Please read his treatise on Kiki here: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/kiki_foreword.html
I'd also recommend for you to read the book excerpt
Here are some questions to get you thinking... respond to a specific question, respond to each other, or respond to it in general :)
1) What are the characteristics of this society/world? How is it different/similar to ours? Chronologically, geographically, etc.
2) as a sort of a follow-up to question 2, what do you think that Miyazaki is trying to say about the ideal conditions for coming of age?
3) What is realistic / unrealistic about this?
Then we talked on a more personal level about the way that we, or youth, are formed. In a sense, there is responsibility both from the society, and the institutions in place, and our parents, who reinforce those institutions. (Institutions meaning schooling, work, etc. as a way to become successful or satisfied) I figure that we, being Cal students, have sort of all tread a similar path in terms of how we "got here." We all went to elementary, middle, high school, took AP tests / SAT, clubs, fulfilled requirements, etc.
1) What part do you think that these institutions have in the formation of a child, to adolescent, to an adult?
2) What does Miyazaki seem to say about these things, based on Kiki's experience?
3) What is your own personal experience with these things?
Here is the "Nation of Wimps" article that I was talking about last week. It's the one about how "helicopter parents" actually are harming their children in terms of their ability to make decisions, and their ability to accept the truth about their limitations or about themselves.
Take a look! It's 7 pages but you can read what you like. It's really interesting and informative.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041112-000010.htmlOkay all! See you tomorrow!
23 comments:
I feel that, although, yes we have all been through the same institutions set in place in our society we all have encountered very different experiences. These differences allowed us to discover who we are, express ourselves, find our talents, and connect with people. Instead of leaving our home and setting out on an independent test, today, everyone is formed by experiences. Whether these occur surrounded by loved ones or not, they still shape out being. I understand the idea of leaving behind all the familiar and completely immersing your life into an unknown surrounding like Kiki, however, the events that go on throughout our lives parallel this one grand adventure.
Although institutions are set in place, they are just a guideline to follow and a frame to fill in. Maybe it was just my experience growing up, but I followed what I wanted to do. My parents let me explore my interests and my elementary & high school did little to encourage my academic interests (outside the normal curriculum). In this way, it really depends on how you grew up- under strict rules or lax, with career demanding adults or not, with high self-motivation or not. Yes I had to fulfill requirements, however, I dealt with them the way I wanted. I personally found that my acceptance into this university relied predominately on my personal statement- as my grades, SAT, and extracirculars were definitely below par. Even now, as a Conservation and Resource Studies major, I decided and created my own unique major- I chose my emphasis, classes, professors, etc. These government and society imposed structures do exist to create a successful economic adult, but we still have
the power to determine what type of adult. Just as the tradition of witches leaving home to become self-sufficient members of society, schooling does the exact same thing.
First set of questions:
1) The world portrayed in Kiki’s delivery service is very different from ours in terms of the way children are raised. While in today’s society, children are stuck in the monotonous rituals of going to school everyday until 22, the children in Kiki’s society, or at least the young witches, are free to go off on their own for a year at 13. The society seems to really value learning independence at a young age.
2) I think Miyazaki is trying to say that kids should learn a sense of independence at a younger age than modern societies, such as in America where we get a true sense of independence only after we graduate college. Also, he thinks that a child gaining independence should also be fully supported by his/her parents rather than trying to gain it on his/her own.
3) It’s hard to say whether it is realistic or unrealistic because we don’t really know the extent of how much Miyazaki wants the children to be independent. If Miyazaki wants the amount of independence shown in the film, it would be totally unrealistic. Society has be used to schooling children until 22 and to be abruptly end school at 13 and push the kid into the “real world” would be totally undoable and incredibly dangerous.
Second set of questions:
1) I think these institutions play a huge difference in the life of a child and an adolescent. Everything we encounter at school shapes, whether is the education, the social experience, the clubs we join, etc. I think schools serve only to prepare children for the schooling they receive as adolescents. When you are an adolescent, school serves to prepare you for the outside world as a adult, such as getting a high education, learning how to get a job, meeting new people, etc. Finally, as an adult, the typical 9-5 job shapes our entire schedule of life. Job often becomes an adult’s number one priority that he/she must commit to entirely.
2) Based on Kiki’s experience, Miyazaki seems to glorify a path other that schooling/work, which is going out into the world and learning from it rather than learning what you think the world may be like in a classroom. I don’t think he’s saying it’s for everyone, but it’s definitely something that can work for certain people.
3) Since I’ve been brainwashed by the system already, of course, I’d say that system of schooling and work are necessary and I wouldn’t be able to function in the world without them. It’s not just the education and career skills I’ve learn, but all the relationships I made and social interactions. Going to the number one public university in the country required a lot of hard work in high school, centering my life around getting good grades and being well-rounded. Now that I’m here at the school, I feel trapped in a similar system again where I have to get good grades for grad school, as well as balance a very time-consuming job so I can pay for things like food in college. I’m satisfied with this system but I don’t think it’s the only way to be happy.
I think that the society is different in the sense that parents trust and allow more freedom at a younger age with Kiki. In comparison to the kids in the city--who also have a certain amount of freedom--their freedom is more carefree in a way that still babies them and creates a spoiled nature. For instance, with the girl who's grandmother cooks for her birthday--she is spoiled and thinks herself "grown up" but cannot appreciate what is really important. She is shallow and for her, believes that she knows better. However, she is much more dependent on her society and the authorities around her than Kiki.
On a tangent, I read the article "Nation of Wimps" and loved loved loved it. Comparing Japanese society with American society (at least, in relation to Japanese society in Kiki's), children who are overly-parented are extremely fragile. And, while Kiki's fragility does surface, it is something that she must overcome. The fact that she overcomes it at her age, and at such a great cost (saving a friend's life) creates a generation of braver and more confident people. She also sets an example. Her dealing with her own failures is such an important part of the movie (and even though it is heartbreaking for the audience) I would rather American children experience that failure rather than end up as the frail nation of wimps analyzed by the article.
I have more ideas, and may post more about this in the future.
I feel that Miyazaki values what he terms "spiritual independence", which is a form of independence that may be distinct from what we in modern society (both Japanese and American) consider to be "independence." Struggling through lonliness, learning to provide for yourself materially, etc. are all struggles that will ultimately create a stronger individual, and if you do not face these struggles, you may never really grow and mature as an individual.
Learning to be independent does not mean that you have to be isolated, and I think Miyazaki definitely emphasizes this in "Kiki's Delivery Service." Although she leaves her friends and family, she is doing so in order to create a place for herself in a new community, and to become a part of that community. The task of young witches, after all, is not to live, say, alone in the woods for a year, but rather to live in a new town and interact with and assist its inhabitants. I think that this ties in with Miyazaki's view of individuality: that the self-centered "American individuality" is not what young people should be seeking, but rather an individuality and an independence that is based within a community.
The world that Kiki lives in is, as Miyazaki says, really not that different from the one we live in. Kiki faces the same struggles with coming-of-age in a world that often seems big and scary, and she has no advantages that we don't have other than the fact that she can fly. Sure, she also has a talking cat that serves as her constant companion and she lives in a city that is realistic but at the same time magical in its grandeur, and she does find a place to live with perhaps more ease than most of us will, but she experiences the same feelings of anxiety and doubt that all of us did and continue to do while growing up. Through his portrayal of Kiki, Miyazaki is trying to say that there is no ideal coming-of-age, but that we are continually growing and maturing and that perhaps only through an experience as the one Kiki has can we attribute this first epiphany to a coming-of-age. This is realistic in the sense that it encourages us to seek to continually grow and mature as a person rather than to wait for an age at which we can declare that we have finally "come-of-age." Perhaps it is unrealistic in the sense that institutions such as voting and driving have no measure of when a person is truly ready to vote/drive, but for the most part, I think this interpretation of the ideal coming-of-age is the most logical.
I think that institutions like school and work do help us transition from adolescence to adulthood to a certain extent, but that they can also be restrictive in their rigid structure and uncompromising implications. Through school, we are able to learn skills that will help us become productive citizens of society and develop relationships that have the potential to last a lifetime, but we are also often pressured by the necessity to succeed, and those who don't aren't left with many options in life. Miyazaki seems to say that these institutions serve a purpose but that they are not everything in life. If Kiki were to fail to complete her year of training away from home, she would not return home a failure and be banished by her parents, but she would find another way through which to gain that experience needed to get the process of growth and maturity going. My experience with this is that I am blessed to be a student here at Cal and I know that because of this blessing I have a future ahead of me, but I also know that if I were at a community college or something less impressive right now, that I would still have a future ahead of me as long as I resolved to continue to grow and mature as a person.
Skimming through a nation of winmps, there was a small bit on college students going crazy because they were so sheltered, like wise the ones that aren't used to doing anything else other than work work work and freak out when their work doesn't produce what they are used to. It's kind of interesting how people can deal with being sheltered and over parented in different ways, and some people deal with it fine, they break out of their shell and move on. I understand the point that Kiki's makes, that children need that space to grow. She was used to help with her family but they weren't so oppressive that she would completely break down. Osono was a great surrogate "mother" figure because she was always supportive of kiki, but not once did she offer to do her work for her or take her burdens from her other than giving her a place to stay, and yet she still expected work for it.
Anyway back to the first point, even if parents or people around a child is very controlling and sheltering, it's still irresponsible to say the person's deficiencies are only based on those who raised them. If a person has a will to be worldly, to succeed, to overcome failures and make something of themselves, they will no matter how they were raised. After all, there's only so much parents can do. According to studies (please don't make me find them haha), by the teenage years the largest influence on a child's personality has fallen to their peers and who they choose to be around with, and not their parents.
I guess i just wanted to say that the way society treats it's children does matter, and does have a hand in creating these fragile students, and giving them more reasonable and healthy risk a la Kiki would be preferable, but in the end the character of the person will come to play. As an example, i had a cousin if mine that was intensely resitrcted and pressured by her parents to succeed. For example, they would install sensors on their stairs so she couldn't go out at night, they never allowed her to have friends over, and when they left the house they would lock her in the bathroom to do her homework. Yet she still snuck friends in, took their car for a joy ride, and went to brown across the country to escape them and i snow a successful woman who i never thought had an ounce of insecurity or fragility for all the time i've known her.
I think school has a very strong disciplinary effect on people who attend it and reminds me of Foucault's discussion on the topic of discipline. Rather than explain it all, Foucault argued that institutions like prisons and schools function so that discipline is not exercised through physical violence but through a constant gaze initially placed by teachers and eventually turns inward as we gaze upon ourselves to regulate our behavior. Though it is true that we learn a number of topics and make social connections, ultimately, it's about disciplining the mind and body into a form that can integrate well into society. I think the extent that school has come to dominate people's lives and forced people to discipline themselves has caused them to lose that sense of independence. As we get higher up in education, the pressure to limit one's time and study becomes more self-regulated and leaves little room for free thought other than obedience sometimes.
I think if Miyazaki were to comment on these institutions like school through Kiki's Delivery Service, he would argue that school doesn't necessarily provide you the life skills to make your own choices. While I agree that more choice is available to people as they get higher up in education, for girls the same age as Kiki, there isn't much options to them so that when they graduate, they are not able to make it on their own. Miyazaki argues that adolescents should be allowed to free themselves from institutions of discipline and think for themselves rather than for the duty and monotony of requirements and academic thought. Kiki's only discipline comes from her own expectations to make it in the world and not from an explicit institution that forces her to make a business other than the traditions of witches before her. Her world is one bereft of these institutions and is one where children have an unusual amount of freedom.
My personal experience of these institutions is that people who are easily molded and disciplined by these institutions or those who can easily adapt to it have a greater time in college. I feel I haven't exercised as much freedom in taking different classes during specific semesters and I wish that I had enough sense back then to realize the options before me. Having been focused on succeeding for so long, I think that graduating college this Spring and taking time to focus on tasks without a competitive, disciplinary atmosphere would help me better understand my place in society and in life. Oftentimes, I let my own self-regulation get the best of me and I have to let go to enjoy my time and I'm trying to unlearn what years of discipline has forced me to believe.
Reading Miyazaki's forward and the "Nation of Wimps" reminded me of "The Grand Inquisitor". In particular I am reminded of the Grand Inquisitor's claim that the majority of humanity does not have the spiritual fortitude to handle the great gift of free will that God gave to man. I won't get into the reasoning of the Grand Inquisitor here, as I'm fairly certain there is a character limit. For those interested here is a link to the text: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8578
With that said, I think Miyazaki is correct to say that for a much wider swath of humanity, spiritual poverty is a much larger issue then then material poverty. But that being said, I would argue that spiritual poverty has always been an issue for people across cultures. The translation of so many religions into pseudo-sciences and pseudo-governments across humanity, along with a study of human history, indicates that people do indeed willingly offer up their consciences to someone else rather then follow their own wills.
I don't think its a problem that's entirely solvable to be honest. While getting parents to tone down their desire to control the lives of their kids will help, just cutting people loose is hardly a solution. Dunno, chalk it up to my lack of faith in institutional solutions to issues of the heart/soul. Personally I think people would be better off writing reflections of famous quotes from Bartlett's Quotations rather then taking an AC course.
(Personal Note: I also take umbrage with the article's suggestion that video games "encourage aggression" and are thus dangerous. But that's a whole different can of worms.)
I think that how we have been raised by our parents and what is expected of us in today's society is completely different from our parents and our grandparents. I think that Miyazaki is trying to relate back to past generations when kids went to work at an early age, kind of like a baby bird being pushed out of the nest. Miyazaki wants children and adolescent teenagers to be more independent, to have an interest in their own future and to work hard for it, somewhat like Kiki. I think that presently there is a huge push for kids to stay in school, to get those degrees, to be at the top of your class - but this puts us in our mid 20's, completely tired and worn out from school, and not with much work ethic or experience. This, to me, is what Miyazaki sees in kids of our generation. Also, I do not see how what Kiki does (leaving home and picking up in a new city by herself) is exactly plausible in today's society. With the amount of crime and violence, it is harder to give strangers the benefit of the doubt, or to meet people with the kindness and hospitality of the woman at the bakery. If Miyazaki really wanted to speak to kids of our generation, then show someone that has to go through years of schooling, works hard for that degree, has to struggle to find a decent job but is determined throughout their experience. This would exemplify a more realistic scenario for our generation.
I think that Miyazaki views good conditions of coming of age as going out into the world and being independent, taking on both the ups and downs and learning from them. With what the article said on how parents want to take away all of the failures, this is definitely not a condition that Miyazaki looks favorably upon. In fact, with Kiki going off on her own, there are no parents to protect and shelter her. She has to learn and grow and explore. Going to live on one's own at age 13 seems very young for our society today. I think that throughout the generations, we have become more and more prone to reaching 'the coming of age' at a later and later age. For me especially, I can relate to the nation of wimps article because I was pretty sheltered. I never went out on my own until I cam to college. This was due to my parents and the institutions. My parents, knowing very well how hard life is, took care of almost everything as long as I worked hard in school. It is the desire of parent for their children to do well in school and thus get a good job and then comfortable life that kinda ruins things. Because we strive for such things and because there is a fear of failure, we never really experience 'life' and grow from it until something big happens. The notion that failure is bad is what keeps us from wanting to experience failure and learn from it. Or perhaps it is not so much the fear of failure but the fear of being behind or one's self image. I think that is what I have most struggled with and continue to struggle with.
2. I doubt if Miyazaki criticizes the formation of institutions. Kiki's experience- which was pretty in a standard formation for witches-overall was benevolent to Kiki. Even Kiki leaves her family, she even seems happy to follow up her formative lifestyle. Through this, Miyazaki suggests that the formative lifestyle can also bring numerous different experiences which can benefit the person.
3) I have followed up the general paths that typical quiet asian girls take. Getting relatively satisfying grades in schools, attending SAT classes in high schools, following what other students do, I have never been able to find a new path by my intention. However, I have experienced many things through following these paths too. While realizing that this path was the safest(relatively..), I could enjoy experiences that happened while folloing that path.
The world of Kiki’s is truly an idealized one. As mentioned in class, the setting takes place at French or Mediterranean in which WWII did not happen. This assertion alone shapes the world into being suitable for a young person to strike out on their own. Even Kiki’s family seems to be perfect, loving mom, dad, and grandmother living together. Her family seems to be a rural people, allowing to them live away from cities but still part of the “real” world of the film.
If Miyazaki is trying to make commentary about “coming of age,” then he is saying that children need a chance to grow up away from their family. In a lot of Hispanic cultures, mine in particular, children are almost always expected to live with their family till marriage (or even later). While Miyazaki is not judging this style of parenting, he does indicate (though Kiki’s journey) that young people need time away from their family in order to develop into a well rounded individual and to find their true self.
1)Miyazaki's society in Kiki's delivery service differs from ours in the sense that children seem to be given more freedom to decide what they want to do. At the same time, it is similar in the sense of how children still undergo different phases of coming of age or experiencing certain stages of life. It also takes place in an era or city where the environment isn't highly industrialized or technologically advanced.
2) I think what Miyazaki is trying to say about the conditions for children coming of age should be in one where they are able to experience events in their lives alone, and that it should be a personal process rather than one that is affected and monitored by adults or guardians. At the same time, being able to experience things hands on and by yourself allows the individual to develop faster and stronger to a certain extent.
3) If related back to our day and age, these conditions would be rather out of place because of certain institutions in place. If one does wish to succeed in our day and age, it is usually through institutions, especially school and education. Knowledge and cultural capital is highly valued in our present day society where we are technologically advanced and knowledge is power. Also, children growing up are ever pampered and spoiled, whether directly or indirectly, by their parents, leaving them incapable of learning on their own. There are many other factors that would make Miyazaki's idealizations impractical in our present times.
For me, the most impressive atmosphere of Kiki's town for practicing her withness(?) was that the place was mixed with the beautiful nature and the urban area. Even though it was japanese director's movie, the town's atmosphere was little like Western. There are ocean, or bay area? right next to the town, so it just reminded me Sanfrancisco, actually, (personally..)..
Anyway, I thought that the bakery where Kiki could live and work can kind of symbolize urban area, and Kiki can get along with other normal, ordinary people from there. But when she practiced her flying when she was in some slump, she went to the hills, and when Tombo and Kiki tried flying-bicycle, they were in that hills near the ocean. Also, the place where Kiki took a rest when she was in Slump was in the forest, by the help of the girl(I forgot her name, who was an artist..)
I just think that Miyazaki kind of tries to show some utopia by this. It seems like the place is really like some heaven, urban area, where Kiki can work, which is mixed with beautiful nature, where she can take a rest and practice her work and abilities.. Maybe Miyazaki tried to show some perfect, heavenly place for Kiki to grow up.. And for me, it was little unrealistic because it looked too perfect place. (But there are 'realistic' components, too, for example, the rude grand-daughter.)
I don't think the world which Kiki lives in is that different from ours. Well, there exists the witches in her world, but it is just to create the fantasy world. We already have so many different groups of people in this country. Japan may be a bit less complicated since the population is not so multicultural like here. Either way, the movie clearly depicts how people in countrysides and people in cities are different. And the movie is realistic about the people in these different places that most of people don't go through such a big change in the living environment at the age Kiki does. But, such a change is probably very important for the kids' coming of age. It's important that kids go out of their comfortable zones early and see what's out there, especially when they're young enough to accept things as they are.
1)The would portrayed in the Kiki's Delivery seems to be very European one but sometimes Japanese culture can be seen at the same time. For example, I could see both Japanese and other alphabetical characters are seen in the world of Kiki. In this point, the culture can be said that this is multicultural society. Of course, the age Kiki lives seems to be little bit older than the world we live.
2)Here, Kiki doesn't go to school even though she is only thirteen years old and she trains herself to be a witch. Also, Urusura, the girl who lives in the forest also does what she wants to do and she doesn't go to school, too. They know what they want to do and want to be in the future. However, most people in our world usually don't know what they want to do in the process of coming of age. I think the ideal condition for coming of age Miyazaki thinks is that each person can get the environment to grow by themselves.
3) Although Kiki flies easily with her broom, that is urealistic!! I love it though.
In some ways I agree with Miyazaki's assessment that spiritual independence and financial independence used to go together. To be more specific, I think Miyazaki is saying that financial independence isn't worth much if it is not a by-product of spiritual independence. What makes the movie a joy to watch is Kiki coming into her own as a young woman. She has to overcome her own doubts about her self-worth and her ability to be successful in society as an individual. The only thing she is good at is flying and she has to ask herself, is that good enough? Can I make something for myself and for other people with the skills that I have? In the end she realizes (and of course this is so cliché) that it is what's inside that counts. That her character is what matters and her vocation is just an avenue for her character to be expressed. When she delivers the grandmother's pie to the granddaughter we as an audience are revolted at the granddaughter’s disdain and annoyance towards her grandmother's labor of love. Kiki, on the other hand, thoroughly appreciates the grandmother and recognizes and values her kindness. The spiritual independence Kiki achieves comes by persevering against forces that would stop her from expressing her character or her moral consciousness. This is what the climax of the movie is about. Her desire to save Tombo causes her to have to face her fears about whether she can fly or not. She has to decide if the hardships of having trouble flying as well as her own insecurity will prevent her from helping the people she cares about. She chooses to surmount these obstacles so that what is in her spirit or her heart can be expressed. By saving Tombo, she is not dependant on circumstances for the execution of actions that reflect her values. And of course her financial independence develops in concurrence. If Kiki had achieved a successful delivery service but moped about because she couldn’t hear Jiji or had been paralyzed by fear and doubt and watched Tombo splatter on the ground, the audience would not take joy in her financial independence.
previous comment is mine. (I accidently posted with my other account)
“I don't want to survive. I want to live.” (Wall-E)
2nd set:
1) Schools exist to convert people into productive citizens; however, schools cannot give a person an answer to personal fulfillment. Through the countless years as a student, schools are supposed to teach productive skills and ingrain into them the value of citizenship for their country, yet they fail to give purpose. Even though a person may have accomplished all the goals that are presented in his or her life, a person may not be satisfied.
2. I believe that Miyazaki emphasize that a person’s skills or ambitions does not make that person. Rather, it is through the values, friends, and a person’s heart in his or her job that makes that person alive. Wall-E states this sentiment best in the captains quote: “I don't want to survive. I want to live.”
3. Me, personally, I find my purpose through my faith. I have and can accomplish numerous things through numerous ways, yet I know that at the end of the day, when I reflect back what has happened, I would remember the things that I have missed out, not the things that I could have done.
-Michael Iseri
I think institutions contribute much to who we are, whether we like it or not. Institutions establish norms and standards. For example: Academic institutions tell us what we're supposed to learn and at what rate. And even if the school curriculum allows room for students to explore on their own, and even if parents encourage independent pursuit of interests, it's inevitable that kids will learn what's considered 'normal' at school. Whether or not students accept the norm or reject it is up to all the other facets of their life. But even those who were home-schooled in an non-institutional environment would be shaped by what they know (or think they know) about academic institutions.
(Hannah)
The world Kiki's is place in is not much different from ours, but it definitely not the same. In relation to what we spoke on in class, the similarities to Kiki and what she has to go through are not drastic different. For instance, the fact that Kiki is not a witch but a young girl obtaining her independence through her 'witching training' is something we all face. Not the witching training, of course, but obtaining independence through the skills we possess. That's a theme that is similar through both our world and Kiki's. However, though the theme is similar, physical difference are everywhere in Kiki's world. The time era, for example, was very much erratic. While the zeppelin was first being introduced into Kiki's world, by the clothing styles of much of the big city's characters it could be surmised that the time period was somewhere in the mid to late 90s, not 1899 when the first zeppelin did arrive on the scene. This world of Kiki's seemed to fit her needs when such needs arose. I believe Miyazaki did this on purpose, in order for us, the audience, to feel more in-tune with Kiki and her story.
Lillian Guo
Those institutions have a huge (ginormous!) impact on us from child to teenager to adult, unless of course you were raised in the woods by wolves. I think it's foolish to say that we're not, at least in part, defined by these institutions. I like to think that these institutions allowed us to develop our individuality, shape our identities, and give us countless opportunities to explore many facets of life. However, there's a standard within these institutions (I mean, c'mon, AP test? SATs?) to which we're taught by society to achieve in order to supposedly succeed in life. Definitely, there are other ways to achieve in life than just schooling, but I think there's a strong mentality in American culture that if you do well in school, achieve the good grades (or be ridiculously talented), get into the best school, then you'll be good to go. And as the Nation of Wimps article said, the world's globalizing, parents are getting scared that their kids won't do well, and the pressure is on. I can't really say that my parents motives for pushing me in school was...completely...necessarily in order for me to find my identity. Miyazaki seems to say that these institutions are failing our youth, and that perhaps it might be time to change it. With Kiki, he creates a heroine who is suddenly pushed into the world, independent without the constant presence of her parents. However long she's been preparing to go out and find her own place in the world, doesn't really make her ready. And he's saying that maybe, it's the experience of being on our own without institutional guidelines that we're able to find ourselves and successfully mature into self-aware adults.
Our society seems to stress very heavily a somewhat mechanistic process for academic success that is both a curse and a blessing in its standardized goodness. Our society, furthermore, seems to rely on checkpoint examinations in order to determine competency and thereby ability to pass to the next step in the expected educational process by which countries exhibiting mechanistic academics have come to function as of late. Miyazaki clearly has become quite disenchanted with such processes. Through Kiki’s Delivery Service, Miyazaki tries to stress the value of a process of self-discovery by which an adolescent gains independence not through a slow and steady series of tests to permit greater and greater academic responsibilities, but through a length of time spent with limited contact with loved ones during which self-sufficiency is acquired. Through the current bureaucratic educational system, children are never truly given a chance to mature, as they are gently guided in all the desirable directions by multiple-choice questions, not the standard long-essay questions which truly independent life routinely provides. Adding to the issue, during this academic development process, life at home is nothing short of an even more considerable train wreck of over-parenting and pandering.
I’m here, at Berkeley, so what can I really say about my own experience with attaining self-sufficiency? It’s hard. One really has to work at first to sever the strong ties of hyper-parenting, a difficult, emotional, and at first a seemingly self-destructive process, and then one must work—work extremely hard—to come out of the whole of fragility and become a shining symbol of self-sufficiency. I’ll update you when I get there...
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