The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Aug. 28th, 2015 08:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingPrincess Kaguya was hard to watch.
First of all, it was two hours and fifteen minutes long. Who does that?
Second, its heroine had less agency than one of the early Disney princesses. Kaguya would flee from the capital and do something exciting, but then the movie would be all NOPE just a dream! And then, once she finally becomes a bit more mature and starts acting for herself, the movie is like NOPE it's time for her to be carried off somewhere against her will!
Third, based on everything we know, a great deal of which was written by women, Kaguya's lack of agency is not historically accurate. Kaguya would never have been forced to marry anyone, and it would have been her mother or governess or handmaid that made and accepted the match. Older men would not have been in a position to court her for various reasons; and, if they had, they would not have expected to touch or even see her at any point (it would have been like an adoption). Kaguya could have actually left the capital at any time for any reason; and, given her family's wealth, she would have been expected to do so regularly. Even as a teenager, she would have been able to make personnel hiring decisions on the spot, and she would have been able to associate with any number of friends and/or romantic partners beneath her station.
Fourth, she is a FUCKING MOON PRINCESS from the FUCKING MOON and there is no need to even try to be historically accurate in terms of gender roles.
I'm not sure what Takahata was trying to do here, but I did not appreciate it.
First of all, it was two hours and fifteen minutes long. Who does that?
Second, its heroine had less agency than one of the early Disney princesses. Kaguya would flee from the capital and do something exciting, but then the movie would be all NOPE just a dream! And then, once she finally becomes a bit more mature and starts acting for herself, the movie is like NOPE it's time for her to be carried off somewhere against her will!
Third, based on everything we know, a great deal of which was written by women, Kaguya's lack of agency is not historically accurate. Kaguya would never have been forced to marry anyone, and it would have been her mother or governess or handmaid that made and accepted the match. Older men would not have been in a position to court her for various reasons; and, if they had, they would not have expected to touch or even see her at any point (it would have been like an adoption). Kaguya could have actually left the capital at any time for any reason; and, given her family's wealth, she would have been expected to do so regularly. Even as a teenager, she would have been able to make personnel hiring decisions on the spot, and she would have been able to associate with any number of friends and/or romantic partners beneath her station.
Fourth, she is a FUCKING MOON PRINCESS from the FUCKING MOON and there is no need to even try to be historically accurate in terms of gender roles.
I'm not sure what Takahata was trying to do here, but I did not appreciate it.
