I think Bloodborne’s Healing Church might be the most pinpoint skewering of the Catholic Church I’ve encountered in any medium — a religion based entirely around the Sacred Feminine™️ with a hierarchy dominated by male authority figures who treat women’s bodies as disposable vessels for pregnancies
Gray Writes!Friends fear that I am once again replaying Bloodborne (2015)
I’ve been thinking over this post since I encountered it and I likewise love how Miyazaki can craft these anti-imperialist, anti-patriarchal themes into works that are beloved by conservative men, but I’d argue that this only demonstrates the LIMITATIONS of art in effecting political/social change
Nick (derogatory) ✨It is affirmatively a good thing that Miyazaki is such an innovative storyteller that he can embed a oeuvre of left/progressive polemics inside games that sell primarily to meathead conservatives. I believe in the power of narrative osmosis. Incremental changes in attitude you don't even notice.
What does it say that somebody can suffuse their art with these anti-conservative themes and then have it be merrily consumed by the very same people it criticises? I know Gamers™️ are infamous for lacking basic critical thinking skills but Vonnegut’s famous point about art’s limitations still stands