There are a few messages that seem to be stated through Princess Mononoke, but the one I’m going to address is the one of the value of the forest, of nature. People, like those of Iron Town, do not see the value of nature. People are “anthropocentric” or centered around things that humans place value on. The people of Iron Town, especially Lady Eboshi, were not evil people. They saw value in the Iron, not the forest. They used the forest to increase their value, not thinking of the overall impact of their actions. Likewise, the Gods of the forest did not see value in human life, only the forest. The two characters that really saw the tragedy were Ashitaka and San. Ashitaka wanted the forest and the humans to live in harmony, and for the hatred to stop. San, and in my opinion Iboshi, saw that the humans and the forest had value.
Sadly, in the end San and Ashitaka didn’t live “happily ever after” but a new hope was planted… maybe the humans and the forest would live together? Marlo even had accepted the value of Ashitaka, as Eboshi had likewise seen it in the princess. The question is—is there hope today? People have destroyed most of the pristine (untouched) land, and thousands of miles being taken over a day. There are no Gods or demons to speak for nature, but how many stop to think of how the trees scream when they are cut? They are alive, in fact everything we own and use once was alive. Plastic, made from oil, which is made from plants. We exploit nature for her bounty, not for a moment thinking on what effect it would take. The entire message of Princess Mononoke is that nature is precious, all life is likewise. Not recognizing nature’s aesthetic beauty is a crime in itself. There is more in the world than we could possibly understand. Nature does not waste, everything is here for a reason. Destruction of what we don’t understand is a problem, who knows what evil we have done? Much like the people of Iron Town, they did not understand, Iboshi didn’t understand, and in the end many died. How many will die in our time, until we recognize what Princess Mononoke, and thousands have been screaming? Nature, people, life are all important and are to be treated that way. |
