Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly was a very “interesting” animated variant of an opera. Although there are no words, it was very easy to follow. A sailor visits an island, and has a relationship with a native, which leaves her pregnant. The native waits day and night for her sailor to return. This constant waiting leads to deterioration of the native and her outlook on life. She plays with her daughter, but each game is a way to look for her long lost lover. Eventually her lover returns, takes his daughter, and leaves with his wife and daughter, along with many other ethnic children. This story is very similar to the colonialism of the undeveloped world in the 18^th-20^th centaury, especially by the British. They entered a land, did what they wanted with the natives and land, and then left with the resources they had collected. This might not be the initial implication of the opera, but it’s the impression that it left on me.