Sorry-ology

The new Ghibli animation, The Tale of Princess Kaguya: A Princess's Crime and Punishment , tells a story of a girl born inside a bamboo, adopted by a couple in the country, and educated to transform herself from a peasant girl into a lady. In the end, Kaguya is revealed to be a kannon (kuanyin, or bodhisattva) and has to return to her duty. The animated film is an end result of Isao Takahada’s years-long effort. Distinct from Hayao Miyazaki's works, which are known for their full-bodied and bright colors, Princess Kaguya is drawn in water color. The characteristic loose lines, soft-toned shades, and the spaces deliberated left blank contribute to the breezy and fabled atmosphere of the work. It is a simple story, like most folklore much narrated in one’s childhood, and a great watch. The story goes like this: a baby is discovered inside a bamboo by a farmer. The farmer and his wife adopt her and are simply overjoyed with her presence, a hopeful addition to ...

K and I watched Hannah Arendt as a birthday treat to him. It was a good story provoking its audiences to think beyond themselves. I am quite charmed by the portrayal of Arendt's powerful character as a philosopher and her independent spirit as a woman. Intriguingly enough, however, she also seems to be totally confident in her relationship to her husband, who apparently, to every one's knowledge, is having an affair with one of their common acquaintances. She is able to greet the mistress and to invite her to a house party. She appears to be immune to the disturbing (to the standard of the general public) reality of the affair as if her relationship to her husband has already assumed a Platonic form. They are each other's intellectual counterpart and therefore insusceptible to any worldly distractions. They can still love and respect each other even if the relationship might be tinted with a scandal of unfaithfulness. Is it the power of intellect that has empowered...