News Article : Was "Lost in Translation" a racist movie?

"Wonderer" wrote
> http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788

Having seen and enjoyed the movie, I also noted the scenes the article
comments on. Maybe it's just my perspective, but I thought the director's
purpose _was_ to make us see the two protagonists as "ugly Americans" or at
least two confused and often drunken people lost in a strange culture, set
doubly adrift by cultural and their own personal isolations. The Murray
character, at least, really doesn't want to be there except for the money.

(and I won't comment on the racist/ethnocentric stereotypes of Americans the
article blithely endorses)
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"Wonderer" wrote in message

> http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788
>
>

This is stupid. The movie is about disorientation in life compounded by
being in a foreign culture. Had the principals learn some Japanese and be
polite, they wouldn't be disoriented would they? Then what would be the
movie about? Two polite Americans in Tokyo? What kind of movie would that
be?
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"Wonderer" wrote in message

> http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788
>
>
I am Japanese amd I did not thing this movie was particularly
racist towards anyone.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

Listen, living in Japan, I see far worse things than this movie could
possible do. For example, there is the prime time TV skit where a Japanese
guy gets himself made up like a white guy with a big fake nose and talks in
real stilted Japanese. This is the equivilent of the old black face routine
that went out ages ago. So, to hell with this article. Just some reporter
making a sale.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"Wonderer" wrote in message

> > http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788

"Peter L" wrote in message ...
> This is stupid.

Well... The whole site and the article is surely designed to be a
provocator, but the fact is that, a 'provocator' doesn't mean that it
will bring good things.

I suspect that many stuff that are said to provocate 'intellegent
thought' are actually designed to provocate 'violent thought', anger,
hate, and so on. I suspect both the movie and the article reviewing
the movie are designed to do just that.

> The movie is about disorientation in life compounded by
> being in a foreign culture. Had the principals learn some Japanese and be
> polite, they wouldn't be disoriented would they? Then what would be the
> movie about? Two polite Americans in Tokyo? What kind of movie would that
> be?

What kind movie would that be? Hmmm... I don't know, a nice movie
maybe?

Actual Americans actually are quite polite (I don't know about the
ones in the Net claiming as one though), and they are much like any
other people on earth.

As for the Japanese, well the Japanese and other Asian themself
probably don't consider themself as 'polite' and 'well-behaved'.

Heh. Kinda remind me one Japanese movie (a children movie, kinda
anyway) where an American boy (he knows Japanese, learned it from his
Japanese girlfriend) once said to a Japanese boy, "You are Japanese,
maybe you don't understand that sort of thing." when he was troubled
and his new Japanese friend kinda keep bugging on him. This probably a
knock on Japanese behaviours.

Of course, the TV series version of also made fun the fact that many
Japanese establishments much prefer to receive U.S. Dollar and not
Japanese Yen, when one episode show a diner only taking U.S. Dollar
and NOT Japanese Yen.


But... Both 'Japanese' and 'American' entertainment industries are
probably owned by the same group of people and not owned by the
Japanese and American themself. Could it be that "Lost in Translation"
a movie designed to 'divide and conquer' both Japanese and Americans?
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"Wonderer" wrote in message ...
> http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788

a friend of mine, who is japanese, said that the movie describes japan
TODAY exactly. as an example he points out the scene when murray is
sitting with the old man, and the man keeps rambling even though he is
very aware that murray doesn't speak japanes,,,,,,,and the two women
in the background who are sitting there laughing at the whole
scenario. he said that is what would happen, and how japanese people
would react in that situation,,,,rather than getting involved and
helping clear the obvious confusion.

as a japanese born in the USA i am, at this stage, not too happy with
hollywood's stereotyping on the asian culture. and i saw nothing to be
offended about.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

Was "Lost in Translation" a racist movie?

No. I can smell a racist from 3000 miles away. Your guys crack me
up! It's a damn movie about man's loneliness in a foreign land.
Dofus.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"b" wrote in message

> "Wonderer" wrote in message
...
> > http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788
>
> a friend of mine, who is japanese, said that the movie describes japan
> TODAY exactly. as an example he points out the scene when murray is
> sitting with the old man, and the man keeps rambling even though he is
> very aware that murray doesn't speak japanes,,,,,,,and the two women
> in the background who are sitting there laughing at the whole
> scenario. he said that is what would happen, and how japanese people
> would react in that situation,,,,rather than getting involved and
> helping clear the obvious confusion.
>

As a Japanese born in Japan I agree with your friend 100%.
My mother in law does that. Starts speaking to American salesmen in Japanese
and they stand there listening to her with a straight face. I don't know,
maybe
they're hoping that she'll buy something at the end. It's pretty funny to
watch.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

it's about two 2 losers in japan, not about 2 disoriented people.

"Peter L" wrote in message

>
> "Wonderer" wrote in message
>
> > http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788
> >
> >
>
> This is stupid. The movie is about disorientation in life compounded by
> being in a foreign culture. Had the principals learn some Japanese and be
> polite, they wouldn't be disoriented would they? Then what would be the
> movie about? Two polite Americans in Tokyo? What kind of movie would
that
> be?
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"betelnut" wrote in message ...
> it's about two 2 losers in japan, not about 2 disoriented people.

Yup. Two rich bored yuppies.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

wrote ...
> "betelnut" wrote >...
> > it's about two 2 losers in japan, not about 2 disoriented people.

OK, two disoriented losers :-)

> Yup. Two rich bored yuppies.

Actually not --

The Bill Murray character is first off, getting on in years -- hardly the
"young" of yuppie. He's maybe rich -- certainly this Japanese job will help
out there -- but he seems to have taken it from economic necessity. I
hardly think of (formerly) famous actors as yuppies. While acting is a
profession, it's not what is usually meant (lawyer, advertising, etc).
Urban -- who knows? Tokyo ain't where he's from.

It's not at all clear if Scarlett Johansen's character is a yuppie in the
US. She's along on hubbie's photo shoot, on the Japanese company dime.
They're hanging much more with an artsy crowd even in Japan. She is hardly
the image of the driven, on-the-go yuppie.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie? 

"Wonderer" wrote:

>http://www.dyske.com/default.asp?view_id=788
>
No. It was Sophia Coppola's holiday snaps of Tokyo.
Little plot, little script, little direction, a couple of actors
performing brilliantly.
 >> Stay informed about: News Article : Was ""Lost in Translation"" a racist movie?