Many know the scene that Howl's hair turn black and he becomes a green slime with the famous quote "there's no point of living if i am not beautiful" right? But not many, if not at all mention the scene after with Sophie's reaction to his words.
Look at her, she's visibly shocked, hurt and confused having Howl saying these words in front of her.
And that's when she snaps to him:
This moment truly brought me to tears seeing her tearful expression and frustration in everything. To her Howl has nothing to feel insecure about when he's got both talent and looks. To her, he has everything, while she viewed herself as someone plain, ugly and to be alone.
Even when she is older from the curse and tells everyone how better it is, partly she's right. She's more expressive and free in herself, but also deep down that doesn't mean she still longs for someone to value her not just for her looks but also in person.
Miyazaki knows how to strike these moments especially when i relate to Sophie's character a lot. A woman knowing she's worth so much more, but society values the outside can be very lonely and isolating and i am glad he portrayed her character this way.
That's why Howl's action later in the film are his way of apologising to her. He doesn't outright say it, but his actions speak volumes, especially when he showed her his gift for her the garden.
It's a beautiful moment seeing Sophie younger, carefree and smiling from the bottom of her heart she becomes as radiant as the garden and after that broken moment, it felt cathartic seeing her like this.
The film outside of magic and war is also about love, love one's self, and Sophie took a long time to accept and truly love herself but the journey was long and hard to get to it and the message was very hopeful ✨
Saw this Trucks Discourse on facebook and I'm not part of that world but yeah that one on the left is delightful and I really had no idea just how wasteful and pointless the other kind is until this comparison