The Women of the Wind

The first thing I noticed tonight when I watched Castle in the Sky was the beautiful motif of a woman drawn in the opening credits blowing the clouds. I guess it set the tone for the rest of the film and made me really wonder about the similarities and differences between the two main characters. I tried to find a screen shot of the woman but I couldn't find one.

Sheeta and Dola are the two most powerful characters in this film. They represent two opposite parts of female identity. They are both powerful women in their own right. Sheeta is young and innocent still learning her power and is in need of protection. Dola knows her power, and she uses it. The male pirates on the ship are her sons but treat her like a queen. She is generally waited on hand and foot like a lady but she acts like a slob. These paradoxes bring up interesting points about the paradoxes within feminist theory. What do we expect out of women? How do these two women confound our expectations?

I guess what I find most interesting is that I identify with both Dola and Sheeta. Life isn't always pretty and we can't all stay little girls forever. There is something beautiful about the kind of complicated adult life that Dola leads. While Sheeta is naive she is also beautiful, graceful and courageous.

I think this film says something beautiful about the influence of women on a society. I'm not entirely sure what it says yet. Anything I write now will seem pretentious and obnoxious, so, I'm going to mull it over for a couple days. If you're lucky maybe I'll figure it out and remember to blog about it.