An earnest and pure world

It made me realise what a fool I was. Despite the words of distrust I spoke, I yearned for an earnest and pure world…. I could no longer deny the fact that I wanted to make something life affirming.

Hayao Miyazaki, in a rare interview, describes reaction to seeing The Tale of the White Serpent for the first time.

I liked the tension between the words of distrust and the desire to create something better. There is a tension between idealism and the real world. Disgust at way the world is leads to easy cynicism. Deciding to do something, though, means moving the world closer to your ideal.