“Belle” – dir. Mamoru Hosoda 

www.splinterend.com/floating-world/2024/10/16/belle-nbspdir-mamoru-hosoda 

“Belle” leans into the strength of animation and visualizes a fantastic alternative metaverse where people can project a version of themselves that reflects their emotional realities as opposed to their physical being, demonstrating one unique power of animation: the ability to visualize emotions that live-action can never accomplish through human acting, cinematography and/or CGI. Who could forget the emotional resonance of Gwen begging her father not to shoot her in the first 15 minutes of “Across the Spider-Verse” (2023)?

“Belle” primarily revolves around a young girl, Suzu, who loses her ability to sing in real life after witnessing her mother die while rescuing a child from a flood. Social isolation and cultural norms prevent Suzu from being able to fully express her grief in the physical world, so she resorts to singing in a virtual space – known as ‘U’ – that assigns her an avatar based on the AI engine’s biometric analysis. “U” becomes Suzu’s primary way of singing and expressing her grief among other AI-assigned avatars and users. 

The film has some more commercial-friendly moments with bubbly side characters and stories to add brevity, but “Belle” is fundamentally a film about grief, and how we choose to process it. In Suzu’s case, her grief is un-processable for years after her mother’s death due to shame, confusion, and stigma: how does a child comprehend why their mother would sacrifice themselves to save another child, and how does one navigate the judgement of a society that largely encourages everyone to mind their own business and look away from others’ suffering? 

Understandably, Suzu is unable to process her grief while growing up isolated not only in a rural countryside but also an isolated social expectation to simply carry on, to not burden others with her own grief. Her father attempts to connect with her a few times, but both father and daughter do not have the words nor emotional tools to reconnect in the absence of Suzu’s mother. Even Suzu’s ability to sing in real life becomes disconnected and compromised because of the emotional connection to her mother that she associates singing with. Early on in the film, Suzu attempts to sing while walking home, only the convulse violently and vomit onto the ground. 

It’s no wonder, then, that Suzu is able to reconnect with her passions in the digital world of “U”, and why likewise so many people express different versions of themselves digitally compared to their real life counterparts. There is valid concern and conversations about how social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok can affect pediatric mental health, but the conversations have never adequately addressed why people would feel drawn to social media in the first place. I would argue that social isolation, ableism and socioeconomic differences are primary drivers for people flocking to modern social media because it is a free* market to create, display, sell, connect and share whatever and with whomever you wouldn’t otherwise meet in the real world. For example, individuals bound by wheelchairs or geographic isolation are now able to connect with others with different lived experiences. 

When we encounter and experience grief, we’re irrevocably changed. Grief is love persisting, and likewise, the line between love and hate is thin. Grief often serves as a catalyst for us to change into a different version of ourselves, good and bad alike. In her grief, Suzu chooses to channel her energy into kindness and action instead of transforming into a bitter, apathetic, or monstrous version of herself – a transformation that befits her as a person and honors the memory of her mother who chose kindness and action over indifference and inaction. 

As a film, “Belle” only provides a surface level exploration of how social media can be an influence - both positive and negative - on individuals seeking a refuge and space to explore uninhibited from their physical realities. This is less of a critique of the film and more of a caveat as to what the film does exceptionally well narratively and emotionally. 

While the film raises interesting questions about physical vs digital realities, the inherent violence of virtual gatekeeping, and the digital and real-life harm that ‘unveiling’ (aka doxxing) can do to users, “Belle” leans into this unique power to visualize something that is oftentimes invisible: emotional abuse. The 2021 animated feature by Mamoru Hosoda is one of the rare films that tackles how emotional abuse occurs behind closed doors, and how those who bear the brunt of such abuse are often isolated – because how can you talk about abuse that doesn’t leave physical bruises or scars? 

One particular avatar, known as Beast, is a digital manifestation of a young boy who is regularly abused by his father behind closed doors. The abuse is emotional and psychological, so no matter how often the boy tries to tell his truth to his neighbors, no one listens because there are no physical scars or bruises present in the material world. 

Without any outlet or support in the physical world, the boy turns to the digital world where his father’s regular emotional and psychological abuse are visible. Every time his father berates and torments him behind closed doors, the boy’s digital avatar pulsates painfully. 

I won’t spoil how the main protagonist discovers what the boy is being tormented with in isolation, nor how this severe emotional abuse is resolved, but I will say this: 

It is easier to look away and pretend like nothing has happened when we witness or suspect abuse is happening. It is much harder to speak up and against those who enact abuse, and to speak up for those who have conditioned to accept such abuse – and it is the right thing to do. 

*Social media is largely corporate and conglomerate in 2024, the idea of these platforms being ‘free’ has less about the monetary cost of subscribing and more about the terms of agreement we sign off in order to participate – terms that, of course, are fundamentally skewed in favor of our lives, images, words, and thoughts being commodified and mined for data tech bros who can eat shit.