Princess Mononoke (1997)

  This is the first real chance I've had to sit down all day.  I should not be working this hard on a Saturday, but my dumbass decided to have a wine and cheese party, which required making my hovel look slightly more like where an actual person lives, not a hobgoblin.

That's neither here nor there, however.  We're going to talk about Princess Mononoke today.  This was assigned for my film class under the heading "Feminism in Sci-Fi" so we will also discuss a) how this isn't sci-fi and b) why it's also not feminist.

A young man named Ashitaka (Yoji Matsuda) saves his village from a demon-ridden giant boar but is contaminated by the same evil spirit.  The wise woman (Mitsuko Mori) discovers that the boar was driven mad by an iron shot and sends Ashitaka west to learn where it was made.  After a long journey, Ashitaka comes to the lands of Lady Eboshi (Yūko Tanaka), a wealthy industrialist at war with the gods of the forest.  She has been clearcutting the land in order to mine the iron sands for her weapons manufacturing and it was her iron shot that drove the boar god mad.  Ashitaka is willing to work with her but is also drawn to San (Yuriko Ishida), the adopted human daughter of Moro (Akihiro Miwa), the wolf god, Lady Eboshi's chief adversary in the forest.

Okay.  Point a) first.  This is not sci-fi.  This is fantasy.  Historical fantasy, if you really want to be specific, but broadly, fantasy.  Once upon a time, they were under the same umbrella but not anymore.   Fantasy is a separate genre.

B)  This is not a "feminist" film.  Just because there is a feminist character doesn't make it a feminist film.  Lady Eboshi is clearly the villain, no matter her attempts to decriminalize sex work and provide compassionate care for the disabled (lepers).  She is also arguably profiting more from the labors of both parties, which minimizes the empathy viewers may be asked to feel.  The action is driven by Ashitaka, with both San and Eboshi existing to spur his reactions.  That is the opposite of a feminist film.

This is exactly the kind of bullshit argument misogynist nerds make to claim they are not misogynists.  Don't fall for it.  Enjoy Princess Mononoke for what it is --an environmentalist morality play-- and don't try and read what isn't there.  Also, don't watch the dubbed Disney version.  It is shit.