Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Studio Ghibli (Walt Disney Home Video)

Film released 1989 (Rereleased by Disney in 1998)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writer: Hayao Miyazaki

Based on the book by Eiko Kadono

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Debbie Reynolds, Phil Hartman, Matthew Lawrence, and lots of Japanese voice actors (for the Japanese version, obvi)

Rated: G

Grade: 4.5/5 (only because there are no openly LGBTQ characters)

We’re going to JAPAN this week!

Miyazaki is HANDS DOWN one of the best animated storytellers of our time. Period. While I love Spirited Away and fell back in love with him with Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki will always hold a special place in my heart as my childhood favourite.

I'll have what he's having

Confession: Before last night, I hadn’t watched this movie in eons. And boy was I missing out. 
This movie is a feminist masterpiece. It’s one of those hidden gems, buried under years of watching male-driven animated features, but I am here to resurrect your worn VHS of yesteryear.  Press stop, rewind, wait for an hour, annnnnnd let’s play!

Quick recap for those who forgot the plot (like me a mere 24 hours ago). For those of you who have yet to discover this glorious piece of Japanese cinema GET ON THAT SHIT! If I could find it on the internet, so can you.

We start by meeting Kiki, our thirteen year-old female protagonist (how many times do I get to say that? Too few, that’s how many) who is a witch, which is a totally normal thing in this world! Here, witches leave home to train for a year in a foreign city on their thirteenth birthday. So Kiki jets off on her mom’s broom with her best sassy feline friend, Jiji. They find a pretty coastal city (the animation was inspired by a bunch of European cities like Stockholm, Lisbon, Paris, and Milan) where they are initially put off by big city life. They eventually find a friendly pregnant woman, Osono, who let’s them stay in her spare attic room in return for keeping an eye on the shop and then Kiki decides to start her own delivery service! She basically just flies around on her broom like a one-woman postal service, making lots of friends along the way. The film follows the trials and tribulations of a young witch just trying to find her place in the world. And the animation is gorgeous, btw.

I am Kiki! Watch me flyyyyyy!

First, let’s talk about how the characters in the film are basically ALL women. There are only four. I REPEAT ONLY FOUR! Recurring male characters. ONE OF THEM IS A CAT AND ANOTHER BARELY SPEAKS! Holy guacamole. No wonder I liked this movie as a closeted seven year-old.

Next, Kiki is a witch! I’ve already talked a bit about how entangled witches are in lesbian cultural symbols, history, the whole she-bang (did you enjoy that pun as much as I did? Maybe not…moving on). Modern example: Willow in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, historical example: all that horrible stuff that went down in Salem, Mass way back when (and all the witch burning in Europe). Maybe I'll do a separate post on that...

Kiki’s world treats witches in a really interesting way. At first, we are in a world of witches. Kiki’s a burgeoning witch, her mom is a witch who whips up a damn good potion, and witch traditions are well-known facts. Being a witch who does witchy things is totally normal. But then Kiki takes off and leaves home, she finds a place where she is the only witch. Being a witch isn’t so normal anymore. She has to adjust to her newfound isolation. What interests me is the witch cultural adage here that this year of training (read: isolation) is a necessary part of becoming a full-fledged witch. (How many times can I say witch in one post?) When I think of someone who must undergo a year of training for whatever skill they are trying to cultivate, the narrative is that they go off to train with someone, usually an older and wiser mentor figure. But not in Kiki’s world. Her teacher is her isolation. Her teacher is her queerness in an unfamiliar world. She must learn to survive and thrive as the only one of her kind. And boy does she struggle, but she comes out stronger for it. How fucking prolific is that?

I also think it’s really cool that she, a THIRTEEN YEAR-OLD GIRL is allowed to leave home by herself for a full year. Now, this is just totally unheard of in our modern world. Young people are rarely given any kind of agency over their own lives, let alone a young girl. It’s refreshing to see a young strong willed and totally independent young person take control over her life and thrive.

She’s also an ENTREPRENEUR! She starts her own delivery business and she makes money doing it! That’s a huge feat in itself. And the fact that young girls can watch another young girl take the initiative and start her own relatively profitable business is HUGE.  

That'll be five cents please

Now here comes the lesbian speculation (you knew it was coming). Kiki meets a lot of interesting people on her deliveries. Three people stood out to me. 

There are the two older women who live in a fancy house. The house’s owner, only known as Madame, calls on Kiki’s services to deliver a herring pie (I guess that’s a thing?) to her niece for her birthday. Madame lives with her “friend” Barsa who runs around helping them make the pie and the reason for her presence is never discussed. I guess you’re supposed to think she’s a maid of some sort? All I know is that they are definitely big ‘ol homos. Dispute me, I dare ya. These two are lovely little old ladies living out their days together in their big fancy house away from judgmental prying eyes.  

This is my man-swatting broom

And there’s Ursula, the kick-ass artist who lives with the crows (yeah, she’s a bird lady) in the middle of the forest who ends up becoming a close friend to Kiki and gives her important advice when she’s down in the dumps and (spoilers!) loses her flying powers for a hot sec. Ursula is the coolest. And rewatching the movie now, it is refreshing to see a representation of a young queer twentysomething being a friend to her young compatriot. Ursula lives alone in the wilderness with no man in sight. She’s a free artistic spirit in touch with nature. And she’s not afraid to talk about her struggles, both personal and artistic. She tells Kiki about her art and her self-doubt and reveals her complexities as another vulnerable and complicated woman. What a good role model.

Paint me like one of your french women

You might have noticed I’ve barely talked about the boys in the movie. The mere four male representations include: a cat, Osono’s (the pregnant baker’s) muscley husband who barely speaks and pretty much just makes bread the whole movie, Kiki’s father who is a lovely human who is only in the first scene and the epilogue, and Kiki’s “romantic” interest (they’re only thirteen so he’s more of a friend interest), Tombo, whose advances she totally brushes off. Although his relentless pursuit of Kiki is a little creepy, he actually ends up being a good friend to her, he’s got these cute little glasses (I’ll always dole out some extra points for my fellow glasses-wearers), and he’s the damsel in distress during the climactic moment of the movie! Kiki pulls a superhero move and saves his life, literally catching him mid-air as he falls to his death from a rogue blimp. Pause to appreciate the brilliant gender role reversal. All hail Miyazaki, the secret feminist genius.

Kiki my love, Kiki my love, Kiki my loo-oooove

Also, Jiji, the cat, is the sassiest BFF ever.

Black cats are the masters of throwing shade

Fun fact courtesy of IMDB: The film takes place in an alternate reality version of the 1950s Europe where WWI and WWII never happened! Talk about utopic!

MVQ: Osono, the pregnant baker, is the story’s unsung hero, supporting Kiki and her business ventures, taking care of her when she’s sick, and putting a roof over her head.

OTP: Ursula and the pretty lady down the street who frequents the bakery. My theory is that they had a nasty breakup over Ursula’s need to move to the forest to commune with nature and the pretty lady didn’t want to sacrifice her career in fashion.  Just a theory.

Favorite moment: Kiki’s superhero moment saving Tombo. Epic. So epic. 

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a girl!

How To Train Your Dragon

How To Train Your Dragon

DreamWorks Animation

Film released 2010

Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders

Writer: William Davies, Dean DeBlois, and Chris Sanders

Based on the book by Cressida Cowell

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, and David Tennant (Who knew?)

Rated: PG

Grade: 3.5/5

Mk. This one is another story of the queer “other.” There are lots of kids’ movies that take on this trope, some good, some bad, but this one is particularly intriguing when it comes to breaking down gender roles and femininity versus masculinity.

Let’s get into it.

WHAM! Right off the bat: alternative family structure (which gets even more interesting in the sequel, but that’s for another day). Our protagonist Hiccup (poor little Viking, seriously, they had to name him Hiccup?) has been raised by his giant Viking father his whole life with no mother in sight.

FEE FIE FOE FUM

Hiccup’s dad is the leader of the Vikings and a celebrated dragon hunter. He’s a giant dude. Hiccup on the other hand is a scrawny little boy. He can’t hold an axe, let alone kill any dragons. He’s basically the laughing stock of the whole Viking village because of this. Here’s where we get queer. Hiccup is not the Viking (read: man) he should be. His father tells him, “stop being all of you.” That’s harsh, bro. And “from the time he was born, he was different.” Sounds queer to me. Hiccup has to deal with toxic ideas of masculinity and gender role constructs.

Harold and Kumar and Hiccup?

Hiccup tries his darndest to measure up to the ideals of masculinity placed on him by his environment, but he just can’t. He’s labelled inadequate. But he does his best to compensate with his creativity! He invents things! He wants to prove himself within the confinement of the given environment (ie the norm): manly Viking men kill dragons.  But when he finally encounters the Night Fury he hit with his invention, he can’t do the deed. 

Excalibur!

He’s just not that kind of Viking. Hiccup starts to think outside the box, outside the construct. This is Hiccup’s queer aha! moment. He realizes that he cannot conform to the normative mode of manly Viking men who kill dragons. He accepts himself as a tiny Viking boy who trains dragons. He finds his success outside the norm, within his queerness.

Lil' Bub Toothless

Hiccup is not the only one who is working outside the norm. We find this in the dragon Toothless, too. Toothless has learned through his/her (I don’t actually think Toothless gets gendered in the movie, not sure though. BUT HOW COOL IS THAT!?!) experience and encounters with humans, that it’s a kill or be killed world out there. Toothless also actively struggles with this construct, this norm. They become friends when they both accept the queer notion that they don’t have to kill each other. Their friendship proves that PEOPLE CAN CHANGE!

Don't send a boy to do a girl's job

Also, Astrid is a total feminist fierce independent lady. Hiccup’s crush on her is awesome for young boys to see a male character infatuated with a positive female role model. And she’s obviously good for young girls watching the movie.

What’s the take away on this one? Masculinity is more complicated than manly Viking men who kill dragons versus tiny Viking boys who train dragons. And it’s good to question social norms because you might just make a friend out of it J

MVQ: Toothless.

OTP: Astrid and the girl twin. Why not?

Favorite Moment: This:

Sorry this was a short one, I’m totally bogged down with work for my MA. Next post is gonna be up on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

ALSO ALSO ALSO! I’m taking requests! Shoot me an email at thelamerest@gmail.com and I’ll add it to the list!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants

Warner Bros.

Film released 2005

Director: Ken Kwapis

Writer: Delia Ephron & Elizabeth Chandler

Based on the books by Ann Brashares

Starring: Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, and Blake Lively

Rated: PG

Grade: 4/5

Every once in a while I’m gonna do a post about TWEEN ENTERTAINMENT! Let’s kick off the first one with a little Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants.

I loved this movie as I was growing up (I even read the books, which are about as decent as tween books get). Why? BECAUSE IT FEATURES 4! Yes, 4! FEMALE PROTAGONISTS who have a deep, meaningful friendship.

Some queer topics covered in the movie include positive female friendships (duh), alternative family structures, mental health issues and suicide, consent, privilege, body positivity, and able-ism stigmas.  Let’s get cracking.

First, there’s the premise: 4 diverse young female friends can all fit into the same pair of jeans. In the scene where they try them on, Carmen makes a big deal out of her being the biggest of the girls and puts them on to prove that there is no way they’ll fit her as she slips them on with no struggle. So. Much. Body positivity! This scene says that what ever your body type, you are perfect for these jeans. The movie’s metaphor for the bonds of friendship literally and figuratively embraces each girl’s differences. Man. This movie was kinda ahead of its time.

The girls start off as typical female tropes: there’s the quite artistic one, the loud Hispanic writer, the sardonic filmmaking rebel, and the beautiful blonde athlete. But we learn that these girls are far more than their stereotypes suggest.

Let’s talk about the girls individually.

First, Lena: the quiet artistic one. 

'Sup, Rory?

She’s probably the least queer (read: interesting) of them all. She gets the classic love story where she falls for the foreign Greek charmer (God the actor’s accent is horrible) despite her shy nature. Her storyline follows her trip to visit her Greek family on the beautiful island Santorini (I mostly watch her sections for the landscape, tbh) and the love story. As she falls for Kostos she discovers her love for drawing and metaphorically (and literally, seeing as this is a tween movie, subtlety is not within genre) lets her hair down. He totally awakens her sexuality, which is seriously empowering, watching her take control of her body as a young woman is invigorating. Her trip to Greece reminds me of the camps I would go to during the summers in high school where I could discover who I was outside the comfort zone of my family and school. That’s where I figured out I was gay. That’s where Lena figured out she is an artist, and a proud woman.

Second, Tibby: the sarcastic filmmaking rebel. 

Get me out of the service industry!

Personally, I always thought she was gay. Her relationship with Brian, the geeky video game kid, always felt like an after thought. I also love her sassy sarcastic humour that I can totally relate to, so maybe I’m projecting, but that’s pretty much all this blog is…Anyway, her story is a different kind of love story. Tibby’s story is about Bailey, my absolute favourite character. The headstrong girl next door, wise beyond her years, who we find out is dying of cancer. It’s heavy heavy stuff. But it’s one of the most honest portrayals of a terminally ill young person before John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars finally came around. And I’d say being a kid with cancer totally qualifies as a queerness outside of the healthy norm. Tibby’s relationship with Bailey changes her for the better and not just in a cheesy way. Bailey teaches her true compassion. She makes Tibby a better artist and a better human as they go about their days interviewing people with seemingly weird and mundane lives who turn out to have fascinating stories and passions. We could all stand to learn something from Bailey.

Next, Bridget. The blonde athlete. And total tomboy femme. 

Ooooooo baraccuda

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate how damn beautiful Blake Lively is. Ok? Done? I’ll give you another minute. Man, did I have a crush on Bridget. And she has the most complex story by far. She’s the beautiful extroverted blonde athlete whose life seems perfect from the outside, but she’s got some serious demons. We find out pretty early on that her mother committed suicide (while it’s not said explicitly, it’s heavily implied) and suffered from what the book outlines as Bipolar Disorder. Bridget’s storyline opens up an interesting discussion of mental health and dealing with grief. She struggles to understand what her mother went through, why she killed herself, and if she is like her mother. This movie gets so many points for the mental health discussion, which movies for tweens rarely explore, especially in the early 2000s. We can also look at her relationship with Eric, the older counsellor she has a fling with at soccer camp and loses her virginity to. Oh man. This is complex. First of all, she explicitly tells him that she is 17, and he’s in college, so I’m pretty sure that’s illegal statutory rape… The whole relationship is forbidden from the start, but she pursues him anyway. And when they finally hook up, she starts a downward depression-riddled spiral. There’s a nice opportunity for a discussion about consent here which the story doesn’t really take up, which is definitely an oversight, but it at least acknowledges the fallout and the emotional consequences Bridget faces when she leaves soccer camp. I think they actually start a serious relationship in the books, or something like that, but don’t quote me on that.

Finally, Carmen: the loud Hispanic girl. 

Ugly Betty as a teen! 

She’s got some alternative family structure going on. Her white father left her mother when she was young and this summer she’s going to live with him for a month. She finds that he’s shacked up with a pretty blonde white woman and her porcelain son and daughter. Here’s our complicated depiction of class, race, and privilege: queer versus norm. This storyline is the most direct conflict between these two worlds. Carmen feels completely out of place in her dad’s new whitewashed world that she runs away from her embarrassing bridesmaid dress fitting and throws a rock at her dad’s window when she sees them all sitting down to a nice dinner like she never even ran off. She tells her dad that he was a dick for not telling her about his fiancé (true), that it felt like he was erasing her from his life, and that he is embarrassed by his half-Hispanic daughter and her mother. This phone confrontation is totally heart-wrenching. The end of the film (spoilers!) takes us to her dad’s wedding where she swallows her pride and publicly joins him and his fiancé at the altar as her dad brings her into his new family. I don’t know what that says exactly about race and class and privilege and all that, but Carmen’s story opens up a dialogue about mixed race families, the racial stigmas, complications, and personal struggles that come along with it. I honestly don’t know if another narrative like this exists because this topic can be unsettling and the film really doesn’t shy away from the plot in the books (if my memory is at all reliable).

All in all, powerful movie about positive female friendships and there’s so much complex queerness that it’s almost overwhelming. It covers so many bases in each of the girls’ storylines that there’s a little queerness for everyone. I just wish one of them had a coming out story. That would have been the cherry on top.

OTP: Tibby and Bridget. Do I need to explain that one?

MVQ: Bailey. No competition.

Favorite Moment: When the girls all go over to Bridget’s with pizza to cheer her up.