Princess Mononoke

Man and nature, death and life. Birds of a feather and opposing forces at the same time. Ashitaka a human who is confronted with natures wrath and San, a girl who has to face against the brutal progress and mercilessness of humankind act as a bridge between the two. While the humans are portrayed as wrongful and greedy, destroying the Forrest and killing its inhabitants they still remain likable, even relatable. The inhabitants of Irontown are welcoming and real-nice people and its leader Eboshi, while being tunnel focused on her goal and strict with her methods is only ever shown as a woman with a moral compass, a disdain for unneeded cruelty and most importantly a heart for all of her people (especially the women), who speak only in the highest tones of her. Inevitably divide leads to destruction and hate, and hate leads to even more destruction and death. I think the movie makes it’s view on the relationship between humans and nature very clear when the forrest-destroying, unstoppable “god of death” is portrayed in a humanlike form and is only put to rest through the actions of another human. To quote Ashitaka: “It has to be a human”. And it has to be us humans to take care of our planet, to bring the balance between nature and humanity.