Princess Mononoke

   Princess Mononoke is a film about warrior, Ashitaka, that went in search of what created the demon that destroyed his home. He stumbles across a war between Lady Eboshi, who wants to destroy the forest to find iron, and Princess Mononoke, who wants to protect the forest.

    The main message that this film enforces is that people should try to find a balance between their use of nature and the preservation of nature. In this way both the culture that humans create and the nature that it tends with have the opportunity to flourish. An easier way to look at it is to say that this film is advocating for shalom between humans and creation.
    Neither the humans nor the creatures of the forest were shown to be completely good or evil, but were kept morally ambiguous. Even though Lady Eboshi was cruel to the forest, she also took in lepers and gave them a home. The wolves showed loyalty to the boars and kindness to Ashitaka, yet they were willing to let the boars die in battle, or kill Ashitaka if it meant their own preservation. In this way evil is shown to be the violence that each side of the war inflicts on the other and that the only way to reconcile that evil is to find shalom in the balance of the two.
    The captivation of the empire is shown in this film when both creatures and humans believe that there are two options, destroy the forest for iron or protect the forest and live like animals. Ashitaka is the voice of the Kingdom by advocating a new way of thinking because he is not part of the two sided battle, and he deliberately stays separated. However, he does not stay away, instead he jumps into the fray and continues to advocate for shalom.

What can we do to create shalom with our environment?

What are some examples of two sided arguments that the empire creates?