Is there anything sadder than the little chunk of Kikis Delivery Service when Kiki says "I used to really like flying before it was my job" and then gets so burned out that her magic stops working and she cant talk to Jiji anymore and she tries so hard to FORCE the magic that she breaks her mothers broom and stays up all night, alone, trying to make a new one and crying?
And I know it is all ok in the end- Kiki has friends who look out for her and she takes care of herself and finds her place.
But fuck, those 20 minutes just hurt my heart so much.
We didn’t watch the same movie
I'm sorry for the long reply that is coming. I really like this movie, and explaining how to analyze media to others is like...literally my job.
Kiki...does make friends. Before the "I used to really like flying before it was my job" and the subsequent burn out, she is friends with Tombo and Ursula, and has a good relationship with Osono and the old lady. Really the only 2 people we see Kiki fail to connect with are the older witch at the beginning and the old lady's grand daughter.
What we see a lot of is Kiki turning her passion, and only talent as a witch, into her job. We see her try *really hard* at this job, including letting it interfere with her new friendships and making herself sick (She misses Tombos party because she gets caught in the rain delivering the Herring Pie.)
Kiki is able to use her magic again after 1. Resting and hanging out with someone who is already her friend, Ursula, and 2. Having a reason to use her magic that ISNT for work (to save Tombo, who is also already her friend)
In the epilogue montage, we see Kiki using her magic more casually, not just for work (hanging out with Tombo and his other friends)
So the movie really isnt about "making friends." She made friends easily, and the resolution wasnt connected to making additional friends or befriending the characters who werent kind to her. The movie is about entering adulthood and striking a balance between using your talents for work and for pleasure. If it relates to friendship at all, its that Kikis over-dedication to her job made her miss Tombos party. (Which he wasnt angry about, but Kiki was very upset at missing)
It's also worth noting that the entire plot of Kiki losing her magic wasnt in the book- it is Miyazakis invention, and it tells us a lot about what themes he felt were important.
A lot of Miyazakis movies are blatantly about capitalism, greed and profit, and the relationship that people have with labor. (Also industrialization and environmentalism) Before the fall of the USSR (1991), Miyazaki was a pretty vocal Marxist (Kikis came out in 1989.) After this, while Miyazaki moved away from Marxism specifically, his movies still focus heavily on the dangers of industrialization and profit seeking. (Spirited Away springs to mind for this.)
So, is it a jokey exaggeration to suggest that Kikis Delivery Servive is itself a Marxist Text? Yes, ofcourse. They are funny memes. Is the movie still very much about burn out and the dangers of committing too much of yourself to your job at the expense of your own happiness and sense of self (hence the joking comparison to the idea of Labor Alienation as described by Marx) ? Also yes. Is it about "making friends" ....no. The book is. But the book and the movie are pretty different in that regard.
