The Relatability of Howl's Moving Castle
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| Image description: A beautiful landscape scene from the Studio Ghibli film Howl's Moving Castle, featuring the titular moving castle in the background. Not only is this movie one of my favorite films of all time, but it has many lessons and themes that I find quite relatable, hence the theme of today's post. |
When I finally saw a Studio Ghibli film, it was Howl’s
Moving Castle when I was about fifteen years old, and the movie immediately
captured my heart, mind, and imagination. It has since become one of my
absolute favorite films of all time and, although I didn’t grow up with it, I
consider it equal to those Disney classics that did dominate my childhood. In
fact, I try to make a point to see it every year when it comes back to theaters
for Studio Ghibli Fest, and doing so is usually a highlight of whatever month I
happen to be in. My most recent viewing of the film, in honor of its 20th
anniversary, was about two weeks ago at my local theater.
This most recent viewing cemented an idea that actually
first took hold of me during my 2023 Studio Ghibli Fest viewing: the
relatability of the film’s plot and core concepts. It might be a little strange
to say that an animated movie about magic, spells, curses, and walking
mechanical houses is relatable, but over the years I have become more and more
convinced that Howl’s Moving Castle is an immensely relatable film and
that this is part of its beauty. The older I get and the more I watch the film,
the more I come to understand why it speaks to me so clearly in particular.
While the film itself isn’t exactly aspec-coded (although
certain elements of it certainly could be, depending on your perspective), I
believe there are some lessons and concepts within it that strike a chord with
me when it comes to my aspec identity. So that’s what I want to discuss today –
to honor the film’s 20th anniversary, because I saw it recently and thus the
concepts are fresh in my mind, and just because I love it so darn much. It
feels like the perfect way to come back from my small break and a great thing
to talk about as I come to the home stretch of yet another year of blogging. For
so many reasons, this movie is very dear to me and I hope you enjoy reading my
thoughts about it as much as I know I’m going to enjoy sharing them.
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The Plot and
its Lessons
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| Image description: Howl and Sophie take a magical stroll through the sky during their first meeting, arguably one of the most iconic scenes in the film |
The story begins when we meet a young woman by the name of Sophie Hatter, who runs her father’s millinery shop and lives a quiet life away from the bustle and magic of the world around her. Sophie considers herself plain and forgettable, and so it comes as a shock to her when one day she suddenly crosses paths with Howl, a legendary wizard who is rumored to steal the hearts of beautiful women. However, Howl’s interaction with her is one of kindness… although it leads to bigger implications than Sophie could ever imagine. Howl’s kindness towards Sophie sparks jealousy in another great magical figure, the Witch of the Wastes, who puts a spell on Sophie that causes her to become an old woman.
Although initially frightened of her new circumstances, the
usually timid Sophie is not content to sit around feeling sorry for herself,
and sets off to find the Witch and demand that the curse be reversed. However,
she once again runs into Howl and finds herself an unexpected visitor in his
strange and fantastic “moving castle.” Meanwhile, her country and the
neighboring country plunge into war against one another, a conflict Howl both
tries to avoid and tries to meddle in. Together, Sophie, Howl, and the rest of
the denizens of the castle try to avoid both the war and the machinations of
the controlling sorceress Madame Sulliman, who demands Howl report to her in
order to fight for king and country.
Over the course of this journey, Sophie not only learns more
about Howl and comes to understand his story, but she comes to learn more about
herself too and the power that can be found in the self-confidence she had
heretofore lacked. It’s this confidence that turns out to save not only herself
and her friends, but just might put a stop to the war too. It’s a gorgeous
story – both visually and metaphorically – about growth, friendship, self-love,
and love for others told in a way that only renowned director Hayao Miyazaki
could.
Upon first viewing, the movie is quite different than many
people would likely think (especially for those who have read the book upon
which the movie is loosely based – something which, I admit, I have never
done). In fact, I feel like some Ghibli fans even tend to put this film aside in
favor of more popular or nostalgic titles, such as Spirited Away or My
Neighbor Totoro. But I believe there is a brilliance to Howl’s Moving
Castle that goes beyond just its beautiful art or intriguing magic. While
the plot is, in some senses, a little confusing, there are so many lessons to
be found in the story that make it an incredibly moving and profound piece of
art.
Although the story has many layers – the magic of the world,
the message about the futility and useless waste of the war between the
kingdoms, the love story between Howl and Sophie, and a great deal more – the
most prominent element is how Sophie grows as a character and how the curse
fosters this growth. There is a great deal of scholarship out there that
specifically discusses the ways this film depicts old age as something that’s
not necessarily to be feared, but which can come with certain benefits. In
Sophie’s case, being old allows her to cast aside some of the things that
previously kept her trapped in self-doubt (more on that later). This is
something she herself even says a few different times, claiming that being
older means not being frightened or that her “old age” allows her a level of
cunning and freedom of expression that she’s never enjoyed before.
Before the curse at the beginning of the film, we see
flashes of the determination and grit she actually does possess, such as when
she attempts to tell off the soldiers who accost her during the scene where she
first meets Howl, or when she first tells off the Witch of the Wastes. After
she’s cursed, these things show up more frequently because she is able to view
herself through a lens that has been previously denied to her due to society’s
expectations. In that sense, she is able to accept what should otherwise be a
terrifying circumstance and works within its framework, growing and adapting as
she goes along, and this is where I believe the true relatability of the film
lies.
Why I Relate to
the Story
Years ago, a post on Tumblr was the first thing that sparked
the idea of Howl’s Moving Castle and its plot being deeply relatable, in
an admittedly very amusing way. The post referred to a scene not long after
Sophie is cursed in which she casually remarks “getting old is worse than I
thought,” and made the comment that the way Sophie just sort of rolls with
being cursed to be an old woman becomes more and more relatable the older the
original poster gets. Although I of course don’t know for sure, I have a
feeling the original poster is probably around my age, as this type of joke
feels very in keeping with my generation. While I don’t believe the film ever
establishes how old Sophie is supposed to be, I suspect she’s probably supposed
to be within this same age bracket as well.
Because of her outwardly plain appearance, Sophie is not overly concerned with the fact that she has been cursed to be so much older than she actually is – she even makes the remark herself that her clothes finally suit her, since she is often found wearing very plain clothes in comparison to the showy ones worn by the people around her. On a more jocular level, I can relate to Sophie’s plight for similar reasons. If I were to be cursed to be an old woman, I’d have a similar moment where I’d probably feel like my personality and beliefs were now more suited to my outward appearance.
On a more profound level, however, Sophie’s acceptance of this strange new reality is actually proof that her “plain” nature is something of a hidden subversive strength. Chances are, a person whose self-worth was tied to being beautiful would not be able to handle the curse Sophie is dealing with (pause for the obligatory “I see no point in living if I can’t be beautiful” joke); but for her, feeling less than is something she is used to dealing with and so this curse is a minor setback.
In general, Sophie is trapped in a society where beauty is
overwhelmingly valued. This is further emphasized by the fact that her mother
and her sister are both glamorous, which makes Sophie feel even more plain in
comparison and causes her self-confidence to suffer. It is only when she is
freed from the beauty standards of her society by the curse that she actually
begins to break out of these constraints. Throughout the film, we see how
Sophie’s curse occasionally lifts and she becomes young again, but she always
reverts back to the older form whenever she is once again confronted with
society’s ideals, which clearly do not match her own.
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| Image description: Sophie with her younger sister Lettie. Although Sophie gets along well with her family, she is clearly much "plainer" in a society that values and desires beauty like Lettie's and their mother's. |
For instance, she gains confidence a few times when she stands up for herself or those around her, but then she immediately reverts again when discussions of beauty come into play, thus preying on her sense of self-worth. Eventually, however, it’s Sophie that breaks the curse on herself and when she does, it’s not a return to the exact person she was before – she is young again, but still retains the silver hair she had as the older woman. I think this is proof that Sophie’s sense of her own beauty and self-worth needed to be freed from what society wants and needed to come from herself rather than what other people say, which I’ve always believed is the path to real, true, authentic self-love.
In that sense, I can deeply relate to Sophie, because I too
often lack confidence or struggle to believe in my own self worth because of
the expectations of the world around me. For Sophie, this is due to the beauty
standards of her society and what’s considered “normal” or “valuable” when
measured against that standard. For me, society’s general standardized idea of
what’s considered a “normal life” makes me feel similarly ostracized. And, just
like Sophie, I constantly struggle between feeling more confident and liberated
in myself whenever I’m removed from those circumstances and then immediately
pulled back down whenever I’m confronted with them again, and so her journey
speaks to me in that sense.
In their episode about Howl’s Moving Castle, the
YouTube channel Cinema Therapy makes a point that I’ve thought about constantly
since the episode came out over a year ago. When discussing Sophie’s confidence
journey and how she slides in and out of confidence, they make the observation
that this specifically happens whenever Sophie feels “attacked or rejected by
other people.” They then go on to say that the “only way to actually step into
your confidence and stay there is to recognize ‘if people reject me, that says
everything about them and what they value and says literally nothing about my
worth.’” The further observation of “you are worth what you’re worth and it
doesn’t matter what anyone else says” always has immense staying power with me,
as it’s a lesson I’ve tried to teach myself for years with varying levels of
success.
Both of these profound lessons (and as I said, so many
others) are baked into this film, and something I love is that they’re not just
specific to Sophie, even though she is arguably the main character. Earlier I
jokingly mentioned Howl’s iconic quote, but although this is always a moment
that gets a laugh whenever I see the film in theaters, there is something
wonderful about seeing Howl redefine his ideas about beauty just like Sophie
does, and I think this is a journey of self-worth too.
Just like Sophie, Howl learns that his worth isn’t tied to
the superficial metrics he’s otherwise used to define himself. Rather, his
worth comes from who he is and what he stands for, which is perhaps best
physically represented through his association with Calcifer, the fire demon
who controls the castle’s movement. While I won’t spoil this element of the
plot for those who haven’t seen the movie, the idea of Howl’s heart – both
physical and metaphorical – is a wonderful part of the story, and one that I
believe shows us where true worth and value really lie. It’s a journey that
Howl and Sophie go on together, as well as all the other characters in the
movie, often in beautifully overlapping ways.
This journey to embrace self-worth and learn to love
ourselves is one I believe we can all learn from. I myself, for as much as I
relate to these story beats, am still very much on a journey to learn to accept
myself and my circumstances the way Sophie does and am still learning how to
divorce myself from the typical expectations I see around me the way Howl and
Sophie do. These lessons about self-worth or beauty or age or standing up for
what you believe is true are all important to me; but there are still other
lessons that I can learn, and I’d like to think that embracing these things
will add even more layers to the movie’s relatability.
What I Can
Still Learn
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| Image description: "Grandma" Sophie and the cursed scarecrow she takes to calling "Turnip-Head," one of the many creatures who receives her compassion (more on that in a minute) |
My journey with self-confidence and self-worth has been more of a labyrinth than a straight path, finding dead ends, hitting backslides, and working through peaks and valleys. On that very winding journey, I think one of the things I’ve learned about myself is that self-confidence and self-worth don’t necessarily always have to be the same thing. There are plenty of things that I’m confident about that don’t have anything to do with my worth as a person, just like there are plenty of things I’m not confident about that don’t change the fact that I have intrinsic worth that these things can’t steal. In some instances, I’m actually better with self-worth than I am with self-confidence; in some cases, I’m confident but struggle to see what worth I really have.
Although this post is about a more lighthearted topic,
largely meant to celebrate and delight in what is one of my favorite movies of
all time, this discussion definitely comes at a strange crossroad of confidence
and lack of confidence for me. Recently, I got to see some old friends whom I
haven’t seen in years, and felt good about myself that I was able to display
confidence and personal growth when spending a long weekend with them. However,
I’ve also been struggling with my sense of self worth when it comes to personal
projects and in my fandom life, which regular readers of the blog likely know
is an ongoing struggle. In that sense, I feel a little like Sophie later in the
film, where she is somewhere in between her older and younger selves, stuck
somewhere in between self-confidence and self-doubt.
For that reason, I know that one of the biggest lessons I
can learn from this movie is that of compassion – both for myself and for those
around me. Although she has plenty of reasons to be upset about her
circumstances and the world she’s living in (and occasionally she is), Sophie
is largely someone who demonstrates compassion, love, and caring for the people
around her, even at times when it costs her a great deal to demonstrate these
things. Eventually, I believe she learns how to extend that same compassion to
herself.
During this strange and sometimes difficult stage of my
life, I can struggle with compassion at times. I may not be cursed and I may
not live in a society like Sophie’s, but I do live in a society where I at
times feel trapped and limited in my expression. It’s very hard to see the
sources of my own lack of confidence and the things that make me struggle as
anything other than terrible obstacles. As such, I don’t have nearly as much
compassion and empathy as I wish I had, and so Sophie reminds me to work to
choose kindness more often.
I admire Sophie’s empathy, her bravery, and her resilience,
and they are all traits I hope I can someday cultivate while I’m trying to
cultivate self-confidence. Like Sophie, I want to grow and adapt, getting more
in touch with myself and leaving behind the external doubts I have in order to
embrace my internal worth and the worth of the people around me. I know this
journey won’t be easy. One of the themes of Howl’s Moving Castle is that
a heart is a heavy burden, and I believe the act of growing and embracing
ourselves is part of that. The burden, therefore, will likely be a difficult
one to carry, but I think the lesson here is that it will be worth it in the
end.
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| Image description: Sophie and Calcifer near the end of the film |
Despite its relatively late arrival in my life, Howl’s Moving Castle has had a profound impact on me over the years, to the point where watching it is always a nourishing experience. For years it has dominated a huge portion of my imagination – to the point where I’ve literally spent five years of my life on and off writing a story where I take its themes and its plot and mash it up with my favorite video game, Dragon Age: Inquisition, with which is shares a surprising amount of parallels. I listen to the music from the film, I collect items related to its characters, I let its story influence me in various ways. It’s a tale that will never get old and one that I will never tire of watching, not only because I relate to it, but because its beauty and imagination inspire me to always become better.
The lessons of Howl’s Moving Castle are varied and
diverse. I believe they have the power to resonate with all people, but in
different and unique ways, perhaps even changing depending on circumstances and
time of life. For me, it speaks to and nourishes those parts of me that
struggle with self-confidence and my worth as a person. As an aspec person, it’s
not always easy for me to see myself in characters or stories, and sometimes I
don’t always get to take away profound personal lessons from media the way I’d
like to. But when it comes to stories like this one, I feel I can see a little
bit of myself reflected and honored. For that and so many other reasons, I will
always be grateful.
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