I haven't seen Totoro, although it's on my list. :) But yeah, I can imagine how that scene would hit a lot of North Americans. [nod]
There's a picture -- I think the original was a woodcut, although I wouldn't swear to it -- from the Middle Ages of a family walking down the street through town naked, just holding their towels, on their way to the baths. Dad, Mom, and some number of kids. And it's not a big deal, and no one's all O_O at them, because they're going to bathe and there's no assumption of sexuality in the nudity. Context actually mattered then, and I think that's part of the problem, that nudity always has an assumption of sexuality nowadays.
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Date: 2008-11-09 05:25 am (UTC)There's a picture -- I think the original was a woodcut, although I wouldn't swear to it -- from the Middle Ages of a family walking down the street through town naked, just holding their towels, on their way to the baths. Dad, Mom, and some number of kids. And it's not a big deal, and no one's all O_O at them, because they're going to bathe and there's no assumption of sexuality in the nudity. Context actually mattered then, and I think that's part of the problem, that nudity always has an assumption of sexuality nowadays.
Angie