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Interview: Mamoru Hosoda, Director of Wolf Children

I like the idea of using female protagonists because most lives of men are focused on the success or failure of their careers, while other big events, like marriages and raising children, play bigger parts in the lives of women, leaving more space for artistic creation.

Great interview, love Hosoda and loved Wolf Children.

However I have to admit I was bothered by his response here:

Quote:

I like the idea of using female protagonists because most lives of men are focused on the success or failure of their careers, while other big events, like marriages and raising children, play bigger parts in the lives of women, leaving more space for artistic creation.

I think a film about motherhood and the way he presented it was beautiful. But to see the lives of women as associated with marriage/children and men with their careers is actually very limited in scope & stereotypical.

I would just as much love to see a story focusing on a man raising his children and a woman finding her place in the career world

Both Summer Wars and Wolf Children are completely original stories. What have inspired you to write those stories? Were they part of your personal experience?

Quote:

I like the idea of using female protagonists because most lives of men are focused on the success or failure of their careers, while other big events, like marriages and raising children, play bigger parts in the lives of women, leaving more space for artistic creation.

I think a film about motherhood and the way he presented it was beautiful. But to see the lives of women as associated with marriage/children and men with their careers is actually very limited in scope & stereotypical.

Quote:

Both Summer Wars and Wolf Children are completely original stories. What have inspired you to write those stories? Were they part of your personal experience?

Ahem. Digimon?

Great interview, love Hosoda and loved Wolf Children.

However I have to admit I was bothered by his response here:

Quote:

I like the idea of using female protagonists because most lives of men are focused on the success or failure of their careers, while other big events, like marriages and raising children, play bigger parts in the lives of women, leaving more space for artistic creation.

I think a film about motherhood and the way he presented it was beautiful. But to see the lives of women as associated with marriage/children and men with their careers is actually very limited in scope & stereotypical.

But to see the lives of women as associated with marriage/children and men with their careers is actually very limited in scope & stereotypical.

It could just be some cultural sexism at work—never view your idols as perfect heroes, after all—but it could also be an awkwardly-worded/incomplete observation. Don't really know the answer.

Also I am not saying there is anything wrong with a woman who decides to forgo a career and raise her children. I loved the movie because I still feel it was about women's choices. In fact it somewhat reminded me of a combination of the 1980's movie Baby Boom and Takahata's Only Yesterday (two films I am very fond of).

But still whether it is traditionally a Japanese outlook or not (and I don't think this is only an issue in Japan) I don't think seeing men and women only in very specific gender roles is a positive thing.

Also I don't expect or think Hosoda is perfect. It's not like the quote suddenly changes my opinion of him as a director or storyteller. I still love him immensely. But just because I love him doesn't mean I won't point out when he says something I think is wrong.