Five Lessons for Humanity: Review of Spirited Away (2001)

Spirited Away (2001) is a coming-of-age story that centers on the ten-year-old Chihiro. After her parents were turned into pigs upon eating food meant for the spirits, Chihiro embarks on a grueling quest in the spirit world to save them.

Analysis

Spirited Away (2001) is filled with so many themes that are relevant even today. In this post, we will focus on five major themes of this animation.

On Greed and Overconsumption

This is the first lesson we learn from this animation. Chihiro’s parents were turned into pigs because of their greed and lack of self-control. When Chihiro cautioned her parents and pleaded with them to leave the food, her father responds:

‘Dont worry. You got Daddy here. He’s got credit cards and cash…’

This is the common mentality today. We take what doesn’t belong to us, destroy things, and think throwing money at it makes it better. While this deification of money…