Avarice, Ascendancy & Desirous Demi-Gods

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Many wise people throughout the ages have described power and greed as two perilous and pernicious human attributes. Irish philosopher Edmund Burke said “The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.” and Roman poet Horace is quoted as saying ““He who is greedy is always in want.” To my mind, greed and power share a sort of correlation in that power seems to stimulate a sense of greed for more power, and that often greed is awakened as a by-product of the hunt for power. Akira and Spirited Away, while at times dealing with two very different worlds, both contain allusions to these perennially troubling motifs. Although both films contain elements of power, greed and their interrelation, Akira tends to focus on the potential danger of uncontrolled power in the wrong hands while Spirited Away emphasizes the blinding and destructive effect of greed. Akira, set some 31 years after World War 3 in a futuristic version of Tokyo, follows the story of a young group of motorcycle gang members, fanatic religious cults, money hungry politicians, a group of children with psychic powers, and a mysterious weapon known as Akira. Established quite early in the film as the youngest and lowest man among his bike gang’s ranks, a boy named Tetsuo seems to be haunted by an inferiority complex. This chronic sense of being mediocre seems to not only be engendered by the way he was treated during his formative years as an orphan, but by his own gang of friends in the present. As a result of this perceived weakness, Tetsuo’s actions seem to hint that he is hungry to prove that he is equal, if not superior to the people who would have him believe otherwise. After having submitted to the desires of others for so long, Tetsuo seems to be acting out in order to establish some sort of equilibrium of power. An early indication of Tetsuo’s desire for power comes after a raucous

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