Hayao Miyazaki’s stories have a lot of themes that one might also find in J.R.R. Tolkien’s work. There is a healthy respect for the environment and a general idea of hope in both their works. However, Miyazaki has come out saying why he hates the Lord of the Rings films, and his argument could actually cause fans to think about what he is saying.
Miyazaki’s issues with movies and fantasy like Lord of the Rings stem from the way in which the characters and themes are represented in such stories, usually portraying good and evil as extreme opposites that need to be solved with violence over everything else. Miyazaki revealed how he felt about these types of conflict and they correlate to fantasy fiction in general.
Hayao Miyazaki abhors how American cinema deals with the enemy
When it comes to films that Hayao Miyazaki has created, the treatment of the antagonists in the story is markedly different than what is usually found in Western films. Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are prime examples of how the auteur treats his antagonists, which is in stark contrast to stories like Lord of the Rings and The Witcher. Miyazaki, specifically with regards to Lord of the Rings, said:
“If someone is the enemy, it’s okay to kill endless numbers of them. Lord of the Rings is like that. The Lord of the Rings is a movie that has no problem doing that. If you read the original work, you’ll understand, but in reality, the ones who were being killed are Asians and Africans. Those who don’t know that, yet say they love fantasy are idiots.”
To put more perspective to the quote, Miyazaki talked about the attitude that American cinema had toward problems within its narrative in the context of all that America finds itself embroiled in on the world stage.
Hayao Miyazaki’s approach to fantasy is quite different from most
Hayao Miyazaki’s body of work with Studio Ghibli has a unique approach to traditional fantasy. While fantasy fiction in the West oscillates between High Fantasy reminiscent of chivalric romances and low fantasy that delves into cynical political intrigue, Miyazaki, even at his most violent with films like Princess Mononoke, is able to bring out his anti-war pacifist ideology to the forefront of the story.
Miyazaki’s worlds are often described as being more hopeful than most fantasy stories, having a fairytale-like quality to them. However the films usually have a more nuanced approach towards the idea of good and evil, in that the stories refuse to blame one particular character for their actions, but rather try to look at and understand what drives them to do what they do, with a mature sensibility that is largely absent in the modern fantasy genre.
