![]() ![]() ![]() By the end of the movie, these X’s disappear, symbolizing Shoya’s acceptance of his turbulent past and his willingness to reintegrate with his peers. The meaning here is obvious - it serves as a visual representation of Shoya’s social inhibition and apparent disconnectedness from his world. The most prominent symbol in the movie is the “X” over the faces of Shoya’s peers. A Silent Voice, fittingly, serves as a voice for the misunderstood Japanese, and helps bring awareness to these eerily common struggles while conveying the message that there is a brighter path and future for depressed people and members of the disabled community.Ĭonsequently, A Silent Voice utilizes symbolism within its scenes and characters in order to bring awareness of these complex processes to American audiences. The sad part of Ijime, and the more silenced part of mental illness in Japan, is that not everybody makes it through alive. A Silent Voice is representation of stories like Epi Saito’s - outcasts of Japanese society not by choice, but by the system. This cultural process, however, contains a darker side, Hikikomori, which refers to the “loner” kids who have clung to the social abuse, and often become suicidal (Klein-Hass 2016). Ijime, the Japanese word for bullying, is considered a standard coming of age process in Japan intended to “toughen” up kids. The story of Epi Saito - a deaf girl turned author, essentially lived the real life equivalent of Shouko’s story (and wrote a review of the movie!). What may seem like an over exaggerated depiction of bullying to American audiences is actually common in Japan. ![]() A Silent Voice uses this to unravel the darker, insidious side of the childhood experience in Japan. What takes place across the entire movie is a series of politicking, manipulation, and repeated social ostracization of both characters by their so-called friends, who audiences continue to couch-debate whether or not the characters in the movie were truly “friends”. While the message of the movie is easily understood among international audiences, the movie subtilizes both cultural and aesthetic Japanese features, which positively empowers those with disabilities through making awareness more transmissible across borders.Ī Silent Voice explores the endemic relationship between disability and depression through its two protagonists - Shouko, a deaf girl ostracized since childhood, and her middle school bully, Shoya, who feels incredible guilt from his past actions and unspeakable treatment of Shouko. A Silent Voice has become widely appreciated in American media because of its universally compelling coming of age narrative that takes on the global depression and suicide epidemic. Despite the troubling context in which A Silent Voice was born, however, it has grown to become a welcome commonplace (and in my opinion, a first choice), for American movie nights. A handful of cultural conditions continue to impede the progress of mental health awareness in Japan. Even less visible is the disproportionate impact of depression on the disabled community. Japan’s suicide mortality rate is 18.5 per 100,000 people, almost doubling the international average - more people died of suicide than of COVID-19 in 2020 (Wang et. Less visible to the common eye is Japan’s creeping suicide epidemic. ![]()
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