MovieChat Forums > Hotaru no haka (1989) Discussion > Defense of the aunt

Defense of the aunt

posted 8 years ago by Etxpeme
16 replies | jump to latest

I don't think Seita's aunt was a bad person. She helped them out when they needed it. You seem to forget she had a family of her own to take care of. And there wasn't food for everybody, her husband and her daughter tried to do their best in the situation while Seita was parasitizing them. Ok, if Seita had looked for a job, maybe he wouldn't have found it, and even if he had, money was worthless. But still, he could have tried, he could have shown his aunt he was trying, maybe not money nor food but at least helping her out with the chores, just showing that he cared.

Let's be honest, if you feared for your husband and your kid starving to death, would you really take care of some stranger's kids??? They were family, but distant, and even your own brother, son, daughter... counts as a stranger if you don't know him/her.

Remember, in the beginning she was nice. She wasn't always a b*tch. And you should try to understand her, she was really stressed by the war and the whole situation and the kid not helping started getting on her nerves and she started to almost hate him. At that point, when someone annoys you that much, you can't barely feel compassion. Frankly, I think that if they had come back to their aunt, and he promised to do something to help, she would have taken them in. Who would deny help to a poor dying child?? Not even her in her b*tchy days.

I know this because I have had to live with annoying family. In the beginning you are nice and you try to be patient and you talk to them very nicely and talk out the problem and fix the situation. But, after some time, if they don't change, if they don't care about you being uncomfortable in your own home in which you took them in, why should you care about them? I KNOW IT SOUNDS HORRIBLE, but let's admit it, we're not Jesus, and even the nicest of people eventually gets annoyed and says mean things we will regret (I'm sure after some time their aunt regretted it). I've seen it happen too many times.

I'm not saying she wasn't cruel. And I sure didn't like it (specially when she yells at Seita because Setsuko won't stop crying). But I can understand why she was that way. And I think most people in that situation would be the same or even worse.

[–] a-Me-with-a-You 8 years ago

I understand the tendency towards black and white interpretation of the character people on this board seem to have but I think this movie's just made with too much sensitivity for this character not be meant as grey.

On the other hand, if you analyze to death what people hurting other people's reasons are, that's a street with no end and at some point you've got to stop playing devil's advocate and just call a spade a spade.

I'd say the indifference and cruelty of the adults in this movie were a tad unrealistic and were one of it's few weak spots. Though the opposite cliche of the kind stranger is even less true; I can't imagine a family member truly not asking the kids to "come back" when they're about to leave for the caves.

By the way, I think a very important point about the aunt is the hypocrisy of calling the kids leeches and then stealing the rice she bartered their mother's kimono for. She also was completely cold after hearing the news of their mother's death and didn't even offer the decency of empty comfort; a "there, there". I did find those parts realistic since people are usually shockingly inept at dealing with grief in one form or another.

What do you think?

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

She did not steal the rice. The brother was aware that she took some, and did not object. Bear in mind that they were eating her food during their stay with her. Is it not fair that they contribute?

[–] jesusofjonesboro 8 years ago

She had stopped serving the children their own rice, a fact made very clear in the dialog. She had also taken the rations that Seita had brought from his yard.

Seita was in no position to bargain with his relative. You consistently ignore the fact that he was a child.

You seem to be afraid of this film.

jj

"I can't BELIEEEEEVE you're such a geese!"

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] kajong-v-p 8 years ago

you're just here to argue for the sake of arguing.
go try to gain attention elsewhere, troll.

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

Why are you replying to me then, fool? Your very reply defeats its own purpose. So ignorant.

And no, I am simply a extreme hardliner. Are you seriously ignorant of the notion that some people are very harsh with little compassion? Not everyone tolerates weakness readily.

[–] ranran-001 8 years ago

You missed the part when she was serving dinner, she gave her husband and daughter noodles, broth, and the vegetables that simmered in the pot. She gave Seita and Setsuko broth only.

You probably don't understand the significance of selling a kimono, but in Japan and other Asian countries, people rarely if ever sell items from people that died. Especially so for items from parents. Such an act is almost seen as disrespectful to the spirits of the former owners. Seita's ghost is shown covering his ears as Setsuko cries because the scene is so significant to him. The aunt stealing the rice is just an icing to the crap cake from the deal Seita made when he sold his mother's kimono.

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

It is not stealing if you do it with the consent of the owner.

Within this context, you may consider it as rent. Perhaps many may consider it harsh to charge rent from such young relatives, or to only give them such light rations. But this is the term / condition of their stay.

Consider that if their stay was long (unknown from the film itself), the Aunt was giving a net food subsidy to the children since the Kimono only paid for a short period of rations (even at the short rations given by the Aunt). The children were a financial drain on her.

[–] jesusofjonesboro 8 years ago

Still trying to prove how tough you are, I see.

jj

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

Lol. Said the gutless coward who ran away. And is now back only because of "backup", since he can't stand up to a real man.

In any case, my position is that people are entitled to be nasty / strict. How this translates to me being a tough guy must be due to you being a retard.

Seriously. What kind of an idiot does not get the concept that people are not obliged to play nice and be kind / compassionate / gentle? Apparently, someone who has not lived in the real world.

[–] jesusofjonesboro 8 years ago

Said the gutless coward who ran away.

Strange, I seem to be right here. And I'll be here in your face again.

my position is that people are entitled to be nasty

And people who hold such a belief do so because they fear that kindness makes them look weak.

How this translates to me being a tough guy

That's just the point. You're not tough - you're an emotional wimp who thinks that being callous is the same as being tough.

What kind of an idiot does not get the concept that people are not obliged to play nice and be kind / compassionate / gentle?

What kind of idiot who cannot understand that this film is about what happens to the innocent when people are not "nice and kind."?

See you around, pisant.

jj

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

Lol. Sure, you are here again until you run away like a gutless coward yet again. Brave words, spoken by someone who ran.

No, I certainly do not think kindness makes you weak. Where feasible, we should strive to be just and fair, even kind and compassionate when appropriate. But we should have the sense to recognize that people are not obliged to be so, and certainly understand that people are not necessarily so.

As per my point, you are not just a gutless coward, you are stupid.

[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

So, how is the gutless moral coward lately? Still thinking that the world is a fairy tale where everyone is always nice and kind?

I suppose it is no surprise you being such an idiot that you apparently literally cannot understand the concept that many many people are cruel and harsh. Or even just plain neutral.

[–] coaltrain123 8 years ago

Yea, I found her very evil for doing those things to the poor children that lost their parents. But I bet years after the war is over, she'll find herself wondering about those children, wondering where they are, and questioning how she had been so mean to them. I believe it wasn't her true character, it was the war that changed her, just like experiencing a war can change the best and strongest of us. In the beginning, I was slightly on her side as well, I really wish Seita had spent the day working or helping in some way. He really cared about nobody but his sister, and I found that unbelievably rude. I can't lie, if I was the aunt and saw my husband and daughter slaving away all day, then I see these children, especially the boy, that I've adopted in my home when times are already tough, and he sits around doing nothing and won't even wash his own dishes, I would be upset too. They were solely a burden, and while Seitsuko wasn't mature or responsible enough yet, Seita definitely should have done something to help the family, and help the community. We know he wasn't selfish, he cared for his sister, but I can safely assume that if his sister wasn't there, he would have been seen as completely selfish and self-absorbed. He was more than willing to sell what little he had of his dead mother (her kimonos), and was allured at the thought of white rice. His sister knew better.
They left for two reasons: one, because the aunt really was an evil woman, and two, because Seita wanted to live in a world with only his sister, and no one else.

Very sad movie, but I wish Seita could have done better for himself while he had the chance, and he had several opportunities.

[–] TutuAnimationPrincess 8 years ago

I totally agree with this post and I truly believe that this is how the character was meant to be viewed in this film.

"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"

[–] President4Life (280) 7 years ago

Seita was like 12 wasn't he?

You act like he was a grown man or something.

And no, if my underaged niece & nephew showed up at my door, I wouldn't consider them parasites.

Like, seriously?