The short video that I decided to watch was The Weeping Demon. I had no idea what to expect, but the name really caught my attention. The first few minuntes into the video, my first thought was 'wow, this is kind of creepy'. But once I finally got to hear some dialogue I was able to understand what was going on. The man at the beginning is walking through a foggy desert with not many signs of vegetation in sight. When he encounters the demon, or Kami-which is a spirit, he finds out why the land looks the way that it does. It's because of mankind, which always seems to be the case. Nuclear bombs and missles cause fallout, and the fallout destroyed mother nature. Not only did mother nature become destroyed, but the the radiation caused the flowers to mutate and we see monterous dandelions. Two of the important themes in Shinto myth are purity and pollution. The land had obviously become polluted, and was no longer pure. The demon even states that mankind caused nature to vanish from the earth.. Nature is considered to be sacred, and mankind had managed to destroy it.
The demon goes on to tell the story about his life as a human, and how he didn't live it very purely. He would intentionally waste milk, and food to keep prices up. Wasting what nature gives is not living in harmony with nature. One of the Shinto Ethics is that emphasis is placed on actions that create harmonious relationships in home and society. In Shinto, everything is spiritual and because of that there is a continuity between humanity, nature, and spirits/gods. I believe that this short video depicted this continuity, and maybe if the demon had led a more pure life he wouldn't be a kami who happens to be a suffering demon.
I also watched the same clip because the name sounded interesting to me. I like your point about how the man himself led an unpure life. So it wasn't just because of the humans who interfered in that area, his sins also had a huge role as to why he is what he is.
ReplyDeleteI watched a little bit of this one and it is pretty creepy. I fien it interesting that the man knew he was living an unpure life but kept doing it. Accepting the blame only on to himself which is why now he is a suffering demon.
ReplyDeleteI did not watch any of this clip, but from what your saying the bombing would definitely harm the purity and cause pollution in nature. I like your point of how nature is sacred and mankind destroyed it. That is not respect for nature what so ever.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch any of this clip either, but from reading your explanation, it seems to me that they are also trying to emphasize the connection between humanity, nature, and the spirits/gods. When humanity becomes corrupt, nature is destroyed, and demons are created out of this negative behavior. Everything is connected, and everything is affected in the same way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that the video links to Shinto because it had to do with purity and pollution. You also see this connection to nature being sacred in the section i watch which was the "Peach Orchard".
ReplyDeleteI did not watch this section but I have to agree with your interpretation of the section. The harmony and continuity between humans and nature is an important aspect of Shinto. I wonder if the demon was the one who partook in the destruction seen in the film or whether he was a victim of what other humans did.
ReplyDeleteI really like the emphasis on harmony. I don't know that much about Native American spirituality, but I would think that there is a similar belief in balancing nature with man's relationship with land. Its really interesting to see the differences between western and eastern religion, ie justification of environmental exploitation vs. sacred worship of nature.
ReplyDeleteI watched this one as well and, when it started he was walking for a good four minutes and i was wondering when there was going to be some dialogue. You pointed out a great point of the demon pouring out the milk and the food to keep prices up, I didnt even think about that. That definitely is not a way to keep harmony with a society.
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