Disability as a Mark of Moral Failing (Kubo and the Two Strings) 

If the movie had ended the movie with Kubo losing the other eye, but choosing to reject his grandfather even when blind; the movie would've probably had a stronger ending. The moral would have been about actions vs. circumstance and appreciating what you have rather than what you lost.

Honestly, this film just needed some kind of character, also blind, to counterpoint the "blind to humanity," setup. Possibly showcasing noteworthy care and compassion for others. Even if just a passing thing for Kubo to get inspired by. Then itd take the moral failing away from bejng linked to the disability, and linked to the mindset. Willingness to mutilate, etc.

Honestly had no idea the moon king was supposed to be blind. I just figured then whiteness of his eyes was a result of him being a God since he practically glows when he's on screen. Every time he talks to Kubo he's always looking directly at him. He has no problems "seeing" him during their confrontations or their fights. Honestly if you hadn't mentioned it I'd have never known that was the intention.

I always thought the Moon King's functional eye is the one he stole from Kubo, implying he is now able to see the world through the very thing he took away from his grandson. Because when you look at it, its his left eye that works, while Kubo has the right one, making them essentially share one pair of eyes. Thats how it came across to me, just saying

Speaking as someone with multiple disabilities, I want to bring up "Luca." I wish I had more films like that as a kid, kind of like "Happy Feet." It can be read in many ways, some take it as an LGBTQ+ allegory, others just see a pure bromance. I saw the latter, but I also felt that it was just a brilliant metaphor for the universal Other. These kids have to hide from a world that will literally try to kill them because they are different. We are shown that one main character's father was *born* without an arm, and yet he is adored and respected and is a badass. The grandmother at the end says "not everyone will accept him [Luca], but some will. And he seems to know how to find the good ones." You do not need overt references to disability to be a good Fable for educating. I cried. I feel blessed by the film's mere existence.

maybe one way to improve it would have been to just.... keep him blind when he became human again. he didn't need to become sighted. he could just become an Alive Human again, as a blind person. because blind people exist and are human!! although yeah, as you said, the story really kinda holds itself too tightly to an ableist metaphor to begin with. which is... Really bad. also!! not to derail, but not even all sighted people can look into people's eyes. i'm autistic and just absolutely Cannot. it's way too intense?? "looking into people's souls" is simply Not a reason i care about. what the heck is this movie going on about... maybe i'm being too literal. idk.

could a better story have had included something along the lines of kubo becoming fully blind and still being compassionate, disproving his grandfather (and in turn, this movie's) philosophy?

This script could've used a sensitivity reader beforehand. Had these writers never heard of Toph?

I thought of one way to fix it: Make the kind old woman from the village _BLIND __7:28__._ not only it'll be more impactful when she coaches the half blind villain to do good by the end 5:23, but she could say something to Kubo at the start of the movie like: "Well I don't need vision to know you mean well. You care for your mother don't you? [Kubo nods] Then I'm sure she appreciates it, even if she can't always look at you." Then change "The Speech" into something along the lines of "You want to take my eye so I can't see the souls of people [bla bla bla], but I don't _need_ an eye to tell there's good and kindness in the world [etc]" then villan replies "then why don't I just rip it out off you to find out?" There. Then change some wording in other scenes and you're golden. Can even let Kubo become fully blind to paralel him missing both fathers if you feel like it.

I read a lot of Japanese folk tales and there are a lot that this movie covers. It covers Tsukiyomi's jealousy toward Sasano-o and Amateratsu who allowed their children to marry and help the people of earth. Tsukiyomi was light blind, he can't see during the day and was mad his twin sister and younger brother did more than he did. He wanted to contribute, but was shut down because they brought up he was light blind and wouldn't appreciate it. His symbol is a white and black koi and when he used that form he accidently hit rocks when he saw light reflecting on them and took out an eye. At least this was the story I was told, he grew angry and blamed the humans for it. I remember that he did realize his youngest daughter married Sasano-o's great grandson and they had a child, he attempted to steal the baby's eye to replace the one that Tsukiyomi damaged. The problem was that the baby was able to see the person's true soul and it would drive Tsukiyomi mad. The truth is that this story can be taken in so many ways, Tsukiyomi wasn't totally blind, but was angry that Sasano-o and Amateratsu did not appreciate him. The fact is that even in some cultures these just get taken in so many directions. I am LD (learning disabled) and often in movies LD are often portrayed by people with downs syndrome and never by people who have the same disability I have. This goes with any movies or cartoons, we are almost labeling when movies are made and focused. Nobody realizes there are different types of blindness, deafness, learning abilities, mentality, and physical disabilities. I remember watching The Magicians and seeing a DEAF magician, she didn't need to speak to do a spell and her mother continued to support her even though she worked for the Library who wanted to banish the child for being deaf. I am not upset by my LD being portrayed by a kid with downs syndrome because nobody knows what undefined is like.

You know what would be great as a story? A blind person hero vs a completely sighted antagonist. And there's a line in there were the blind man says to the antagonist" I am the blind one, but you cannot see the kindness in this world" as like a sick burn. (Also understand it is late rn and all my commonsense filters are off so if I said something that may be insensitive in someway sorry. I am in a state of limbo)

I’m gonna be honest- I never knew the moon king was literally blind as a kid- I just thought he had white eyes because it fit with the asthetic 😭

Somewhat off topic from this video but have you read Witch Hat Atelier? It’s a manga about witches and it tends to focus a lot on disability. What I like about it is how instead of using magic to cure disabilities(they aren’t allowed to use healing magic anyway), the kids find ways to make magic accessible. It’s really charming and I think you’d find interest in it.

I was confused when you said there was disability in this film. I think I can see where the confusion comes in. Emotional & spiritual blindness isn't the same thing. Perhaps it is because I've been raised around a large variety of fairytales from around the globe about deities that I understood the Moon God was not sight impaired. The grandfather is an immortal, he is the moon, his eyes reflect he's the Moon. He's not blind. His fault is the lack of empathy. He is everything an immortal should not be. He fails in being wise, he is not benevolent, he is truly lost. In a battle, he lost one eye, and later took his grandson's. The purpose was to make himself look whole again due to vanity. For his wayward daughter, to show he can do whatever he wants, even to a helpless babe. He wanted Kubo dependent on him, the way a narcissist holds their prey and makes them tied to them for everything. His daughter was clear in stating he was a mass murdering being, and this was their ideal, one she turned away from. The Moon can't see well in the daylight due to his home being on the actual moon. Daytime is the safest time for Kubo to be out and about. The 'sight' is about having a caring heart, to have a closed heart is being truly blind & cruel. Many folklores talk about the heart being the source of vision. Their most powerful masters to help the heroes are those who are physically blind, but can pick up details those around them completely miss. Blindness is not equal to having eyes of the Moon. Naruto has a sect of ninjas who have white moon eyes, but are not blind. In Norway, the tales of the mark of a Berserker are those who's iris turn white when rage takes over, and they see better and move faster. Having moon eyes doesn't equal sight impairment. Contrary, it speaks of being terribly strong. The reason why Kubo's grandfather had a chance to be mortal is because he had Kubo's eye. Kubo never suffered being blind. The effort to control Kubo through his own body parts backfired, causing the Moon to forget himself and be opened up to Kubo's power and acceptance of being part of both worlds. This means he was now the subject to Kubo's wishes. Even there, I cannot say he gained genuine sight emotionally or spiritual. It would take a lifetime to earn. One would hope the Moon would learn to be kind and generous while with his grandson. This is the hope the story ending tries to provide.

This annoyed me when I watched the movie. I think it would have been so much better if Kubo was like "You can take my eye but I will still feel love and have humanity" and then the moon king stayed blind when he became human.

As a person with a visual impairment who’s half blind, I love this movie! However I love your discussion here! Well done!

I think eyes here more of a metaphor for a soul since the moon isn't really blind but rather don't have a soul. A bit similar to stilling eyes in Coraline. Connecting eyes to humanity or soul is a really old theme in mythology so I think it could be difficult to make it in a different way. I have many scars and don't care about portraying evil characters with scars but I guess it's just me

I think it would've been better if Kubo did lose his other eye and then proved that he can still be aware of the kindness of humanity. And then the grandpa becomes human, still blind, no memory and all, and still realizes the kindness of humanity. I think that would've been a better ending.

Granted I never saw the movie, but from this video it seems like the movies point about being human and shit would be better delivered if Kubo became blind but remained good and human, showing that even if he cant see another, he could still love and enjoy the world.

Okay, I think I’m starting to understand. You aren’t mad because they made a blind guy an antagonist, but you are upset that the guy was evil mainly because he was blind.

I totally forgot he got kubos eye, I thought the moon king was "blind" at the start more metaphorically, because his eyes are hazy but still sees and fights kubo. Then I remember him being actually blind once he comes back on earth, but isn't blind (to love and kindness) anymore due to the goodwill and nature of humans, this movies so ableist I imagined it with a better metaphor without even realising it haha

I loved this movie but something did bother me about it and I couldn’t put my finger on it and you made this delightful video and now I’m like “THAT’S what it was!”

Love kubo when it came out, never thought about the “blindness” idea it implies. Instant subscribed.

It is unfortunate that they paralleled actual blindness to metaphorical blindness, the unwillingness to acknowledge someone or something. I wonder if it could have been a better redemption to have had the grandfather stay fully blind and still become good, showing that it was not his sight that mattered, but his (philosophical) perspective

Okay time for a blind person's perspective not on the movie which I have never even heard of but only on what you discussed in this video ... Well I'm not offended anyway Maybe because I've never ran into the disability of morality trope and usually I kind of ignore that part of it because there's usually other reasons Usually when a villain character has a disability they're not a villain because of it their villain because of the other people around them in their lives that drove them to it which is based on the fact that they have a disability but the disability itself is not what makes them a villain it's their own personality and what they do with that I also tend to not get offended whenever there's a villain who I is in one of my demographics because frankly you can't only give positive representation you can't only have a protagonist you should also have people in other aspects protagonist side characters and yes villains as well Saying that a disabled character and also being a villain is automatically offensive means that we can ever get to enjoy our evil villain arcs the way gay kids do with the queer-coated Disney villains and if the protagonist is disabled as well it further takes away from the offense that this thing automatically means evil No the thing about being in the other souls yeah that's kind of sighted specific that doesn't sound like I'd enjoy it but But you mentioned that your villain from this movie didn't get his fight back in both eyes which could be a valuable perspective on being able to see and also being able to know it's like to not be able to I have a friend who's blind in one eye and basically have to deal with reverse ableism of how he shouldn't be considered blind because he has eyesight and have to like close his eyes whenever we do blind activity so he doesn't have an advantage Macaroon to the territory of erasing invisible disabilities that if you aren't fully disabled in one way or another you don't count Just because he could have gotten his fight back in both eyes doesn't mean he did I have to watch the movie to see how offensive this actually is but based on the what you've described in your video I'm not that offended kind of annoyed but I'm usually annoyed by any character who even has the slightest vision impairment I find so that'd just be normal for me But basically I'm kind of an immortal jerk who really would not mind a blind villain especially if it's done well I don't know if this is done well but it could be super cool to see somebody kick ass be evil and be blind At the same time disability does not equal morality but usually if I ever spot that message which I normally don't as I mentioned I almost never think of it as the disability causing the morality just the person's personality and conflict with what that disability does to their lives and the people around them since that's what really makes people evil if they so choose to be or are But that's just me I tend to be on the minority on nearly every opinion I ever have so take all of that with about as much salt as you would like

Imagine how amazing the movie would have been if Kugo lost his other eye in the battle but didn’t become cold like his grandfather because it wasn’t solely the disablilty that made him cold but his grandfather’s mindset. I haven’t seen the movie but I feel like that ending sounds way better.

Even if someone is blind, they can still feel someone's heart. They don't have to see it.

and here i thought that the moon king eye with sight was... the old eye from Kubo... allowing him to see the good in humanity.....

I need to rewatch this. I was just happy the main character with a blind left eye. I only saw this in theaters and enjoyed the music, so I'll rewatch this.

Whoever did these closed captions is spot on!

Watching this now, I realize just how uneducated I was in terms of disabilities. Thank you for showing me the truth!

Late but I didn't get the whole "blind people are bad" thing with this story- I think one of the characters did say their eyes were going and they were someone Kubo was close to too. Though I do get the issue in how using disabilities as a negative metaphor is pretty problematic, considering they're well- real disabilities and affect how people view them. With the message of refusing to see the good in humanity, the animators took things a little too literal/on the nose instead of letting things be a "show dont tell" type of thing, and let it shape their whole story telling entirely-

I just want to say that I really appreciate your perspective in all your videos. I don't have any disabilities and you are really changing how I think about portrayals of disability in the media for the better, so thank you so much! I love creative writing and have always wanted to represent disabled characters into my stories, and this is helping me to understand what good representation actually means for the disabled community. More importantly, you're helping to dispel some assumptions/stereotypes I'm realizing I've internalized over the years, and I really appreciate it.

I’m now like 6 videos into binging your channel. Love your writing! Thank you for such great content!

Personally, I see the blindness more as a thematic thing than a disability. Here, obscuring the eyes/sight represents being blinded by divinity. The Moon King is blind because he is blinded by his immortality, and he’s no longer blind as a human not because he’s morally changed, but because he “opens his eyes” to the plights and joys of humanity. The Moon King isn’t really supposed to be representation. He doesn’t have a disability. For him, it’s the same as if the designers just gave him a literal blindfold, it’s character design. Same with the Moon Sisters, they aren’t blind in any traditional sense, but their eyes are completely black and obscured. The movie is about taking Kubo’s eye because it’s about taking Kubo’s humanity. I argue the designers could have probably picked a better way to signify the theme, but as it is, it isn’t intended to be offensive.

Ah, i've not watched this movie, but this was a great video!! I think these issues are really not talked enough about, tbh, and yeah, it's such a shame... it's disturbing that disabled people are often reduced to their disability and used as just symbolism or whatever. Just such a blatant display of othering and dehumanization. It's likely not a concious decision made, but still, it examplifies those biases that are so deep rooted in our society nonetheless. Disabled people are unconciously thought of as not part of our society, as people that see these portrayals and watch movies and want to enjoy media as well - so people are quick to be careless with portraying them. And that ends up with them being used more as tools to indulge ableds than fully fledged characters - either in serving as examples of evil to be defeated, or as poor pitiful souls that need to be cradled. In both cases, the able bodied person being the hero. And its just.... frustrating. Anyways, sorry for this all over the place ramble, I lost my point very quick. But yea!! Amazing review, hope you gain more recognition ^^

Thank you for this clear discussion about this. Really well said and thank you

I believe that the blindness was more of a figurative version of saying that the Moon King was blind to humanity and love and kindness, and was only seeing the controlling and dark side of life. They added the visual/literal version of it because it is technically a kid's film and not a lot of kids pick up on metaphors in films. Also I know for a fact that the filmmakers did not want the film to be interpreted this way (saying that disabilities = evil/weak). I think that you may have misunderstood the plot of the film, showing that Kubo's mother had a real disability, after she hit her head in the opening, and she was still able to fight and was not evil/weak. So, like I said before, the blindness was more figurative to not seeing the love and beauty in the world, and definitely not that he was evil because he was blind.

I’ve been binging your videos and gosh they’re so good. I love hearing your thoughts on how disability is represented in various media.

Hell yeah finally found someone who analyses media through the lens of disabled experiences! One of my good friends became blind when I was in 8th grade and ever since then I've always looked for something good to look at in this area but never found it

Thats the problem with having mythological inspired metaphors (the ability to see becomes an analogy for the ability to see happines & good in the world--but obviously this runs into the problematic trope of implying blind people actually existing in real life do not have a moral compass... opsy! 4:50 I really wish Kubo overcame the Moonking by showing even without eye sight you can still experience the good & happiness in the world. The Moonking could feel insecure & angry being born blind & grew resentful & bitter. But in the finale Kubo could play music that moves his grandfather's heat & show they're more to goodness & happines in the world than what could be seen. The climatic moment could happen after a cool boss fight were Moonking wins & rips out Kubo's eyes & think he has turned Kubo evil only for Kubo to prove Moonking (& everyone in the story even the Mum) wrong & play music, turnning his grandfather good again. Maybe even show the Moonking only grew to hate his blindness based on the town he grew up in making fun of him & discriminating agaisnt him--turnning him angry & bitter & blaming his disability. But have the same scene where Kubo gets the town folk to help redeem his grandfather by being nice to him & being normal towards his blindness & talk about all the things they'd like to do with him & help him with & ask for him to help them. Grandfather--after being shown goodness & happiness can be experienced through other sense (by Kubo's music) can then be overwhelmed by the town's folk kindness even though he's blind--something as a child he never got & thought he didn't deserve!!!! Therefore proving his evilness was never due to his blindess but a result on his town's bullying of him & conditioning him into seeing his disability as a moral failing & a source of his bitterness & evil anger!!! Far far better for representation & also an emotional resolution based on a thematic rejection to the villian's misplaced worldview Rather than a deus ex machina ability to wipe people's memories that Kubo apparently has. This would have been so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’d didn’t occur to me until you mentioned that blindness is often used to symbolize ignorance, because it’s also used just as often to signify wisdom, which is often what I think of first. I never thought about how it has been used to represent both sides of the spectrum.

You do have a point in that we should stop using disability as a mark of moral failing. Though I haven't seen the "Blindness as Ignorance" trope as often as some others. I usually see it in tropes like the Blind Swordsman/Soothsayer/Prophet where it gets used as a backdrop to say "Whoa, isn't this guy so cool despite being blind?" Which is...a thing... Now, to preface this,, I am blind in one eye. Have been since birth. And I have definite issues with seeing the trope in movies where there's a bad guy wearing an eyepatch and we're just supposed to assume he's missing an eye. Mostly because my disability is always shared with the villain. But, for this particular film, I never really felt like it was saying blindness was bad overall. I sort of got that these characters, since they're supposed to be gods, played by different rules than humans and could easily come up with reasons in my head as to why. For me in particular, it wasn't an issue. Would I have liked a more overly explanation? Yes. Absolutely. Maybe gods can only be tied to the mortal world using their eyes. Eyes being windows to the soul and humans are always laying theirs bare to the world in a number of ways. Kubo, being part god, might lose that connection to the world should that tie be severed. I don't really know, that's just off the top of my head. Could this film have a blind human character to help counter that inadvertent ableism? Yes. Kubo's friend in the market could have been blind and the story wouldn't even need to be tweaked. That said, I don't feel like this film is doing anything harmful(at least nothing that I felt personally) but the story could definitely have a few small tweaks to help steer away from this type of trope.

Hey Oakwyrm, I wanted to say thank you for the rich library of videos you have created! I really like listening to your voice, and your compassion and intelligence are really what's been making me return here for days. I am an able-bodied queer trans guy who lives with two disabled people, and I've been learning a lot thanks to your channel. Kubo has been one of my favourite movies and at the start of the video I thought "okay, but it's a metaphor, not literally dunking on blind people, right?" but I'm glad that you helped me realize that using disabilities as metaphors is absolutely wrong. That's something I never realized myself and I'm glad I could get to that point now. So thanks again for encouraging me to think twice, and hopefully I will learn to do better and recognize harmful tropes before I un-critically buy a story at face value. It has more impact than just the media that I consume, and I just want to be a safe person. You rock!

I didn’t even notice this on my first time viewing the movie and I think that’s because when characters talk about blindness they speak of it in a very metaphorical way blind to humanity and the suffering of others the problem comes in when it associates that very metaphorical blindness with actual blindness

Kinda reminds me of this episode of haunting hour where a girl becomes blind as a punishment for shoplifting and throughout the episode she’s tormented by visions of the “scary” blind shopkeeper.

I winced when the primate character described the fate of kubo if he joined his grandfather, like "nononono, please stop, dont say any more. Dont get worse!" Like, it is physcially painful to hear the subtext seeping out.

Imagine how powerfull it would be if Kubo did loose his eye, and he still had all that love and comparison

I NEVER NEW HE WAS BLIND- I loved Kubo and the Two Strings so seeing this review makes me realize what is going on. I honestly don't know how to add on, subtract, or give to this.

I feel as though they let the grandfather see through one eye to portray what he did to Kubo. To feel his pain. I do think they should’ve kept him with two blind eyes.

I just found this channel and I really love it! I’m also disabled and queer. (Autism and transgender)

When I first saw the movie, I thought the intention of the movie was to use the famous metaphor of the eyes being the windows of the soul: if the Moon King is blind, therefore it means he has closed himself to humanity, and defies his own human emotions. But yeah, when you put it like that, the message has some unfortunate implications about blindness being percieved as bad. I don't believe the writers wanted to portray blindness as a bad thing, but yeah, the story would need some adjustments to avoid such a pitfall. Maybe, like others have said, making Kubo lose his other eye at some point, but he's still able to be as compassionate as he's been throughout the movie, to further highlight his parallels to the Moon King, and how blindness itself isn't a sign of evil. Or the Moon King just doesn't regain his sight after becoming human, while still starting his new life as a kind man, that's also an idea.

Would have been so much better if the movie took the stance of those who get bitter over their disabilities vs those that accept them as a part of themselves and learn to be ok with them. Kubo's grandfather could have stolen the eye in order to partially regain sight or something because he felt as a blind man he couldn't possibly be human without it, but Kubo proves him wrong. It wouldn't have been very hard to spin the story like that, but no, just being blind is bad apparently.

Thanks for this video! I never put my finger on why Kubo's ending rung hollow, but this makes a lot of sense. I'd love to see your take on Viktor from Arcane--his disability and illness propels his arc, but they're framed not as the issue, so much as how far Viktor goes to circumvent them.

You could easily make the blind villian recognise the sounds of the people he tried to ignore. Being able to hear every and all emotions they portray through song and laughter, wails and tears. This in turn makes him aware of his own humanity that he tried to reject

Honestly, I would've thought you'd have more to say about Kubo's mother. She has a brain injury and it affects her strongly in the behinning, making her sleep often, paranoid (Although she has reason) and forgetful, but is cured by becoming Monkey. You COULD also argue that Beetle has a disability too as he has little memory and seems to have issues focusing or retaining information as well. This is the reason he is able to escape the sea monster, but also affects his daily life.

I actually had a chat with my AP Lit teacher about a story I was writing, and one of the major characters was blind, and my teacher asked if they were ignorant to something, and I was like, “Nothing past the usual. She’s like me, just kinda vining.”

Another banger video glad I found you, never seen anyone talk abt this movie let along criticize it over these dangerous themes it presents. Keep it up love your analysis

I think what the film MEANT to imply is that his sight came from the eye he stole from Kubo as a baby, IE giving him the ability to 'see' what Kubo sees and have a new beginning. It really sucks they went the way they did with it, because I see what they MEANT, but the result is just not fun for visually impaired people

I think the speech would've been neat if he said something like "Even if you rip out my eyes, even if I can not see, I will still feel the beauty around me, still feel the humanity in another. You can't take that away from me!" (kind of rough writing cause I didn't sit with it too much, but something along those lines) Then also turn him human and keep him blind so he can actually feel that humanity as a human and know that sight isn't the only thing needed to feel compassion for other people? Edit: Also love the comment idea of Kubo becoming blind but still keeping his empathy, too.

Gosh, it's been years since I last saw this movie. My main issue was at the end, where the village collectively agree to take advantage of an amnesiac.

They could've fixed this just by making the script more appropriate like maybe instead of talking about eye sight he could've just talked about his heart and reaching a message through other means

I never took that as a general lesson to be taken further. I only saw it was for this specific family. I wonder if they had shown a blind human in the show that it would've been better. Course that's a big change to make a realize now, and could also go wrong if done incorrectly.

hey- as a blind person myself (legally classified and progressive onset) i personally dont see a problem with the blindness part as an ableist thing. its more just a detail that can be overlooked. though it could've DONE better- it really doesn't have that 'you are a lesser human' looming over it. i see it more as a generational trauma trope and the blindness a detail.

They took "see the good in people" a bit to literal, unfortunately...

Thank you for this interesting insight.

WHEN I WATCHED THIS! i was very much rubbed the wrong way... i try to make things to be as inclusive and as anti ablest as i can. and i'm just always pissed that they don't consider people outside of their idea of normal.

ive never seen it as it meaning being blind is bad, but more of being blind to the compassion of others is bad because at the end, where he isn't blind, he can truely see the compassion others show

In a story I am working on one of the primary characters is halve blind due to an accident, though I am aiming to not have it be the thing his whole character revolves around. It's important, and he has a some major character development around the accident and learning to live with his disability, but after he adjusts it stops being a plot point and just is a part of him.

If he kept having one eye would've been a beautiful metaphor for trauma from being abused and disabled (since how he lost his eye sight was traumatic (even if he just heard about it and that it was by his own grandfather and the anger and betrayal of those feelings and healing and cutting an abusive family member out.

I know exactly why I didn't notice this the first time, but I am still wholly disappointed with myself

the good story problem: blindness as a metaphor for ignorance makes for a good story, despite its terrible implications. maybe they could have written around it by having Kubo lose his sight completely but not growing cold?

Maybe it could be improved by making it so around the climax he does take Kubos other eye but because of Kubos good character it doesnt change his mission? Its kinda more like a bandaid but it could be something.

I saw this when I was really young and I now know why I blocked the later half of the movie out of my memory

I think that it's important to remember that at the end of the day Kubo and the Two Strings is a movie that was made for children, and the people who made the movie were probably looking for the simplest metaphor for why The Moon King is the way that he is. However I think that it would have been much more interesting to have a villain who can see, but is blind to the truth that is in front of him, because that's that thing that happens in the real world. Thus making The Moon Kings blindness a metaphor and not both something literal and metaphorical. Since then Kubo can be there to open The Moon King's eyes, well The Moon King could be shown trying not to look at Kubo and trying to avoid the reality that the child is trying to show him. Overall form a story telling perspective I think that would have been more interesting.

they're not really blind, it's just a metaphor for closing your eyes to something Even kubo mother says she was also blind

I need to rewatch this. But I can relate, I have no functional vision at all in my left eye.

If they had made the beggar woman who Kubo’s friend also be blind or have just bad vision with no aids it would have completely removed the problem of disability and morality.

I remember watching this movie and hating it SO MUCH because of its message, hating how everyone was just okay with it, and how AN ENTIRE COMPANY looked at this and thought "seems legit". What I think bothered me even more was finding the vast majority of who watched this said it was this heartwarming story with a great message and I was like... HUH?! Did we not watch the same movie? And making one other character blind wouldn't work either. Because of talked about the connection between blindness is evil is. They not only kept bring it up but established that this is the only reason Kubo isn't heartless.

I think the story could be reworked into something better while still having something to say about disability. Make it so that the Moon King is very clearly not blind in a physical sense, and make it so that Kubo has more of a visible scar from the process. That and don't make it so that his grandfather was going after his eyes, but rather what was behind them, Kubo's human soul. The Moon King in this version has no real human soul, and therefore is blind to the intrinsic value of humanity and its softness. He wants his grandson to shed his humanity to live forever with him, even going so far to say that once the child leaves behind his humanity, his body too will accend to a perfect form without blemishes, scars, or any lack of ability. But Kubo outright says no, delcaring that he doesn't need any of that to be happy, doesn't need the false illusion of perfection. And so the boy attempts to slay his grandfather, ending up instead blessing him to become human, just like the movie. But the old man isn't half sighted in this version, being fully blind, and now able to see the world with his soul rather than his eyes. Edit: I forgot to add this, but the point of making Kubo more scarred by what his grandfather did to him as a baby isn't just to solidify his grandfather's terrible views, but also to give him a chance to be better characterized. Its not that he is good despite his disability, but instead that he is good in spite of the ostracization he faced at the hands of certain villagers, choosing to be empathetic rather than bitter.

There was a lot of amnesia in Kubo too

Sounds like it would be cool to have an ending where mc goes blind, stays good, and grampa changes good. A meaning more of 'you're blind to loveand compassion because you're an asshole, grampa. You can be better' Or something

I have disagree with you the blindness aspect mainly due to the divine aspects of the movie. Divine beings are above humanity in many way in this movie, it like royalty that doesn't really care for there peasant that much . The grandfather is bad man for sure but this was a family matter to him. What his daughter did in his eyes was dishonorable and shameful (use Asian marriage culture for refence here). Kuko was an innocent in his eyes, he wanted to fix his grandson's flaws, he was blind to humanity he couldn't see the good in them, why should a divine being such as him think otherwise or bother to try to understand. He was immortal all powerful and thought him to be above humanity and thought of them nothing more than lowly animals. He was wrong of course and you have a point about the blindness and morality. But there are different good and bad people with blindness depicted in media. Best and most famous example is Toph from avatar, disabled people should be depicted as both heroes and villains'. PS I have Asperger's syndrome, anxiety, OCD and I'm a gay man, but that doesn't really matter to me, it just a part of who I am.

"I got two pennies and a lint ball... this is good lint." This movie has some really funny lines lol

If he became blind as a curse, in the story, for him being the "blind" and/or "short sighted", as some karmic backlash, for it, then maybe it could have worked for this movie, based on the culture, too and of buddhism?

Moon isn't physically blind. He looks directly at objects and Kubo multiple times.

The reason as to why tropes like that suck is because they have been used for centuries to dehumanise blind people. It's done in multiple books and theatre plays. And the big irony comes with the fact that a big part of people's way of judging the world wrongly is mainly because of their sight. For example an attractive criminal will get a lot of love, love letters and so on just because that criminal (most likely a killer) is good looking. People used their eyes to see if someone was poor (unworthy of their attention at the time) or rich (worthy of their fake love and acceptance). Judging by historical facts and psychology we can reach the fact that sighted people are far more "blind" to humanity and the world than blind people. Judges in history used to break the law and don't punish a criminal because said person was good looking or rich. And now some fangirls want murderers to be set free because of pretty privilege. And they could have gone for the trope "blind for humanity" without having the villain be blind. Or at least not give him a real sight at the end. Because this trope most of the time is the opposite of the real world and the truth. Edit: btw I don't hate the movie. I love it honestly. My distaste is towards the trope, not the movie itself.

The first time I watched/listened to this movie, I didn’t ever catch on to the ableism in it, and wow I’m seeing it now. I myself am blind and, oh boy, yeah that’s a big yikes from me, chief. Not a fan of that. Though as for the rest of the movie, it’s fine. I did find it a bit cheesy though. Just… oh my gods, no, Kubo, no. I might not be able to look into the eyes of another and see their soul or whatever, but I don’t have to. Nobody has to. I can feel their soul, hear it, even smell it. The saying, ‘The eyes are the window to the soul,’ is bullshit. It’s the words and the tone and the heartbeat that are what leads you to the soul. There, I can be overdramatic too- Edit: My Braillist came up with a good way to throw the, “The eyes are the window to the soul,” thing on it’s head and I’m honestly living for it: With clear sight comes a clear way for your soul to escape or be stolen by another. Truly, those with clouded sight, or better yet, none at all, are the ones with the most soul. Love my Braillist

Something that I had wished they'd clarified that I believe is what the ending was actually trying to portray was that the eye he suddenly had at the end when he gained his humanity was the eye he stole from Kubo, so it wasn't that he needed to become abled to be human, but that his humanity was tied into what he received from Kubo. This obviously fell short, and still doesn't fix all of the problems, but had they shown this better I think it wouldn't have been as egregious

That's very interesting. I didn't watch Kubo yet, and not gonna lie, I just spoiled the whole movie for myself by watching this video, but I genuinely didn't expect Laika to push such a narrative (purposefully of not). I would completely rewrite the Moon King, because in his current state, it is bad, oh no, it is really bad. Personally I'm not blind, but I see how our world is not exactly built with consideration of blind people. Of course, there are accommodations and such, but not in all parts of the world, and sometimes not even in all parts of a town or a city, even though in said town or city, there are a few accommodations. And since Kubo happens in some fantasy world, somewhere in the past, then the issue would be that in case of adjustments made to make life of the disabled people convenient, there are close to none. Maybe the Moon King experiences some sort of social exclusion. Maybe he is frustrated because of his disability, and not many people care enough to help him. And let's say, there is the belief that blind people can't see people's souls etc. but it's not true and in the end it gets acknowledged as a harmful prejudice. So the Moon King overtime gets so frustrated and bitter, that he starts manipulating those around him and wants Kubo and everyone else to see how it feels to not see. The ending with him getting a second chance and erasing his memories (that would include also painful memories which lead to his bitterness), and I agree with you, he should stay blind. And Kubo would be there, he would go from being angry at the Moon King, to understanding him and trying to cause any change in his society. Maybe Kubo shows everyone that despite losing one eye, he can still see into people's soul fully, using not only his sight, but also other senses like hearing. He could show that you don't need eyes to see into someone's soul. It would be hard, I'm making stuff up on the spot right now. It should need a lot of thought to get fixed. Yeahm that was... disappointing for me. I thought Laika would be better than this.

Your opinion is fair don't get me wrong. and media has made a plethora of villains with disabilities. but I never saw the moon King like that he can change his form very easily and even though Kubo has this spel of "eyes is the window to the soul" the next line he says is that "memories is the strongest magic there is" and you can have memories when you're blind. becoming blind did not make him cruel he was already cruel and chose to become blind basically. Even though the physical world has good stuff it also has bad stuff and the moon King was so disgusted by the bad that he wanted nothing to do with the physical world I always saw blindness in this movie as isolation and Detachment from the physical world. the sisters also have this Motif they literally cover themselves we never truly see their face or their eyes and they want to capture or isolated Kubo. That's why it was important for Kubo to give the moon King an eye to bring him out of isolation and to see the world from A New Perspective. I'm also not entirely sure that he's actually blind. I believe in the beginning kubor talks about going out the mother starts shaking him and goes all no you can't go out at night "he will see you in they will take you away from me" but I could be misremembering that.

Hmm, I think it's an unfortunate symptom of using "blindness" as a metaphor, there may have been better ways to get that point across. It's something that comes up in Eastern mythology, the idea of being blind to things, but that isn't really an excuse for Kubo since it was an original story with a Japanese mythology setting rather than something pulled directly from Japanese legend. If it had been "heartlessness" rather than "blindness" it could have brought over the same message without the use of a real-life disability. The end of this one was certainly strange too, I still am not sure what message was being put across by having the townsfolk pretend Kubo's grandfather had done all these great things. I don't know how I would have ended it, but it felt... off, somehow with the ending it had (as well as the whole blindness as ignorance of the soul aspect, I mean). Maybe if he was still blind, and the people of the village took pity on him and decided to care for him, and that was the message? It's not an easy plot to fix, the strings, funnily enough, need to be untangled and re-strung to make it work as intended, methinks.

I have a video idea! It would be really cool if you made a whole video exploring the best and worst disability tropes! It’d be fun to learn about, interesting to hear your opinions, experiences and inputs, and as I writer it would also be kinda helpful. (Not that you have to help us not write shitty tropes lol. But maybe yk what I meant)

I might just be insensitive or something because I'm not blind, but the way you're describing it makes it sound like you're just taking it to literally. Eyes have often been closely connected to the soul in media. That and the whole "blind to humanity" thing make them the perfect body part for this analogy.If it where a less metaphorical part of the body like the arm, or took place in a more realistic world, than it would be an entirely different story, but it seems like it was more metaphorical than literal.

it’s weird how the moon king isn’t even animated to seem blind... he looks directly at people and objects? perhaps something about him having eyes made of magic vs human eyes, and wanting to remove specifically the human part of kubo would have worked better? don’t know. i would love to see your take on disability in fullmetal alchemist (manga and/or brotherhood). it’s definitely a mixed bag, for example the automail is presented really well imo. it’s not just magic prosthetic that’s cooler than a real limb, there’s problems that arise from ed having his prosthetics that he has to work around, so it feels like a real disability aid. but then there’s magically cured disability, and the narrative of “getting OUR bodies back” (with al it makes sense, but it sits weird with ed). it’s interesting to me how a series can do so much better in certain aspects than most media, while also falling into the same ableist tropes (wheelchair = fragility like you mentioned in the video is another in the series). it’s also very much a sort of... “disability as punishment” story, which is a trope that would be interesting enough to explore on its own.

I'm actually really happy to have found this channel, I feel like I'm learning more as i continue seeing videos like these. I never even really noticed how the things said in the movie would come off to somebody who is disabled and what they may think of it. As a side note. I wonder what would have fixed the handling of this. I feel as though, maybe if the Moon king did take his eye, and Kubo remained the same loving person he was. maybe that could have worked. But I'm not sure if id be missing something there too, as I've only recently started learning about disability based tropes in storytelling.

I feel like the conflict should've been resolved by the characters realising that they rely too much on the ability to see to appreciate the beauty of life, and found other ways to communicate it to the emperor. Then the fault would lie at least partially with the abled characters for failing to accommodate for blindness.

This realization hits a little close to home since i mainly see with my right eye my left is pretty weak and ive had to ware an eye patch as a kid to try to equalize my eyes but it never really worked its better than it was but i mostly just use my right eye So yeah its annoying not to mention having to ware glasses for most of my life eye appointments excetera.

Lore of Disability as a Mark of Moral Failing (Kubo and the Two Strings) momentum 100

"Hey!! Did you forget that actual blind people actually exist???" - The Movie