In this final post, I want to look at the Deer God as an agent of chaos. This seems a little odd at first but when you think about what Derrida was trying to do, perhaps it makes sense. According to Dr. Sara Humphreys, “Derrida sought to reveal that temporal flux and chaos are the common order of the world while static truth and status quo are the anomalies” (Humphreys, 1). Then how can chaos be in one person, you might ask? In class, we were shown the clip of the Joker talking to Two-Face in the hospital and the Joker explains how he is an agent of chaos (this cleared up a lot of how to explain chaos to me and made it make sense). The Joker suggests he “just do[es] things…I show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are”. This is what an agent of chaos really is; he/she is the person who shows those who plan how silly their plans really are. In this case, the Deer god is an agent of chaos.
Now, the Deer god as an agent of chaos may seem a little weird but “animation challenges our expectations of what is ‘normal’ or ‘real,’ bringing up material that may seem more appropriately housed in dreams or unconscious, and this can be a deeply disconcerting process” (Napier, 73). Animation often lives in the world of surrealism, after all where else can you ride a wolf who talks or find a polar bear who does karate in an orange jumpsuit? So the Deer god as an agent of chaos may not seem normal but it does work in the film.
The Deer god is known for giving life and taking life as he sees fit. He may spare some and kill others. This is shown when he heals Ashitaka of his bullet wound yet takes the life of Moro and Okkoto who are known for protecting his forest. The moment he truly shows he is chaos is when Eboshi shoots him through the head, he sinks a little into the water, before continuing walking by. Her plan was to kill him but he showed her it was futile to even bother. Despite the fact that Eboshi does decapitate him as he begins to turn from the Deer god into his other form the Nightwalker; despite this, he continues to move. The world that was once orderly, normal, beautiful has now become erupted into utter chaos. He takes life and gives nothing back. The humans are left running in fear while the forest around them withers and dies. Once the Deer god’s head is returned to him, everyone believes it is too late as he disappears. He proves them all wrong by restoring what he has destroyed and giving back life and healing people. What the humans and the animals were fighting over has been restored to its nearly original state, showing that all they fought for was nothing; he showed all their plans and attempts to control their lives was never in their hands to control to begin with. In the end, San believes, “Even if they grow back, they won’t be the Deer God’s woods. The Deer God is dead” (2:07) but Ashitaka explains, “The Deer God can’t die. He is life itself. Life and death are his to give and take. He’s telling us we should live” (2:07:26). The Deer god before his disappearance shows he can never die and their attempt to kill him was futile as he is life itself. He just wants people to live rather than plan and scheme, allowing for the true order of the world to show itself: chaos.
Author’s Notes
If you want to take a look at the scene I explained with the Joker and Two-Face above check out this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmkRi_tr9c