# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 205
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4380 "2025-03-28T00:36:18Z")
Wasn’t necessary tyring to single you out. Just that the SMDB tends to skew towards being very, very, very far from the pulse of modern culture. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4381 "2025-03-28T02:17:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > and then you go dickish. > > Maybe just stop after “so” next time? That is a hopeless hope. When he has done wrong, he does not have the cojones to admit it, especially not to himself > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Wasn’t necessary tyring to single you out. Just that the SMDB tends to skew towards being very, very, very far from the pulse of modern culture And yet you went out of your way to make fun of someone who, by your own estimate, must be about average for the folks around here. The “pulse of modern culture” can go fuck off, and you along with it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4382 "2025-03-28T02:43:48Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > And yet you went out of your way to make fun of someone Yes, my mercilessly mocking by.(checks thread) posting informative links about Studio Ghibli. The most negative thing I said was the presumption that someone who hasn’t heard of it “pays extremely little attention to the film industry”, and I don’t think that is a particularly large leap for a studio that has been nominated for “Best Animated Feature” Oscar six times, winning twice, one of them _last year_. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4383 "2025-03-28T04:18:20Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The most negative thing I said was the presumption that someone who hasn’t heard of it “pays extremely little attention to the film industry”, and I don’t think that is a particularly large leap for a studio that has been nominated for “Best Animated Feature” Oscar six times, winning twice, one of them _last year_. Because you’re an idiot. I know very well what Studio Ghibli is, I’ve been a fan for decades (and my first wife was an even bigger fan than me), but is _not_ well known by the general public. You’re digging the hole deeper here. That **is** a pretty large leap. People just don’t know studio names very well. Even those who win a lot of awards. Especially foreign studios. You’re going to find few people outside of anime fans who know the name of that studio. If you’d said someone “pays extremely little attention to the **Japanese** film industry” then I’d concede you might have a point, but you didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4384 "2025-03-28T04:50:59Z")
I’m a huge fan of their work, it turns out. But when i saw the name, i wasnt sure whether that was the studio that produced those films or not. I also suck at names, so take that for what it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4385 "2025-03-28T05:04:43Z")
All I know about Mr. Miyazaki is that if you can make him say his name backwards, he returns to his home dimension. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4386 "2025-03-28T09:35:24Z")
Tee-hee, foreign names, so _alien_! Ha ha! Is this the fucking 50s? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4387 "2025-03-28T09:50:47Z")
I think he was referring to [Mister Mxyzptlk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Mxyzptlk), to which “Miyazaki” bears a very slight resemblance. Not that funny, but I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, _Princess Mononoke_ is a great movie, but _Spirited Away_ is Ghibli’s and Miyazaki’s masterpiece and one of the best animated films ever made. I’d start with it. (Interestingly, it’s also the movie where Miyazaki’s passion for clean waterways is most evident). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4388 "2025-03-28T11:02:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I think he was referring to [Mister Mxyzptlk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Mxyzptlk), I know who he was referring to. Doesn’t make it any better. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4389 "2025-03-28T11:46:17Z")
Thanks for pointing out some good starting points. I am completely unaware of any of those films. I checked out a trailer and the voiceover guy pronounced Ghibli as “jibbly.” Is that right? With that spelling I would have expected a “g” as in “gift” initial sound. ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4390 "2025-03-28T11:49:44Z")
I think Ponyo and Totoro are great, but perhaps more for children. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4391 "2025-03-28T11:57:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I checked out a trailer and the voiceover guy pronounced Ghibli as “jibbly.” Is that right? I’m pretty sure it is. Transcribing words from Japanese to English has its own rules. You really should watch _Spirited Away_ - it was the second film ever to win a Best Animated Feature Oscar. It’s a lot like Alice in Wonderland: warm and delightful, but also strange, dreamlike and unsettling. It’s not your typical cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4392 "2025-03-28T11:57:54Z")
Thanks. I have a flight in about 24 hours, so I’ve already rented Spirited Away to keep me occupied and we’ll go from there. I love animated films, but never really got into that anime animation style, but it’s storyline over all. The description sounds appealing to me — I like works that are somewhat surreal and dreamlike. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4393 "2025-03-28T12:09:05Z")
Then you’ll enjoy it. It’s a really fabulous movie. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4394 "2025-03-28T12:14:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Thanks for pointing out some good starting points. I am completely unaware of any of those films. This thread might be useful to you. > [@The Guardian ranks the Studio Ghibli movies.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-guardian-ranks-the-studio-ghibli-movies/847461/): > > As with most lists, [it gets some things horribly, horribly wrong](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jan/28/studio-ghibli-ranked-netflix-princess-mononoke-spirited-away). Argue about it here. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4395 "2025-03-28T12:17:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I checked out a trailer and the voiceover guy pronounced Ghibli as “jibbly.” Is that right? With that spelling I would have expected a “g” as in “gift” initial sound. About the name from wiki > [@](#): > > The name “Ghibli” was chosen by Miyazaki from the [Italian](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language) noun _[ghibli](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghibli)_ (also used in English), the nickname of Italy’s Saharan scouting plane [Caproni Ca.309](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Ca.309), in turn derived from the [Italianization](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italianization)of the [Libyan Arabic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Arabic) name for a [hot desert wind](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirocco) (قبلي_qibliyy_). The name was chosen by Miyazaki due to his passion for [aircraft](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft) and also for the idea that the studio would “blow a new wind through the anime industry”.[[11]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli#cite_note-name-ghibli-11)[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli#cite_note-SG1-12) Although the Italian word would be more accurately [transliterated](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transliteration) as “Giburi” (ギブリ), with a [hard g](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_g) sound, the studio’s name is written in Japanese as _Jiburi_ (ジブリ, [[dʑiꜜbɯɾi]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Japanese) [ⓘ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ja-Ghibli.oga)). Yes, in Japanese it’s pronounced jibiri with the r sounding closer to an l. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4396 "2025-03-28T12:20:03Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Maybe so, but I’m often reminded of just how elderly this site of the “hippest” skews. At 52 I’m a whiper-snapper. Cringe. I’m barely half your age and while I’m not expert, I’m sure I know way more about Zoomer brain rot memes than you do, but I’m not gonna pretend that somehow makes me superior to you. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4397 "2025-03-28T12:21:50Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Just that the SMDB tends to skew towards being very, very, very far from the pulse of modern culture Aren’t you the moron who thought that Studio Ghibli was comparable to muthafucking _Disney_ in terms of name recognition? I don’t think you should be lecturing _anyone_ about how far they are from the pulse of modern culture, unless they live on North Sentinel Island. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4398 "2025-03-28T12:37:02Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > Maybe so, but I’m often reminded of just how elderly this site of the “hippest” skews. At 52 I’m a whiper-snapper. > > Cringe. > > I’m barely half your age and while I’m not expert, I’m sure I know way more about Zoomer brain rot memes than you do, but I’m not gonna pretend that somehow makes me superior to you. And I’m older than both of you, but i hang out in Discord chats with young adults who are into memes. I have a passing familiarity with a lot of them, and i see a lot of emoji in the wild. But i have huge holes in my knowledge of popular culture. We all have our areas of knowledge and ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4399 "2025-03-28T12:37:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Anyway, _Princess Mononoke_ is a great movie, but _Spirited Away_ is Ghibli’s and Miyazaki’s masterpiece and one of the best animated films ever made. I’d start with it I agree. I haven’t seen all their films yet.Of the ones I have seen, Spirited Away is my favorite. They are all very good. But, for me Spirited Away is the best. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=204) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=206)