First thoughts on ritual labors

[dampscribbler]

purejuice  has been writing for some time now on "ritual labor," and I've been following her thoughts with interest, giving the subject some of my mental attention if not much physical participation yet.  As thoughts raced through my brain last night, a few things worth capturing danced by, and I'm hoping to capture here as many as I can remember, so I can develop them and see how they interrelate.  So, in no particular order --

Miyazaki gets it. Disney doesn't.  Kiki, Sen, Sophie, all actively undertake ritual labors as part of their path to adulthood.  Sophie and Kiki do so willingly and for their own reasons -- Kiki is making her new home her own, Sophie is making her new home more liveable for all its inhabitants, including Calcifer, "the spirit of the place," who is threatened with destruction whilst Sophie cleans the hearth, but she "puts him in his place" and assures everyone's continued survival.  By willfully demanding a job from the woman who would otherwise enslave her, Chihiro gets to keep her sense of purpose and direction, even though she signs over her "identity" by giving her name to Yubaba and being assigned the name Sen.  Willfully choosing and participating in ritual labors earns Sen her place inside the community (though despite her labors her "role" continues to be "ousider" as far as the rest of the community is concerned) and the opportunity to survive long enough to free herself from her contract with Yubaba and free her parents from Yubaba's enslavement. 

The only Disney film I and think of in which the main character even attempts to participate in ritual labor is Snow White, in which Snow White discovers the home of the seven dwarves in the woods and proceeds to "play house" with it, cleaning out the dust and cobwebs and setting the table for the dwarves' dinner.  (Which has me thinking about the story of Goldilocks, too, who partakes of the bears' home comforts but doesn't do much else....)  Snow White's labor transforms her merely into a caretaker (albeit a beloved one) for the dwarves.  She only leaves that situation apparently dead, and when she is revived by the kiss from the prince, well, your guess is as good as mine where her autonomy goes after that. 

So there's that about Miyazaki and Disney.  Probably more, if I want to go down that path.

I'm also thinking of Heather writing about wanting to throw things away at the beginning of each year. Rituals like these define our space and our intentions. 

There was also something in my head about Maslow being wrong. 

I know there was more, but I'm out of time to write and need to get to my next thing.  There will be more about this, however.

Comments

[penelopesque.livejournal.com]

Cinderella labors.
(and then the mice make her a dress - my mice never did that)

!!

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right, thanks! Something to look at if/when I follow that path, for sure.

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

I look forward to hearing more on this thread.

Also, I find it interesting that Miyazaki took an English story and interpreted it far differently than Disney would have. I shudder to imagine how they would have made Howl's Moving Castle. I felt he was pretty faithful to the book.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I really wanted Miyazaki to make The Golden Compass. I watched the first three minutes of that movie and turned it off, why ruin the books for myself? Miyazaki did really well with Howl, I love that movie, and I had read the book first and really enjoyed it, too.

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Maybe Miyazaki still will?

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Unlikely, since it's already been done. Things like that don't get financed more than once, for one thing. For another, he's announced his retirement (a few times, but who's counting?)

At least I still have the books.

[jillbertini.livejournal.com]

Alas!

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I just have to say that DD2 and I love Howl's Moving Castle.

I think if you look at the original Grimm's tales, you find the content strikingly different. (I know that it's Disney that took the stories and changed them.)

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm not talking about the stories per se, just the Disney interpretation of them.

I also think it's interesting that, despite rampant sexism in Japan, I read recently that Japanese women report more satisfaction with their lives than American women do. I'm not quick to trust easy figures like that, but I think it's worth looking at more deeply if I decide to examine the differences in cultural attitudes toward the labors of the hearth and home.

[wordsrmylife.livejournal.com]

Interesting thoughts on ritual labor.

So, how is Maslow wrong? I'd like to hear more.

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Aherm...I've kind of forgotten what my direction was with that. I'll get there, though. I mostly put that there to remind myself to try to figure out what I was thinking! I have so few opportunities to follow the paths thoughts illuminate for me, let alone actually follow them to a conclusion. It's something I'm trying to change about myself this year -- force myself to start down more paths. :)

[dampscribbler.livejournal.com]

Oh, something about shelter -- how shelter is a basic need, but Maslow would probably place "comfortable shelter" much higher on the pyramid. I may be completely off-base, so I won't go any farther until I examine his hierarchy again, but I suspect that the act of ritual labor meets more needs than may be immediately obvious, and those may not be accounted for in Maslow.