"I don't know what I want, but I know what I don't have." How many times have you shopped the racks at your favorite clothing store looking for something you didn't know you needed until the moment you saw it? Or have you stopped at your local supermarket to pick up an item, only to find yourself walking out with a cart full of impulse purchases an hour later? For the average consumer, these situations happen too often. Hayao Miyazaki's “Spirited Away” highlights the issue of modern consumerism and how it relates to the loss of identity. The film is a coming-of-age story that follows Chihiro Ogina, a ten-year-old girl who becomes trapped in the spirit world while traveling with her parents. Chihiro is forced to work at the bathhouse by Yubaba, the witch who owns the spa. Although the film is aimed at children, Miyazaki tackles topics such as capitalism, inequality, consumerism and loss of identity. Many of these themes can be explored through four main perspectives within sociology: symbolic interactionism, functionalism, feminism, and conflict theory. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The symbolic interactionism perspective sees society as the product of the everyday interactions and shared meanings of people and groups. Spirited Away relies heavily on nonverbal interactions such as symbols to convey many of its deeper messages. This makes the interactionism perspective the best theory to relate to the film. An example of this is when Yubaba initially meets Chihiro and makes her sign a contract to start working. The witch then removes half of the signature and changes Chihiro's name to "Sen". The name Chihiro is composed of the Chinese symbols chi meaning “thousand” and hiro meaning “to seek or create”. In many cultures, the symbolic meaning of a name is seen as someone's identity, encompassing who they are. The act of stealing half of Chihiro not only reduces her to a number, but also strips her of her identity. This aspect of symbolism is also shown through the recurring theme of hunger throughout the story. We continue to see the characters in the story consume abnormal amounts of food until they completely transform into something different from themselves (e.g., the parents turn into pigs after the buffet, Noface becomes a monster). This symbolizes the dangers of surrounding yourself with materialistic possessions. Here, Miyazaki implies that this unnecessary consumption causes you to lose touch with reality and, ultimately, lose your sense of self. On the other hand, conflict theory argues that society is composed of groups with conflicting interests that compete to gain control. This control is often achieved through force and coercion rather than consent. Yubaba has full control over its employees; this is established primarily through threats, but also goes so far as to subject some workers to spells to ensure their loyalty. Furthermore, this struggle is also manifested through the unequal distribution of wealth and discrimination among workers. Yubaba is by far the richest person in this society. She lives in a luxurious mansion, has servants, and is always shown wearing lots of jewelry, all while her employees wear rags and share overcrowded quarters. Finally, discrimination among employees becomes evident after one of the characters is assigned to clean the dirtiest tub in the bathhouse. She calls the task “frog work,” implying that it is a menial task and that.