It's easy to see evil in Lady Eboshi's destructive pursuit of the Great Forest Spirit, but much more difficult to moralize about the residents of Iron Town.
Well, here we are. By this point, you've read about many wonderful films that revel in the magic of childhood imaginations. By contrast, the greatest Studio Ghibli film is not as concerned with inner beauty as it is with the wonder around us that humans are constantly in the process of destroying. Princess Mononoke burns with red-hot anger at humanity's desecration of the natural world, the way we trample over balanced ecosystems in pursuit of profit, but this film's refusal to indulge in easy answers is what makes it Miyazaki's masterpiece. It's easy to see evil in Lady Eboshi's destructive pursuit of the Great Forest Spirit, but much more difficult to moralize about the residents of Iron Town. The community Eboshi built to process the iron ore she steals from the domains of the great animal spirits has nevertheless given purpose and fulfillment to the most outcast members of society. Who is wrong, and who is right? It's hard to say. The heroic Ashitaka tries his best to act morally; for his trouble he is personally cursed, and still fails to prevent cataclysm.