In keeping with tradition, my last 12 days post is a somewhat personal, serious one.
I watched When Marnie Was There this year, Studio Ghibli’s latest (and possibly last) effort. It was a good film, remarkably psychological for a Ghibli film, let down somewhat by an info-dump ending that aims to tie up all the loose ends. Still, certainly worth watching, and a film that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
What stood out to me is that Anna, the main character, is a young girl quite clearly struggling with depression to begin with. She has few friends, is very withdrawn, expresses a lot of self-hatred, and can’t really communicate with her parents. It was certainly an interesting way to introduce the character, and I found myself sympathizing with her a lot.
There was one brief scene though that took it from simple sympathy to deeply personal resonance:
Seeing those words uttered like that… it was like having a mirror held up. They sound corny, they sound stupid, but they’re thoughts that echo around my head all too often. That exact thought pattern. Those exact words. It’s like my own thoughts were up on screen for me to see. It didn’t make me cry or anything, but I couldn’t continue watching the film for about 15 minutes. The precision of that hit was… unexpected. I needed a few moments.
I don’t know if this helped or hurt my issues with depression, but it was validating in an odd way. Just knowing that these thoughts and feelings aren’t fake or isolated to me, knowing that others have felt this way, it’s comforting. They’re real.
I still find myself thinking about that one scene quite a bit.
And on that note, Merry Christmas!
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