything.
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sakurahitagi



Joined: 12 Jan 2014
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Well I live in America and I pretty much feel the same way on both counts. I suspect that the disappointment that Miyazaki feels is the kind that can only be felt by someone who cares, and is paying attention enough to see what's going on.


The problem isn't with saying America has been causing problems but the way he makes it seem everything is America's fault. Many of the world's problems are multifaceted and do not have a single cause, so it's ridiculous to scapegoat all of the blame on America.


Last edited by sakurahitagi on Wed May 07, 2014 3:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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insert name here



Joined: 27 Jul 2011
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 1:50 pm Reply with quote
sakurahitagi wrote:
Quote:
Well I live in America and I pretty much feel the same way on both counts. I suspect that the disappointment that Miyazaki feels is the kind that can only be felt by someone who cares, and is paying attention enough to see what's going on.


The problem isn't with saying America has been causing problems but the way he makes it seem everything is America's fault. Many of the world's problems are multifaceted and do not have a single cause, so it's ridiculous to scapegoat all of the blame on America.


Well, America is the foremost imperial power on the planet right now, so we're probably going to get blamed for a lot of things. (My actual opinion is that the US is just inhabiting a role necessitated by the contradictions of a capitalist world market, and that if we didn't do it, someone else would. Of course, that still doesn't make it right.) I do appreciate that Miyazaki is consistent and condemns the problems of his own country as well. Nationalism is gross.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 2:18 pm Reply with quote
This does not surprise me at all. Instead of seeing him as a "grandfather figure" we would be more acurate to see him as the Japanese Carl Marx. A staunch and once card carrying Communist he was a former union rep during the times when there were many strikes and labour disputes at Toei Douga in the early to mid '60s which nearly cause the company to go bankrupt, and who allegedly regards Tezuka Osamu as an "insecure hack weighed down by cheap pessimism, and a life long envy of Disney" . Now I'm regarded as a gumpy old sod, but Miyazaki makes me feel good about myself knowing he's more grumpy than me. Laughing

I felt sorry for Goro about Earthsea having otousan breathing down his neck whilst making it.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 2:31 pm Reply with quote
Doodleboy wrote:
This was the guy who didn't attend the Oscar's when he won Spirited Away to protest the Iraq war.


The note he sent for that is in here. It's...quite something.

Quote:
A jerk, but a jerk with high integrity.


That's the impression I came away from the book with. I do hope a third one eventually comes out with Arietty and The Wind Rises.

sakurahitagi wrote:
The problem isn't with saying America has been causing problems but the way he makes it seem everything is America's fault.


Basically, yes. He actually flat-out says this at one point.
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Mister Ryan Andrews



Joined: 28 Jan 2014
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 2:33 pm Reply with quote
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he flat-out says that he believes America to be behind many of the problems with the world...


Well...
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Shenl742



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1524
PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 2:35 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
I do hope a third one eventually comes out with Arietty and The Wind Rises.



....Breaking Point?
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 7:37 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
and that he at one point deliberately decided not to make films that would be successful there.


So does it frustrate him that he's successful here, anyway? Rolling Eyes

But it does tie in with what I heard, which is that he really hated us for the longest time, because we firebombed his neighborhood. Personally, I'm thinking that he at least likes the people here, because he never really complains about the actual everyday things in the U.S. like he does in Japan.

Doodle: There was no guarantee Spirited Away was going to win that year, so he had no reason to attend.
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Echo_City



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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 1:42 am Reply with quote
insert name here wrote:

Well, America is the foremost imperial power on the planet right now...

Russia.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 2:45 am Reply with quote
Also, I'm kind of wondering if his views changed since Fukushima, since our navy did help out with the rescue and clean-up...
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enurtsol



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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 4:57 am Reply with quote
The U.S. is the pre-eminent country in the world right now with reaches to all regions. So of course it'd be involved with a lot of the world's problems. But it's also involved with a lot of the world's benefits.
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Beatdigga



Joined: 26 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 5:52 am Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
The U.S. is the pre-eminent country in the world right now with reaches to all regions. So of course it'd be involved with a lot of the world's problems. But it's also involved with a lot of the world's benefits.


Yes but why would a grumpy old man care about nuance?
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