5 Valuable Lessons From The Movie My Neighbor Totoro
The movie My Neighbor Totoro is a fun, entertaining, original and agile movie, and it has the most interesting content. It entertains by its argument and, in addition, it makes you think. Not only do children enjoy it, but adults can also appreciate it very much, making it perfect to see as a family.
History provides lessons and is capable of educating in values. That is why it is highly recommended for both young and old. Let’s take a closer look at this to remember the reasons why Totoro , as some call the movie, is always a good choice.
Every day can be an adventure
Satsuki and Mei are two sisters who move with their father to a house in the country. The idea is that this way they will be closer to the hospital where their mother is admitted, sick. For the two girls, this change in their lives appears as a total adventure despite the initial unflattering approach.
Girls don’t see moving as something that breaks a routine and causes stress. Since they arrive, they inspect their new home, investigate and live each moment as a unique moment, as if they were discovering a new universe full of surprises.
Learning to research is learning to be autonomous
Satsuki and Mei break the limits that adults impose on them in their eagerness to discover things, to know. They go out beyond the garden of the house, although they had been told not to, and go into the forest. This is how they meet the giant Totoro. And adults, when they find out, do not reprimand them for it, but give them freedom to learn for themselves.
This has a clear symbolism and message. Letting children have autonomy is important. In Japanese society they have it very assumed and it is always something that has been shown to bring positive consequences.
This ability to learn to be autonomous in Japan, can be seen, for example, in how children, from a very young age, are capable of having important responsibilities of their own that in other countries seem unacceptable, such as going to school alone from an early age in public transport.
Being children and freedom. Adults feel like children with My Neighbor Totoro
The director and creator of the film, Hayao Miyazaki, wants us to present the stage of childhood as a moment of total freedom. The girls appear as the only connoisseurs of the world as it is. This includes the possibility of knowing all the secrets of reality that adults do not see, represented in the film as spirits and gods.
They are able to see Totoro, but they also discover the house dust goblins, Susuwatari , which literally means ‘wandering soot’. The Susuwataris are small, black, round beings made of soot.
For them, the dust in the house is not dust, it is something else. And so it happens over and over again. Adults assume that these magical things are there but that they can no longer see them as they did when they were children. They do not have the freedom that children have just because they are children.
The metaphor of the importance of nature in My Neighbor Totoro
The movie My Neighbor Totoro is itself a great metaphor. It has a lot of symbolism. The girls have a sick mother who is far from them, but they still have a father who helps them in any way he can, also giving them their space. And they have the nature that welcomes them.
For Miyazaki, instilling a love of nature in children is essential. For him, connecting with nature is what can save us and set us free, and children must know this. The beings of nature, fantastic or not, are those who can teach us the way of freedom.
What or who is Totoro? The need for protection of children
Totoro is just what any kid might want to know. He is a monster, but huggable, a protective being with a big heart; is kind. Also, it is not a docile creature, it is not dangerous, but it has character. They are not scared by him, but feel safe, protected.
In his book Totoro no Umareta Tokoro (‘ The place where Totoro was born’ ) the director tells that the title of the film was, at first, Tonari ni iru Obak e, that is, ‘ The ghost next to me ‘. Understand that the Obake in Japan are considered living beings or supernatural beings that have assumed a temporary transformation.
For Miyazaki, Totoro identifies with a mysterious being who specializes in searching for loved ones. Tororo is giant, but he is not threatening at any time, he is not scary. Its enormous size is associated with the need for protection of girls.
To finish, we will say that My Neighbor Totoro is a film with many mystical elements that tells a different, exciting story. The protagonists are two normal girls to whom extraordinary things happen. It is always a good time to see this magnificent Studio Ghibli creation for the first time or to see it again as a family.
