That’s just a working title for my paper, I figure it may work since it combines two of the big settings in the films I am focusing on but it sounds a little cheesy and weird so maybe I’ll change it.

But anyway, turning in my first rough draft this week felt pretty good. I think my paper is coming along and that I’m getting a pretty good idea of how I want my voice to sound in my paper but I think the biggest struggle is still connecting my idea of home to the Asian American community. I think the biggest thing I can use as a connection is something that I love from Howl’s Moving Castle, which is the idea of loving yourself and finding peace with who you are and everyone else will follow suit.

Sophie, after she has discovered her new look

So in HMC, the protagonist Sophie is this meek hat maker, very shy and reserved. After a chance run-in with some creepy city guards, Sophie is rescued by the wizard Howl who is known for (you guessed it) his moving castle as well as his tendency towards beautiful young girls. After her magical run-in with Howl, Sophie makes one comment in particular to her sister about how Howl only eats the hearts of beautiful young girls thus saying that the only reason he didn’t eat hers was because she is not beautiful. While both statements are false, Sophie knows no better and continues on thinking that she is some ugly duckling until the Witch of the Waste finds her and curses her for her strange connection to Howl. Sophie is transformed into a little old lady, and goes out in search of a way to reverse her curse. She goes out to find Howl, thinking he is the strongest wizard who can help her, and thus becomes the cleaning lady for Howl’s moving castle. But as the film and plot go on, Sophie continuously looks younger each time we see her — longer hair, fewer wrinkles, less of a hunchback. It seems that the less she thinks about the curse and her looks, the younger she looks — especially while she sleeps, when she is not conscious of her appearance.

This whole idea of Sophie feeling so self-conscious about her appearance really spoke to me as a kid watching this movie; like any 13 year-old I was super self-conscious and appreciated this movie for shining a light on the fact that women don’t have to look any certain way, they just need to be comfortable with themselves as well as confident. I feel like a connection can be made there, with the right sources, showing that Asian American girls maybe also felt that same self-consciousness about their looks but with more of a concern on their appearance differing from white appearances. I think the connection is there, I just need to find the right sources and right wording to flesh it out.