I would say one of the very clear sentiments at work in the 2010s is this idea of a hustle culture. You should always have something going on, always working, always doing something small to make some money. This certainly manifests itself in encouraging people to start their own businesses, which is very effective with the emergence of sites like Etsy that explicitly allow you to do this, but it can even be applied to things like making videos on YouTube or commissioning art.
Many “entrepreneurs” encourage others to turn their hobbies into jobs, because you already have a skill, why not make some money from it? But that sucks, right? Sometimes it works to turn the things you love to do most into work, but that’s not always the answer. Somehow, 35 years ago, the Studio Ghibli classic Qiqi’s delivery service This exact feeling is captured through the lens of a young witch trying to start her own magical career.
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To give a quick summary for those who have never seen this movie (which you should correct immediately, seriously, stop reading this article, go watch it, come back, and then you can skip this paragraph), Kiki’s Delivery Service It follows the titular character, a teenage girl who, like all witches her age, must leave home. She flies away on her broomstick, eventually settling in a beautiful seaside town, an idyllic place. Soon, she found this quaint little bakery, started living there, and built her delivery service.
This is definitely one of the quieter Miyazaki films, with no exciting, spirit-filled bathrooms or a handsome magical man taking you to his mobile castle while the war is going on, but that’s what makes it special at. “Kiki’s Delivery Service” finds beauty in the mundane, finds itself at a very vulnerable age, and makes lifelong connections – you know, the stuff you normally do when you’re 13. A great moment at the beginning, the thing that really elevates the film from a simple delight to an understated historical masterpiece is when she starts to feel languid.
I’m sure burnout is a feeling that most of you have experienced, that feeling of exhaustion that occurs when too much is going on in your life, usually due to having too much work to do, or simply doing too much Work. Especially in more professional jobs, it can lead to questions like, “What am I doing with my life” and “Why did I think it was a good idea to start a company where I draw people’s dogs wearing silly hats, And not enough money” “(I admit this may be a bit too specific, but you get the point).
This is exactly what Kiki experiences, even though it’s presented as the old classic artist’s disorder that can easily arise from burnout. This artist’s block causes her to lose her magic powers, leaving her unable to fly or understand her talking black cat Gigi, unsurprisingly sending her into a depressive funk. We all have those days when we just lie in bed because there’s nothing else to do, right?
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Kiki’s situation is really about falling out of love after your passion turns into a job, it’s not even really a metaphor, it’s just a text. She couldn’t work because it was hard, but also because she had lost the spark that drove her passion in the first place. It’s a relatable experience – I started writing about video games because I love them, but they’re also now work, and work can sometimes be a bit crap, so I’ve had to rethink my relationship with games so that they don’t It will affect my life.
This relatability is what makes Kiki’s Delivery Service so special and helps it stand alone from Miyazaki’s other works. It also just shows how you feel, your burnout, your artist’s block, not a single, unique feeling, it’s been happening for decades, centuries before even “Kiki” was released happened. Kiki’s Delivery Service is comforting not because it’s cute or beautiful, but because it understands what it’s like to be young and uncertain about the future. I just didn’t realize it would successfully last thirty years.
