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Madame Butterfly Thoughts

I thought that the Madame Butterfly animation was very thought-provoking and unique. The story was unpredictable and kept me interested in watching, like when the woman 'gave birth' to the fish that then transformed into a child, and when the child is taken away and the woman disassembles herself. The beginning of the story seemed peaceful and romantic, with her and the man falling in love while the music was also slow and peaceful. Then, she gives birth to her child and everything continues to see happy. They are literally connected by a string, which could symbolize an umbilical cord, and seem to be having fun. The music becomes a bit more intense as they hear the ship returning, signifying that things may not remain so peaceful.The woman seems very eager for the man to return and waits for him excitedly, even placing some flowers on her head as if she wants him to see her as beautiful. However, he stays on the ship and parties.

 I find this situation to be very sad because it is clear that she cares about him much more than he cares about her. She stands and watches the ship for a long time, until the sun rises. When she presents him the child and he immediately brings it to the other woman and drives away, I feel like there is a lot to take from that scene. For one, the contrast between the two women- The doll/puppet woman appears to have Asian features and could be considered ugly through a typical Western lens of beauty. The other woman is a typical blonde barbie, matching the man himself, who also has clearly white features. When they place the baby, who looks near identical to the mother, in the car, it is shown that there are many babies, all of different ethnicities, with only one looking like the father. This implies to me that the man's affairs of going to remote islands and making/taking children from the native women there is a thing that they do often. To me, this could reference the conquest and dominance that has been exerted over nonwhite cultures throughout history.

They also sever the umbilical cord, harshly ripping it and then waving goodbye as if nothing bad had happened. This could mean that they don't think the doll is capable of feelings or would care about her child, which is immediately shown to be the opposite of true as she literally tears herself apart. The music also swells at this point, adding more emotions to the scene. As her parts fly away and assemble into a butterfly, which then lands on her head in the same manner the animation began, it creates a circular ending. This could be symbolic of many things, but my own interpretation is that she (in butterfly form) is willing to go back to the beginning and relive the tragic events again, because she loves her child so much that the short time she spent with her was worth the suffering.

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