Nature v. Technology? Return of the Repressed

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[Lectures]

Outline

• Downside of High Growth
• Superheroes & the Return of the Repressed in the 60s & 70s
  • Ultraheroes: Salvation from Outer Space
  • Ultravillains: Nature Gets Mad
• Nausicaa: Environmental Activist
  • Miyazaki Hayao
  • Introductory Synopsis
  • Themes for Discussion

  Downside of High Growth

• By the 1970s, Japan had become one of the most polluted countries in the world
• (1) Intense concentration of industrial sites along Pacific coast from Tokyo to n. Kyûshû
• (2) Sharp increase in consumption of natural resources by heavy industry in 50s & 60s (fossil fuels, water, minerals & chemicals)
• (3) "GNP First": little government regulation

  High Growth & Urban Living Standards

  The Toll of Urbanization (60s & 70s)

• Sanitation Problems
  • 1960: only 21.32% of Tokyo connected to sewer system (dumped into rivers, vacuum trucks)
  • Raw sewage pumped out to sea
  • Even by 1980, only 28% of all households connected
• Solid Wastes
  • Per capita prod. of garbage doubled from 60s to 70s
  • Increasing reliance on non-biodegradable packaging
  • Rapid filling of offshore dumps > residents nearby complain > garbage wars
• Transportation
  • Population growth of metropolitan areas (esp. Tokyo) outstripped mass transportation facilities
  • Rapid increase in use of cars and trucks in metropolitan areas > massive traffic jams, traffic accidents, rising smog and noise levels
  • Commuting times increased with suburban growth
• Housing
  • Deterioration of high rise apartment facilities
  • Rising building and land prices

  Ultraman Series

• Ultra Q 1966
• Ultraman 1966-67
• Ultraman Seven 1967-68
• Ultraman Returns 1971
• The Ultraman 1979
• Ultraman 80 1980
• Ultraman Tiga 1996
• Movies, animation, live action shows, international tours, theme park, merchandising, etc.

  The Origins of Ultraman

• Origin 1: Eiji Tsuburaya, in charge of special effects for early Godzilla movies, founds Tsuburaya Productions in the 1960s. Early proposals for TV series "Woo" and "Unbalance" merge to form "Ultra Q" (1966).
• Origin 2: The sun of a planet in Nebula M78 is destroyed, but the humanoids on the planet are transformed into beings of light. Their new state allows them to protect the universe from the forces that threaten destruction elsewhere...

  Down to Earth

• Ultraman often has symbiotic relationship with human host
  • Needs materiality to do battle on earth with bad guys
  • Sincere, brave and self-sacrificing character of host
  • Mechanical or emotional trigger to change
• MAT: Monster Attack Team
  • International organization that pre-exists Ultraman
  • Teamwork in productive tension with individualism

  Ultravillains

• More than half the fun of the show
• Technology v. nature struggle played out
• The monsters as primal embodiments of feeling and spontaneity
• Monsters as "victims of human selfishness"; humans have violated the natural order

  Miyazaki Hayao

• Graduation in 1963 from elite university, majored in politics and economics
• Training in Tôei Dôga, top animation studio, known for being opinionated
• Influences include Western sci-fi and fantasy classics
• Leftist politics
  • Labor organizer when young
  • Environmentalist themes

  Notable Miyazaki Works

• World Masterpiece Theater (Heidi, Anne of Green Gables) 1974-79
• Future Boy Conan 1978
• Castle of Cagliostro 1979
• Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1984
• Castle in the Sky Laputa 1986
• My Neighbor Totoro 1988
• Kiki's Delivery Service 1989
• The Crimson Pig 1992
• Princess Mononoke 1997

  Nausicaa

• First appeared as manga, serialized from 1982 to 1994 for Animage
  • Unusual style compared to standard manga inking, detailing, use of space, text-visuals ratio
  • Complex storyline and ethical dilemmas
  • Canonized as a classic
• Turned into anime version in 1984
  • Creatively edited synopsis of first two years of manga story
  • More optimistic than manga version
  • Gave rise to Studio Ghibli

  Introductory Synopsis

• In the distant future, human civilization has all but self-destructed in "Seven Days of Fire" wrought by technologically created god-soldiers.
• Industrialization has poisoned the earth's air, water, and land seemingly beyond repair. A "Sea of Corruption"&emdash;actually a forest of deadly spores and mutated insects&emdash;spreads over much of the world.
• Humans survive only in environmental pockets where the air is clean and crops can be grown; politically human society has reverted back to feudalism

  Themes for Discussion

• Miyazaki: "Nausicaa comes from the new world views regarding nature which came about in the 1970s."
• How are technology and science depicted?
• How is "nature" depicted?
  • Is it monstrous or benign or … ?
  • What is the "nature" of Nature?
• What is Nausicaa's relationship to nature?
  • Does she tame nature?
  • Does she resign herself to nature?
  • What kind of heroine is Nausicaa?