I'd Rather Be a Pig Than a Fascist | A Meditation on Porco Rosso
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2024
- In this video, I will be exploring Porco Rosso and the relationship between the real-world history of the Adriatic Sea during the rise of Italian Fascism and the Anti-war themes of Studio Ghibli. Is this film the Antifascist classic that many describe it as? Watch to hear my thoughts on this underrated classic.
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Work Cited:
Burgwyn, H. James. Empire on the Adriatic: Mussolini's Conquest of Yugoslavia, 1941-1943. Enigma, 2005.
Han, Karen. “Studio Ghibli's Porco Rosso Is a Fairy Tale without a Fairy-Tale Ending.” Polygon, Vox Media, 29 May 2020, www.polygon.co....
Jolin, Dan. “Miyazaki on Miyazaki: The Animation Genius on His Movies.” Empire, Bauer Consumer Media, 28 July 2011, www.empireonli....
Marlborough, Patrick. “What Studio Ghibli's Films Teach US about Resisting Fascism.” VICE, Vice Media, 1 Sept. 2017, www.vice.com/e....
R., Franks Norman L. Nieuport Aces of World War 1. Osprey, 2000.
Hey Everyone! As usual, I want to thank Molly Noise for continuing to provide great music for these videos! You can find her stuff at mollynoise.bandcamp.com/
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Porco Rosso has been my favourite Ghibli movie for a while, and it is in large part due to it's very explicit anti-fascism, but also just that it is such a grounded Ghibli movie, the fact that it is set in a very real place at a very specific time just does so much more to ground it's message in reality. And while Porco is a cursed pig it is so explicit in what it means that you never really think of it as a magic spell, but read it as what it is, a metaphor for PTSD and survivor's guilt.
Also I do enjoy that it's often said with Ghibli that "there are no clear-cut villains in Ghibli movies" to which Porco Rosso is often left out because that movie by far has the most clear-cut villain of them all. And that yes Ghibli does generally have an air of forgiveness towards it's villains, no such kindness is shown to fascist.
I agree, It does make characters like Ferarri feel very tragic while making me not sympathize with him. There is something to be said about the poor conditions given to veterans of WW1, but knowing that there were many other options to soldiers like him joining the regime paints a very stark picture of the ways fascism can seem banal if you don't pay attention
This is one of my favorite Ghibli movies! I think it manages to balance out its terribly heavy themes with its many fun scenes in a way that elevates both of those sides. I didn't know about the possible real-life inspirations; this adds another great layer to the film!
Your video was excellent! I'm sorry to point one inaccuracy out, but the date you mentioned at the start was not right. World War I was already well over in 1919, and Baracca passed away 19 June, 1918.
Yeah, IDK what happened with that line read cause I even had 1918 written out on the script. It should be reflected in the captions now at least.
Thank you so much for this beautiful and intelligent analyze! Porco rosso its one of the deepest and spendid Ghibli movie when we can feel a part of the soul of Miyazaki! And congratulation, you have less error in french in you start message than the original movie! ^^
Oh you would not believe what a hassle it was to make that disclosure
I super agree this is the most "Passion project" Miyazaki movie. He really did pour all his love for aviation and it's complexities into this film. The brevity and heart cannot be understated.
Miyazaki apparently saw the decision to make a passion project as "foolish" and one he said he'd never repeat. He was actually bamboozled by the success of the film. It's a goddam gem for a reason, and I'm so glad it exists.
3:40 - i read the air pirates as the moralic outlaws ghibli has often. showing that morality and "a good person" is seperate from their stance in life or society and the noble thief is a very universal, very old archetype that is also present in lupin 3rd after miyazakis makeover of the IP, which was way more rapy and 50s macho before-.
the pirates are looking bad and angry, but this is their tactics. while real violence is present in the movie and they do defend themself at some point, they are just outlaws who live a struggling life, but dont want to actually hurt innocent people.
as this is pretty early in the movie, i would see this scene as introduction of humanism and kindness, also backbone and universal solidarity in some sort of organisation. you have the restaurants owner, she has also those qualities, but for a little circle of her, otherwise she is a important social figure. porco rosso, having those qualities too, burries them inside of his trauma and proudness. they get activated by the mechanic girl, she cracks his grumpyness a bit, which is also a great trope. and in the end, porco shows he will punch a fascist till his face is mushed, in love and dignity for his people.
this. make more of this. idk how to describe it but I want more of this type of content and style of writing
This is both beautiful and powerful analysis. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Kinda stressed needed to hear someone talk about something I like. Thanks.
This is my fave Ghibli film, and this is fantastic video essay. Bravo
Henry Kathman putting out another banger video as usual. Enjoy your big W and get yourself a burrito or a milkshake or somethin bro
Ooh, a milkshake does sound good right about now. Thanks for the kind words and suggestion!
Why so few views 😢
i usually avoid porco rosso analyses bc i dont wanna get spoilers but eh i dont care anymore
im ready for this vid!!
It's a pretty good watch, also it's not a movie with any surprise plot reveals so I don't think you would need to worry about that.
@@HenryKathman i really wanna watch it now!! might do that soon
thank you for this video i got a bit emotional at the end 🤧🤧
Yeah Porco Rosso, Grave of the Fireflies, and Princess Mononoke are all big underrated Miyazaki films
@@davidsondoliver ive watched mononoke quite a few times but i definitely need to stop procrastinating when i will watch the other two
now that i kind of know what's up with porco rosso i have no excuse
How are your videos not more popular, this and your series on the moomins are amazing.
@@real7854 you are an L. if you're gonna be hateful, at least put some effort in 🙄
@@real7854 L
I've heard this a million times, try harder
And he deleted his comments, how ironic.
@@cheddar950 classic bigot move
@@ThylineTheGay Classic comment section bigot move maybe.
this is a very good video and it baffles me that it has so little views and likes??
Anti-Fascist. in the modern definition. AKA Anarcho-Communism has earned a well-deserved, bad reputation. I am not surprised by how some people may react to the title. Because of this video. I am going to watch this anime. Even if I have to Pyrate it.
10/10 title
Wow great video, made me realise i have to watch porco rosso again, it's been to long
Thank you Henry for the wonderful video. With the world's events it couldn't have been a more timely video. I appreciate your poignant commentary on fascism juxtaposed with my favorite movie. Cheers from California.
Thank you very much, the secret to this video is that it’s always timely to stick it to fascists
Why did you put the Three Arrows in the thumbnail? Porco Rosso literally means Red Pig, Porco is a communist revolutionary, there's literally a scene where Porco is walking through a street with torn up communist posters in the back. It's insane to deny Miyazaki his communist theming of the story
I mostly used the three arrows because it was and continues to be a common symbol used by antifascist partisans, including those who fought the Axis in the Adriatic Sea such as the Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party, the Italian Resistance Movement, and the Sisak People's Liberation Partisan Detachment. By no means meant to deny the Communist themes of the film or Studio Ghibli’s wider library, but to focus specifically on the antifascist themes of the film.
@@HenryKathman If you want to highlight the anti fascist themes of the story you should have used the Antifaschistische Aktion symbol. The social democrats later caved in to Nazi demands. Their efforts to divide the left were the cause of their own demise.
This is an awesome, much needed video for this film. I loved the historical context.
Beautiful video, thanks a lot 👍🙏
I'm going through all of the ghibli movies on hbo right now, I'm surprised how much I loved this one
Porco Rosso is underrated
Cool. I love this movie.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this essay. Hope to see more of you down the road!
Good job on video editing and presentation. I know it took a while to learn these skills but it's amazing, your artistic presentation to a serious topic while also not overbearing your audience with complex topic. SALUTE TO YOU!
The video being 13 minutes and 12 seconds to spell out ACAB is an underappreciated detail
😈
@@HenryKathmanKING SHIT
It's such a similar movie to casablanca, which i find really awesome. It's like an adaptation but also feels like it's own film. Great movie
Both are refreshing examples of explicitly anti fascist films
Great video, really underrated
Everyday antifascist!
Wonderful work. Deserves all the views. Absolutely criminal how long it took for this to be recommended to me.
So well said! I watched Porco Rosso for the first time yesterday! I know I’d rather be a pig than a fascist too!
It and “The Wind Rises” (2013) will always be my favorite Ghibli films, if not, some of my favorite movies ever made. They’re earnest, grounded in reality, and contemplative. They aren’t just Anti-War/Anti-Fascism films, they’re Pro-Humanity in a way that most Ghibli movies never try to approach. In both films, everyone is a loser. Whether it’s the war, the law, or the forces outside of people’s control, nobody “wins” or even tries to win. They simply choose to exist in a world that seeks to destroy them and their dreams. But, because humans have a knack for helping each other out, they survive against all odds and only weep for the people and innocence they’ve lost along the way. They’re very hopeful films, despite how awful the world around them can be.
To add to what another comment discussed regarding “Ghibli Villains”, I think it’s an incredible aspect of both movies that the ultimate evil of the plot is not a person, or even an organization, it’s an *idea* looming on the horizon. War, Fascism, Military-Industrialism (one of my fav scenes in Porco is when he’s offered Incendiary Ammunition, a weapon that excels at destroying planes and killing pilots, and he immediately declines taking offense to the fact that “he’s not fighting a war”), Nationalism… all of these things were what destroyed The Axis Powers. They’re what’s killing the world now too, and that’s something people have recognized since Wilfred Owen started detailing the horrors of the First World War, a war that would ultimately kill him just a week before it ended.
The disclaimer looks beautifully!
great video bro
the 6:24 the irony is that yugoslavia states today, remains some of the most nationalistic in the world today
Nationalism is a hell of thing
Nationalism is good.
@@mikemcnut3204 why tho
Great video man
My all time favourite movie 🍻
I would love it if you delved even deeper and made a longer and more detailed video about this. Not that this video isn’t great on its own, but I just love the connections you’ve made and would love to hear you speak about them more. Great job.
Unrelated, but some of the comments under this video did not pass the vibe check.
Oh yeah, there’s a lot of interesting history I could have gone into, but I didn’t want to have it distract from the ultimate thesis of the vid.
As for some of the comments, if you think some of these clowns are bad, you should have seen the losers I’ve had to report
The mix of grounded politics and fantasy elements reminds me of pan's labyrinth
I'm just gonna come out and say it. Michael B Jordan looks a lot like Barraca.
Well, how did it work out for yugoslavia in the end tho?
I mean not especially great, but unless you’re gonna argue that it would have been better under fascism, I don’t know what that has to do with this video.
Didn't end well for Yugoslaviaand they got taken over but the Greeks did kick Italy very hard before the Germans showed up
This movie is litetally my top favorite movie
6:21 Gotta wait 70 more years for that
Accented Cinema brought me here
Most americans chosed to be both
Says the Russian slave
solide.
The red baron he is portrayed as was a German fascist.
Mussolini's Doctrine of Fascism has an entire chapter called 'Rejection of Individualism", so it really annoys me every time a RUclipsr tries to paint Fascism as an individualist ideology.
While it is true that fascism operates under the basis of populism and seeks to wipe away elements of personal identity and expression, that doesn't mean that they don't completely ignore individualism in practice.
Fascism is based on ideas of selective populism that necessitates being in conflict with some nebulous 'them'. Such an ideology conditions its supporters to see themselves as someone who can help destroy 'them'. This creates what Umberto Eco called “a cult of heroism” where everyone is conditioned to become martyrs for the regime by propping up examples of people who did just that. The reason Mousolini’s regime focused so much propaganda about people like Fancesco Baracca was because they knew that they could tap into this image of a rugged macho man to get more people on board with losing elements of their identity.
While they talk about acting collectively, fascists love the stories of people acting out on their own because it gives them plausible deniability to their actions and ideology while also signaling to others what kind of individual they want everyone to be. It's good to be able to see how fascists view themselves, but it’s always important to remember that fascism will present itself however it wants if it means that the fascists get power.
@@HenryKathman Once you star citing Echo I know not to take your analysis of Fascism seriously.
@@Kuudere-Kun You cited Mussolini's Doctrine of Fascism in your original point which is an extremely dishonest and unreliable source. I'm not really sure what your point is. Also if you actually do have a point to make, you know it's possible to explain it without being rude about it. They'll go a much longer way if you actually communicate them well.
@@davidsondoliver On the subject of defining Fascism it's the only reliable source, Mussolini is the coined Fascism as a specific ideology, so only he gets to define it. The text does demonstrate Mussolini's bad understanding of history, like how he think Robespierre counts as a Liberal.
@@HenryKathman you know nothing about Fascism, "mousolini" lol "eco about.." lol²
Arditi del popolo. Thank you for such an inspiring video.