Cruel Story of Youth and Giants and Toys - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The main thematic thrust in both “Giants and Toys” and “Cruel Story of Youth” is about the manner in which the high standards of the old world order are quickly drifting apart. Writers and directors, as seen in both movies, have proven that on the one hand, the norms and standards that are established in certain climes are too good but also too odd to be upheld in this age and time; on the other hand, they also reveal that the truth in what happens in life now is that the high towers of morals that were set have been sacrificed on the altar of technology, self, and competition (Mellen 112). In “Cruel Story of Youth”, one is made to realize how anyone can fall from the Olympian heights set by the society. This fall may not pan out to be as difficult as one may have ordinarily expected it to be because the standards that were being followed, in the first place, were not made to last. The character of Makoto, acted by Kuwano Miyuki, whom the viewer meets at the first scene of the movie, can easily be referred to as a good girl, even if it is only at the initial stage. At the moment when she is about to be “raped”, first unsuccessfully by the man that gave her a home ride, and second, successfully by Kiyoshi (acted by Kawazu Yusuke), she is initiated into the other side of the life that she had previously not been exposed to. Thus, one cannot but think that living by the apparently non-contemporary standards of the society of her time could be very boring; and as a youth, with the aid of peer influence, she felt the need to break away from the constraining grip of the norm of the society. This is what she ends up doing, even as she becomes some sort of social iconoclast. She is not alone in this; she has Kiyoshi to help her go all the way. In the capitalist world, competition is rife. Nothing comes before profit. In order to make a profit, many lives and relationships have been turned upside down. “Giants and Toys” is set at a time when there is a three-way market rivalry between three caramel companies; World, Giant, and Apollo. To reveal the devastating effects of capitalism and how much it has turned things upside down, the three rival companies recruit three friends. It is so amazing to discover the extent to which these friends can go for the good of their individual companies, rather than for the good of one another. (Or should one rather say that it is amazing the extent to which capitalism can make friends work for them?) Each of the plots and actually carries out their plots, even though it is not for their collective good as friends but for the good of the companies they represent. The viewer bears witness to a number of high-level skimming and counter-skimming. This is a revelation of the extent to which humans are originally selfish. One must recall that before each of the friends got jobs with their individual companies, they were “true friends.” One can then posit that it is not as though they were selfless before, what happened to them is that under the previous circumstance, their original selfishness could not manifest. It is logical to believe that each of the friends has selfish tendencies already in them. All it took for it to manifest was the competition.  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More