# 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:** 206
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4400 "2025-03-28T13:15:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > 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. They’re both great, and which is better depends on what you’re looking for. Spirited Away is a little lighter in tone (although by no means light throughout), and I at least find it less narratively focused. Princess Mononoke is much more political and much more horrific and has a more linear plot (although again it’s not exactly a hold-your-hand narrative), and that’s all my jam, so I preferred it. It was also the first Miyazaki movie I saw, so that probably figures into it. > [@pulykamell](#): > > but never really got into that anime animation style, but it’s storyline over all. Hmm…just be aware that while the movie does have a plot, it’s much more about the stops along the road than about the road itself. I think if you go into it wanting a really clear story, you might be frustrated. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4401 "2025-03-28T13:29:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Similarly, a poster was made fun of by **Darren** for not understanding the acronym FAFO (“fuck around and find out.”) While I am familiar with the phrase, because I cruise Reddit and Youtube comments and all that and spend way more time on the Internet than I should, I, too, had never seen that expressed as FAFO. I first started noticing that when I was also noticing the “foxes eating faces” one, so kept trying to parse the former acronym as the latter phrase: “Foxes Ate Faces Obviously”? Now the latter seems to have vanished off the stage as quickly as it had come (was in reference to Repub voters being surprised that they were next in the oppression conga line), while the former seems to have stuck, for whatever reasons. ---
**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, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4402 "2025-03-28T13:47:20Z")
No, no — I’m cool with abstraction and works that simply “are.” Most my musical taste has artists with lyrics that don’t come close to a story and often are just cool words and images that sound good together, so I’ll be fine. I meant more that I can get over my ambivalence to the artistic style of the journey is interesting. ---
**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, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4403 "2025-03-28T13:48:25Z")
I remember leopards eating faces, but not sure I heard the foxes one. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4404 "2025-03-28T14:00:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > No, no — I’m cool with abstraction and works that simply “are.” Most my musical taste has artists with lyrics that don’t come close to a story and often are just cool words and images that sound good together, so I’ll be fine. I meant more that I can get over my ambivalence to the artistic style of the journey is interesting. That makes sense–and Miyazaki’s journeys are some of the most interesting around. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4405 "2025-03-28T14:15:03Z")
> [@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. Exactly. For anyone who hasn’t seen them, don’t let the fact that they are animated discourage you. The animation is simply the medium. These are not children’s movies, although I highly recommend them for children as well as adults. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4406 "2025-03-28T15:15:29Z")
Late to the party, but consider me another that is flabbergasted that so many here were unaware of Studio Ghibli… ETA: And definitely, if you’ve not seen it, let me also recommend _Princess Mononoke_ (which I prefer to _Spirited Away_, which is itself a cinematic masterpiece). ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4407 "2025-03-28T15:19:17Z")
I’m not at all surprised. Ghibli is not well marketed in the U.S. It’s word of mouth and accidental exposure via anime. ---
**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, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4408 "2025-03-28T15:22:42Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > ETA: And definitely, if you’ve not seen it, let me also recommend _Princess Mononoke_ (which I prefer to _Spirited Away_, which is itself a cinematic masterpiece). I saw the dub of Princess Mononoke when it was in theaters. Non Spoilers- Most of the voice actors were great. Keith David (Spawn, Gargoyles, Krapopolis) was exceptionally good. Billy Bob Thornton was terrible. He sounds just like an American backwoods yokel. I really love those forest spirits with the rattling heads. I cannot remember the name for them. I made a friend a doll using a stuffed cloth doll body I bought at a thrift store (I sewed the ends of the arms shut rather than sewing on doll hands. I used a fabric marker to make the white cloth green) and a quart milk bottle for the head. I even put something (I forget what) in the milk bottle to make it rattle. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4409 "2025-03-28T15:33:57Z")
The _kodama_, you can buy assorted sets of them as decorations to place all over your house … ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4410 "2025-03-28T15:39:02Z")
> [@Mikkel](#): > > I think Ponyo and Totoro are great, but perhaps more for children. _Ponyo_, yes, it’s sweet but childish. But there’s something about _My Neighbour Totoro_ that transcends that - it’s as much for the child buried deep in the adult as it is for actual children. (You **know** you want to ride the Catbus. Don’t lie to me.) I’ve yet to watch all of _Princess Mononoke_ and am avoiding _Grave of the Fireflies_ by a wide berth, but I’ve seen eight Ghibli films including _Spirited_, _Totoro_ and _Howl’s Moving Castle_ (plus the pre-Ghibli _The Castle of Cagliostro_). You don’t have to be a fan of anime to enjoy many of them, although it helps. ---
**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, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4411 "2025-03-28T15:41:24Z")
I’m not a fan of anime, and i loved most of those. (I don’t hate anime, but most of what my kids watch doesn’t interest me.) ---
**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, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4412 "2025-03-28T16:04:17Z")
Thanks! I will not be be buying any little kodama. Every flat surface in this place is already covered with tchochkes. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4413 "2025-03-28T16:28:30Z")
Not disagreeing with your info about Japanese or how the studio wants their name pronounced. But FYI all, several other things around the world are named Ghibli, mostly from Italy. And the Italian pronunciation is more or less GEE-blee with a hard G sound. > **[Ghibli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghibli)** > > Ghibli is the name of a hot desert wind also known as sirocco, derived, through Italian, from Libyan Arabic gibli (قبلي). > Ghibli may refer to: and [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L8Dj2TfLnOw/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Pronounce Maserati Ghibli? (CORRECTLY) Italian Car Pronunciation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8Dj2TfLnOw) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4414 "2025-03-28T17:00:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@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_. People are annoyed with you because your statement that “someone who hasn’t heard of [Studio Ghibli] pays extremely little attention to the film industry” is objectively false and reflects a self-centered view of the world. And your assertion that it’s the same as someone having never heard of Disney is just ridiculous. I watch a lot of movies. I’m a movie **junkie**. I watch the Oscars every year and am generally aware of most of the nominees and winners in the major categories, and have usually seen most or many of them. I’ve heard of _Princess Mononoke_ and _Spirited Away_ many times, though I haven’t seen them. **Yet I’d never heard of Studio Ghibli until this thread**. If you’d asked me to name the best animation studio, I’d have said probably Pixar, especially from the standpoint of innovation. In contrast to your gushing over Studio Ghibli films having won the Oscar twice, Pixar has 23 Oscar wins, 11 of them for Best Animated Feature. But for overall quality, I’d say it’s probably a toss-up between Pixar and the venerable Walt Disney Animation Studios, both of them now subsidiaries of the Walt Disney Company. But I’m not really a big fan of animation in general, although I’ve long admired gems like _Toy Story_ (Pixar) and _The Lion King_ (Disney). Not everyone has the same tastes and interests, and that isn’t grounds for ridiculing them. The world doesn’t revolve around you and your particular interests. ---
**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, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4415 "2025-03-28T17:17:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > If you’d asked me to name the best animation studio, I’d have said probably Pixar, especially from the standpoint of innovation. This is because you are a stupid, uncultured American swine! I would expect no better of you! /DarrenGarrison ---
**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, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4416 "2025-03-28T18:04:56Z")
Meanwhile, I love animation. Cartoon Network is probably the cable channel I’ve watched the most, and I love the Pixar movies. My free time is sometimes spent watching old episodes of BoJack Horseman, Archer, Family Guy, South Park, Rick and Morty, classic Simpsons, Smiling Friends, Bob’s Burgers, F is for Family, etc. I couldn’t name any of their studios myself (outside Pixar, which I already named.) So it’s not like I’m somebody averse to animation. It’s a preferred genre for me. Just anime never caught my eye. We’ll see how my viewing of _Spirited Away_ goes. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4417 "2025-03-28T18:13:13Z")
When I said I’m not a big fan of animation, I was referring to animated feature films (although as I mentioned, _Toy Story_ and _The Lion King_ hold a special place in my heart. I associate them with my kid’s childhood, and they’re each genuinely beautiful in their own right. The music in _The Lion King_ is extraordinary, too. I’m fine with many TV cartoon shows, especially the adult ones like Family Guy, South Park, Simpsons, etc. I even appreciate Bugs Bunny, which although intended for children sometimes can’t resist throwing in subtle adult-level humour. > [@pulykamell](#): > > We’ll see how my viewing of _Spirited Away_ goes. Funny you should mention that. I’m planning on watching it, too. The subtitled version, not the dubbed one. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4418 "2025-03-28T18:15:26Z")
I mean, all animation is dubbed, isn’t it? I’m rarely a fan of dubbed live-action, but animation is a different beast. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4419 "2025-03-28T18:18:05Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I mean, all animation is dubbed, isn’t it? Well, yes, to the extent that drawings can’t talk. 😉 But I’d rather watch it as originally made, not as re-dubbed into English. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=205) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=207)