What's wrong with this picture?

[Jpstw]

Comparatively to the way that Japanese media, or Japanese entertainment sees black culture, I think it would almost be charitable if they were wearing typical hip-hop clothing. There is a segment of the youth culture (if you look in magazines like Boon, Samurai, Street Jack) who have some inkling about typical urban youth trends...

...but, by and large, as Bobby Ologon & Warren Sapp as examples, the Japanese entertainment industry prefer their blacks as pickaninny coons who can barely speak the language--- Even though Ologon is fluent in Japanese, he makes his money by pretending to be big, dumb, and stupid...

I've read some forums of blacks whom have lived in Japan & worked in the entertainment industry for some brief amount of time, and most report that it's "act the Uncle Tom, or walk...", most walk. Who wants their culture degraded for money? In the words of Method Man, "Who the F@cK wanna die for they culture?"

Yeah ain't that the truth, oh yeah its Bobb Sapp aint it, the big guy that cant fight worth a banana?, his dumb*** ***** it up for me and my culture/people , next thing i know i got some White or Japanese fool saying "Whats up Nigga!", Slap the red off both of them pfft...

 

[yukio_michael]

Just for your information, I know of at least one member we'Ve lost due to this thread alone. You might think that he or she is being too sensitive, but I can understand his or her feelings. No one likes it when people are being condescending towards them, so please let's remember that we're talking about and dealing with people here!

It's hard to imagine someone leaving the forum because of a thread that I wrote that concerned no one in particular who posts here.

One post--- My commentary is on the loss of translation of Japanese culture between cultures, and the idea of image-ideal... I think there is a very harmful aspect to Japanese culture that gets exported that produces this fantasy that Japanese women are burikko blue haired anime girls.

You can contrast this with the artistic work of the French, whom themselves are great fans of manga & anime, (the woman in the first clip is actually French), but refering to an older issue of Tokion from perhaps 1996 or so, the French especially are quite fond of these types of genres--- They were very active in its creation, specifically through the seminal magazine, Metal Hurlant (aka Heavy Metal)... this image ideal, of women with big breasts, 36, 24, 36 figures, falling for masculine men, the wish fulfillment dream... there is a parallel so I don't especially have a problem with it--- Just the lack of understanding of the content of the music being sung....

But children are children... I'm sorry to whom ever I've so offended that they had to make an exodus from this forum.

The second clip, I make no apologies for.

Yeah ain't that the truth, oh yeah its Bobb Sapp aint it, the big guy that cant fight worth a banana?

I get confused, Warren Sapp is the pro-NFL player... yes, it's Bob Sapp!

his dumb*** ***** it up for me and my culture/people , next thing i know i got some White or Japanese fool saying "Whats up Nigga!", Slap the red off both of them pfft...

Slap the taste out of their mouths? Yes... It's a shame, and a problem, it comes from an ignorance of external culture... I've read quite a few similar stories on forums concerning blacks (I do not use the word African American, as we all know, not all blacks are African... just as not all Whites are Irish... it's just a simplification, not an insult)... living in Tokyo... most, have put up with some form of assumption about them that was in basis, at the very least, ignorant... And by ignorant, I mean, ignorant of what would be considered proper manners.

 

[user23]

you people are bad. why do u care about strangers. im guessing u were all hippies because u remind me of my hippy english teacher whose comments also make me miserable

 

[yukio_michael]

you people are bad. why do u care about strangers. im guessing u were all hippies because u remind me of my hippy english teacher whose comments also make me miserable

Hitler is a stranger to me, should I not speak of his actions, even if they are more so grievous. Grow up.

 

[user23]

hitler isnt a stranger to you. you know all about him im sure.
the girl in the vid, you know nothing about her.
why would a 30 year old tell sometone to grow up?
you speak of these topics like you are an authority.

 

[Juno333]

right. you guys are being really friendly with each other. what about thankgiving, flowerfestivals, fireworks, world peace? anyone? Oy Vey, low moral standards here, cheer up, i'm sure both of you are nice guys, so keep it nice on the forum. As for my comment, uhhh well the first vid is just tooo weird, but I got to admit the haircut is pretty cute (guess the blue looks good on her) and same with japanese, I just adore the French language, so because she's French, I'll forgive her for the weird singing (you've got to admit, when you try to sing Kotoko, there's a point where you come to the as-good-as-it-gets-and-that's-pretty-bad part). As for the second vid, it just made me laugh(only a bit, but i couldn't help it though). However it is quite disrespectfull, but since the moral standards above are pretty bad alltogether, I don't really care.

I hope you all watched the Japanese Fanta Commercials, 'cause they were fun to, and way less disrespectfull. I can't paste a link in here because i'm still too low on posts (got a long way to go) so if you haven't seen them yet (can't imagine though), check youtube.com
be good, _xXx_Juno333

 

[aokami]

The first vid is harmless. Sure she may not necessarily know the words or get what cultural associations she is stirring up but is this any different than some girl lip synching to Britany Spears to try to emulate an idol? It strikes me as an 18 yr old girl trying to feel cute/attractive/etc, which at 18 sometimes you get a little desperate to obtain. Maybe her interest will branch off into learning about Real Japan- -or maybe she just switches over to euro pop.

The second.. eesh. Reminds me of the craptastic productions rolling out of Cartoon Network/Adult Swim lately. Wholly offensive yet virally popular with the 18-30 set. Looking into it further "Kiko" is an South Korean decent improv actress named Kim Evey. She previously toured in a show on WWII Japanese internment, so maybe this is some tongue in cheek commentary on western perception of asian stereotypes.. or she is looking for a quick buck. Either way the biggest problem is that the average person who sees it are more likely than not going to continue thinking that the Japanese are insane. I think there is responsibility on the artist's part to take the possible misinterpretations into account, which by lack of web presence saying otherwise makes it pretty clear this is a cash in.

Americans are dangerous in that having a strong sense of ethnic identity is perceived as somewhat bad, and can easily spread into removing the respect for other cultures as a form of entertainment. I am sure many people dislike it, but as long as the media sees profit in it this will continue. At least they playing field is changing somewhat, and it is possible to find out more about the reality of any culture beyond tv by looking it up online. It may not be totally accurate but it is a start. There is a fine line between adoration and exploitation but as long as a conversation can be held on it we can do our part to weed out the crap.

**hugs internet**

 

[yukio_michael]

I've taken back my feelings on the first video--- it's fairly harmless, it just seems that if you're singing something, you might as well know it's about raping 9 year olds... People do what they like.

The second, does, encourage the ignorant to keep thinking Japan is one big "wacky" country... Maybe I was in a bad mood the day I posted this thread... I've come to accept fan-girlism as part and parcel of the internet... I neither fight it, nor join it.