Most Intellectually Insulting Films

I lived in Nagoya for almost two years, and I must say that my experience was rather different. Some of that may be regional, Tokyo and Osaka are more 'progressive' in their behavioral norms, and most of the rest of the country (especially the Kansai region) is more 'traditional.' My own experience is that there are MAJOR differences between Japanese people who have had a lot of contact with foreigners (especially those who have lived overseas or seek out contact with gaijin) and those who haven't, at least when it comes to the ways the interact with foreigners. Which, honestly, is to be expected.

There was.

He was a well-intentioned and verbally dextruous sociopath who started interesting conversations, and then made conversation impossible if his initial premises were questioned. He tended to duck the challenges he didn't like, or just insist on his own rightness - at great length - if even vaguely backed towards a corner.

I think he named himself after the film rather than the guitarist, incidently.

Yeah, it's your charming 'hate all those who haven't yet proven they think similarily to me' habits which kind of ensures a circle of disrespect. Not particularly constructive is it. If others take a different line from you, or the apparant facts, why make it a question of 'honour' to disrespect them? You certainly let your own rash claims slide easily enough. (I'm thinking mainly here of your 'sand religion'/net tussle with Yods).

Anyways...

Don't worry, Michael (edit) Bay has made everything right again. He seems to have claimed US ownership of Beagle 2 <--- click

My experience of Japanese language students is in line with what you've said - from the stereotypes being very strongly defined/embraced, to the tendency for them to drop away (to varying degrees) in an international setting.

You've suggested yourself tho that these norms are an ideal, and as such they still serve to mask the individualism, and 'human divergence' from this ideal, that surely exists in Japan. That seems to be the point that Lock is getting at. It'd be nice to see some 'faces' as well as the mask. (Tho lord knows it was never likely in a flick like Last )

Filmmakers in traditionally 'stoic'/undemonstrative cultures, such as the UK and Scandenavia, have managed to highlight their social rigidities (often with pride) while simultaneously taking the opportunity to explore the personal lives that lie beneath them. From the little i've seen, i'm sure Japanese filmmakers have explored this territory as well. (And they've happily gone further too - nearly ripping the mask off completely in films like Onibaba and Woman of the Dunes).

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Incidently, i'm wondering whether the modern Japanese flicks that have turned a critical or satirical eye on the restrictions of the old Samurai ways (and feudal norms etc) are also criticising aspects of modern Japanese society. It's certainly a convenient way of expressing dissatisfaction with social rigidity, and can be used to condemn over-glorification of cultural touchstones too.

I don't really think that was an over-riding objective for Zatoichi (), but certainly When the Last Sword is Drawn, and by the sound of it The Twilight Samurai, seem to be aiming to land blows such as these, amongst the national pride bound up in such themes.

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Certainly with all the hints and similarities between yourself and yourself you would have done a bit of research on who this Django guy is. I mean if it was not you. Either A: it is you, or B: He is your long lost soul mate and is exactly like you. So either you are Django or you are a Django. Lets just say for the sake of argument you have no relation to good ol' Dj' in any shape or form; my suggestion still hangs out there and I mean it wholeheartedly and without malice.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Eh, name any Hollywood film that develops the private lives or underlying personalities of the supporting cast?

I would say so, yes. Though I would hasten to add that it's not just 'modern' Japanese film that does this: films like Hara Kiri, Samurai Rebellion and pretty much the entire Kurosawa corpus almost demand to be interpreted as throughgoing critiques of a modern social system and hierarchy of values that systematically devalues people in favor of propriety.

(Ah, the Cruise-widowed love-interest was only a supporting role? I did not know. She sounded more involved)

Nevertheless...

Lock's original point about the widow was that she was displaying actions that needed explaining - she sounds 'badly drawn', supporting character or no.

Even 'masked' Kabuki cast-members can have transparent motives, no?

Sure, i wasn't discounting them (which is partially why i pointed out some other films from a similar time which had 'anti-establishment' aspects too). I was just wondering whether there has been a slight resurgence - and also a continued feeling of social repression perhaps, if director's feel they must turn to the past to comment on the present.

yep.

A lot of social commentary in contemporary Japanese cinema seems to focus on the alienation and brutalization of the country's youth, and these films tend to be extremely direct. There's a flourishing subgenre of Kids-ish films (though generally better done, in my opinion, and with the usual Japanese visual flourish) like Bounce Ko Gals and All About Lily Chou Chou, as well films that explore the same subtexts, but through bizarre, nihilistic violence (Battle Royale and 2LDK being emblematic examples).

Stuff like Samurai Fiction and Twilight Samurai hearkens back to the Kurosawaesque oblique humanism, but I'm not sure how typical they really are.

I guess that makes sense, given the way their urban youth seem to have embraced external influences the most etc - and teens are always likely to be heavily immersed in, and 'representative' of, any novel cultural flux.

I've only seen Battle Royale of those tho. (Altho the phenomenon bizarrely made me think of the sedate Korean 'social comment' chick-flick Look After my Cat. Maybe teen flicks are gonna become the forte of every director examining the fallout of a fast changing world? )

Yeah, i did wonder

same thing about Korea. recent Korean movies all depict a certain malaise, mainly of social essence, but unfortunately for what i noticed last time i was there, such movies concern a very few and such a rebellion against paternalism and uniformisation (etc.) is not to be seen among everyday people you met at university, the office or on the street.
not yet, at least.

(and by the way, enough shampoo for you, LM)

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We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.

Yes. I'm the one who's witlessly buying into mass opinion here. The majority of people are unjustifiably disparaging of what is, essentially, a form of etiquette. The few of us who've considered it and found little wrong are definitely in the extreme minority.

If you want to debate the relative merits of Political Correctness with me, feel free to start a thread or send me a private message. Or you could snipe at me some more if your opinions are baseless.

ok, i don't discard the possibility if i'm so nicely invited. but i'll definitely need a coupla smokes during our conversations.

Have these progressives, as you put it, changed your life in any forced way? By that I mean, has anyone ever come to your house and said, "BE POLITICALLY CORRECT OR I KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!"

1. they cannot differentiate between true 93% and exaggerated 100% when one "generalizes"

Sure. I mean generalizations have never hurt anybody in any way. Oh yeah, except for slavery era blacks, Holocaust era Jews, Saddam era Kurds....should I keep going?

I don't even understand this gibberish.

Being PC is being polite. However, should you choose not to be polite, no one will stop you. If people choose to mouth off to you after you offend them, that is defensible by the same set of rights which let you say whatever you want. You have no right to complain about political correctness unless the government starts jailing/executing/persecuting for bing politically incorrect.

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"What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present." - T.S. Eliot

1) the reaction in itself and your tone proves there's a problem and people like you would kill if they had the balls and the weapons - now, that you don't doesn't make it less fascistic than if you had the means
2) you're ignorant (oh yeah i'm not supposed to use this word...) and haven't read anything if you don't know real tyrannies don't use weapons very long or they fall apart (like did the USSR), if they're clever, they rather use the comforter strategy, like the capitalist system and most western governments do. being clever doesn't make them more tolerant. just more insidious. i don't have the time nor the room here to bring thousands of arguments and pages you should have in your intellectual luggage before you open it (big).

1) well, if someone listens, go on. or should i for you? "everyone has the same rights" or "we're all citizens of the world" or "we're all brothers" or "let's all kiss each other's asses" are what? if not generalizations?
2) if you go on, try to put something else than dumb examples you choose for their impact on the easily shocked majority

yeah, doesn't come as a surprise.

no, not insulting someone is being polite. if you criticize racism for example, and the use of certain words being thrown at someone, it scientifically and for the argument's sake justifies the use of words that are insults *only* when thrown at someone. like in "it'S bad to call a black person "******"". now, the stupidness of PC is that even when criticizing racism, i should replace the word mentioned by "n-word". ridiculous, you're the only country doing that, and it doesn't prevent you from bombarding children and women.
"should" being the trouble here.

completely dumb allegation. wouldn't get a D at college. 1) violence not being the only way to brainwash people (and far from being the most effective one), everybody with a brain knows that. 2) and your "you have NO right" being a further proof of
- how tolerant your PC dumbness is, AND
- of your self-indulging illogical blubbering.

My severe reaction does not come from a deep felt appreciation for terms such as "African American," or any other one of those tired cliches. My defense does not come from a sensitivity. My defense comes from your accusation that there is some all-encompassing fascism behind the politically correct movement. Guess what? There isn't!

Fascist countries who use "weapons" who are still in power:

Cuba
North Korea
China
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Congo
Vietnam
Iran

Oh I didn't see your way before. This type of fascism routinely falls.

You have yet to prove to me the government is behind this Fascism of Happiness. You have also yet to prove any serious effect said Fascism has had on your life.

I'm going to ignore the phrses you have quotes because I have never used any of those in any way, shape or form in my entire life. With the exception, of course, of "everyone has the same rights."

News flash: we live in America. Everyone DOES have the same rights. They even wrote those rights down on a little peice of paper called (get this) the Bill of Rights!

Your use of the roll-eyed emoticon clearly displays both your diction and your debating skills. Well done.


Before you criticize someone's intelligence, you should learn how to format a sentence. Or write in a linear way. As in, not the way you talk.

Clearly, you have never brainwashed anyone.

1) you keep repeating fascim can only be governmental. in this era it's been a long time medias have been influencing people more deeply and lastingly than governments, at least in "modern" countries.
2) if it was only "my" life, it wouldn't be worth the discussion. no, more generally, i'm sure i'm not the only one to have noticed (or know people, etc...) that being too honest or even looking depressed doesn't get you far in your career, doesn't help get a job, etc...
and more insidiously, such honesty, less in NY than in California maybe though, gets you rejected by many people who expected a "everything's fine, i'm soooo haaappy, and you?" as answer to their "how are you?". and feeling rejected for just being honest isn't fair and makes you more depressed, which gets you in the same circle again...

many a friend told me how they feel oppressed by the constant expectation of other people for them to *seem* happy all the time, to date again 3 days after a breakup, how others cannot understand how they feel ike watching a movie at home on a saturday night rather than go out and do what is expected to "be fun", how they lack friends as soon as they don't *look* so happy anymore, or are on a bad streak sentimentally, etc.
these friends are Americans, so no excuse for you to tell i've no right to have an opinion about America as long as i am European!

a country where everyone has the same right to drink alcool on the street as long as you wrap it in paper is what in your world? doesn't it seem hypocritical to you?

it affects what i see too, and yes, it disturbs me. remember, i have the same right as you to be disturbed, right? i've been reading comics for 30 years, one of them Hellblazer, and they made the movie and it wasn't as good as the book of course, but they HAD TO make the hero quit smoking at the end of the movie, which never happened in the comicbook. now, if it were only an artistic decision by the director, fine, but i'm sure you're not as naive as to think PC doesn't play any role in this kinda decisions.
another example: OC California and the deleted dialogs i saw on the dvd, that didn't contain any "f-word" or so, just a too direct reference to sex?
PC limits creativity. that's my biggest problem with it, be it at the level of artistic creations or at the personal level of what jokes you can make, as if humor should have more than personal limits.

read Frank Miller's articles about censorship in comics, Kevin Smith's comments in the dvd's, Palahniuk's articles and novels... etc etc...
so, when you're a fan of novels, movies and comics (and music) and you see your fave authors, directors, etc., having trouble because of a censorship very often based on political correctness, you're pissed off, and i don't see why it surprises you so much one can be opposed to PC and censorship. or is it okay to criticize if you're the movie's director, not the fan watching it?

and humor, yes, can be limited by politeness and sensitivity. i wouldn't joke at all and especially not about relationships if a friend had just been dumped, or about death if someone just lost his/her father... but this kinda politeness and sensitivity always existed, and didn't in any way wait for PC. this last i.m.o. just added the ridiculous aspect of f, c, l, n-words (why *not* g-word for gullag if ever you meet Russians and could hurt their feelings??) and sad hypocritism.
so you're wrong when you say it's just politeness. European middle-age and Japanese samurais etc etc... all had their étiquette, that is, politeness code. we still have today. but no PC existed then, so?
not saying "n.igger" (and ****** those little stars!) doesn't prevent racism and someone may use this word in a joke or with a friend while being no racist at all, and in the same room sits a racist who hates black people but would never dare to say the word: PC is not even effective.

i saw like 12 bums everyday in the area i lived in Chicago. they were all black. yeah right, the same rights. hypocritical till the end.

about my writing skills, like i said, read Palahniuk. and secondly, speak my language as good as i speak yours.

Fascist? There's not a single fascist nation on that list.

no, you don't understand... for gohansrage every country and everyone that doesn't feel deeply enough the whole world should be a (in the best of cases, American) capitalist democratic melting-pot big nation with the Bible in hand and The ONE Truth to spread everywhere, whether those "pagan" unorthodox countries want it or not, IS A FASCIST...

fas·cism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (fshzm)
n.

1. often Fascism
   1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
   2. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Sounds like those countires to me. Perhaps totallitarian would be a better word. Or religious oligarchy. i believe the point is opressive.

It can only be governmental. The expectations you may or may not feel from your peers are completely inconsequential. Not being able to cope with them is none of my concern.

The limit on creativity and forced censorship you speak of also piss me off. That needs to be made clear. More on that later.

They are not bums because of a violation of their rights. Do not confuse equal rights with equal treatment.

I speak English, Spanish, and a little Italian. I don't know what your language is, but do not try to pass me off as some monolingual idiot.

You cannot possibly understand how hilarious this statement is...

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I stand by every statement I have made. However, I want it know where my hatred of PC-bashing comes from. The Right in this country have been using PC (and the educational elites who propogate such things) as a scapegoat within which to dump the problems of the US. I thought you, frog, were continuing in this tradition. However, after reading your last post I see I may have been incorrect. Again, I will keep up the arguement with you, but we may want to do it via Private Message.

Believe it or not, this little discussions are actually a great source of pleasure for me...keep 'em coming.

Shaolin Soccer - 'twas a worthless film. but surprisingly, i was entertained due to its stupidity.

And I think that was precisely the desired effect.