Lessons from Spirited Away: finding yourself in a world of spirits

Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is not just one of the best Ghibli movies of all time. This feature film has multiple layers that cater to every type of audience. The best aspect of this film is that audiences of every age can learn something from it.

In this article, we will focus more on all the lessons that are deeply buried in the narrative. This movie should be a must-watch, especially for kids, as the key takeaway from the film has more teaching moments about life that are often not taught in classrooms.

Moreover, the pacing is gentle yet consistent. Therefore, it does not cause overstimulation in their mind. This is an important feature as, in today's date, everyone is exposed to short-form content, and that has significantly decreased memory span.

The core of the movie is about her as she needs to navigate through the complex situation she is thrown into. Spirited Away begins with Chihiro in the car with her parents, and she is upset that they are moving to a new place.

Her parents try to cheer her up, but on their way to the new house, they come across an abandoned tunnel that her father decides to explore. Chihiro instantly gets a bad vibe from it and requests that her parents not go any further to explore it.

Chihiro’s parents, while exploring what looks like an abandoned amusement park, come across a feast and start eating the food without permission. While they started eating, Chihiro refused to partake in lunch and urged them to leave. She was right not to eat anything because when she came back to her parents, they had turned into pigs.

This was the first key lesson of the film for older audiences — these scenes show us that sometimes it is important to give attention and value to children's opinions. And for a younger audience, this is an important lesson that teaches them to never take something that does not belong to them without permission.

The next obstacle Chihiro needed to face in the movie was to work for Yubaba. As it was the only way to survive and try to free her parents from being slaughtered.

Making a child work looks like an unfair burden she needs to carry, but if we look past the literal scene and try to understand the narrative as a whole. She unknowingly invited No-Face inside the bathhouse, which led to unexpected chaos, and led him to shower her with items she did not need.

Lessons we learn from Chihiro’s time in the Bathhouse in Spirited Away

She actually managed to save herself from his overbearing personality by not accepting anything she did not need. This is a great lesson as it shows us that not being greedy is a good trait. Chihiro’s refusal to indulge in greed shows she values effort over handouts.

One of the most unexpected character redemptions takes place with Yubaba. When the movie introduced her, she was a ruthless and money-hungry character who didn't care about anything else. At the end of Spirited Away, she chooses to change her ways and let Chihiro and her parents go.

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This shows us that Miyazaki doesn’t divide his characters into heroes and villains. Each character has two sides, and they have a choice to select which one will define their personality.

For children, this is an important message: We mustn’t write others off too quickly. Change is hard, but with patience and love, even the most troubled souls can find their way back.

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