Ponyo

My soon-to-be-6-year-old child generally refuses to watch movies, preferring various youtube videos (of people unboxing toys, or playing with toys, or computer-generated animations of balls rolling down ramps, or very amateurish films with weird little plots — all kinds of things. I understand this is A Thing with this generation, but it is so deeply weird to me), or some tv shows. He says that movies are too scary, and I can’t tell if this is genuine fear (he doesn’t seem to mind scary stuff in tv shows…) or some kind of stubborn resistance to lengthy narratives, or just to things I want him to do, or what. He hated Encanto (and the house crumbling terrified him) and was not a fan of Moana (but I’m determined to try it again because I love it so much). We tried showing him Ice Age, having the vague sense that it was a fairly comedic film about animals on an adventure, but the opening scene was the mother drowning and there was some fairly menacing saber-tooth tiger content, so it wasn’t entirely successful. I had asked around on the internet for a good kid’s movie that had nothing scary whatsoever, and Ponyo was suggested repeatedly, so after a successful viewing of Sing the other night (which he enthusiastically agreed to do, only because one of his besties wanted to), I figured it was time to give it a try, and surprisingly, he was up for it.

First let me say that Sing is a pretty good option for a non-scary movie — there really aren’t any particularly frightening or disturbing scenes. One might think that a mouse with a gambling problem being threatened by apes who have come to collect a debt would be pretty distressing to a kid, but if it’s presented in a comedic tone, apparently, it’s fine. Why a kid’s movie features a sub-plot about gambling, not to mention one about a father pressuring his child to drive the getaway car for his criminal gang, is a separate question. I found myself wondering if it’s a sign that filmmakers don’t really know how to tell a story for kids, so they just take a stock plot from adult movies, make everyone animals and heighten the slapstick. Or, of course, they use stories from myths or fairy tales, which generally have plots where one or both of the protagonist’s parents die, and are often driven by romance plots. Not super appealing to kids, or at least to mine.

Ponyo is interesting, because it really does seem like a movie for children. The main character, Sosuke, is a child who seems like an actual child, rather than a miniature adult, and his experiences are presented without a strong overlay of moralizing commentary. It also represents things that are “adult” — like a mom being angry with a dad who is working late — but again, in a sort of neutral way, such that kids can encounter it as an event that isn’t necessarily linked to a larger narrative about marital strife, just as a moment of mom being upset. The emotions are nuanced, but also presented in very accessible and immediate ways.

What’s most fascinating to me is that the plot is extremely complex — honestly, I didn’t entirely follow it, and at the end was pretty thoroughly confused about how the various pieces fit together, and whether certain characters were “good” or “bad.” (I think the answer is, neither, even though their actions may have been selfish or cruel). I’m pretty sure my kid didn’t get it either, but it really didn’t matter — we both understood the rough outline, and could grasp the resolution as a resolution.

It’s interesting to contrast the movie to The Little Mermaid, because there are some decided similarities: aquatic creature becomes enthralled with a human, decides to leave the ocean to be with said human, must ultimately make a decision about whether or not to be human or magical, and human must also prove his love for her. In Ponyo, this love is not exactly romantic, which is part of why I found it so appealing. This is a 5-year-old boy and, well, I don’t know how old Ponyo is supposed to be, but she seems in many ways like a 5-year-old girl. They have the kind of pure, enthusiastic, caring devotion to each other that 5-year-olds do. Though the finale does seem to slant towards adult romance, requiring Sosuke to decide on and declare his love, and all the more so when one character observes that Sosuke is awfully young to make such a decision, their relationship still seems clearly that of children.

And then also, Ponyo has a more elaborate cosmological structure — a worldview that unites supernatural beings with the idea of the right kind of relationship to nature and to other people. Maybe The Little Mermaid has this too and I just don’t notice it as clearly because I’m closer to the culture it portrays, but the world view in Ponyo also felt moral without being moralizing (it was notable, for instance, that the character who delivered fiery polemics about pollution was also controlling).

Anyhow, it was an enchanting experience — hopefully the beginning of a new era of movie watching…