FYI.... they're real

 

I thought heard the faint sounds of Blade Trinity being played in the distance

 

Well, people don't watch the movie for its insight into modern Japanese life, they watch it because they can relate to the struggles of the characters. That this took place in Tokyo is secondary to what I was trying to point out. I will agree with you that Japan isn't as foreign as it once was, but that wasn't the point of the movie. They used Japan's peculiarity to emphasize the fact that peoples' problems are universal, though some details are lost in translation.

Anyways given that, I still don't see how Scarlett perpetuates the stereotypical blonde in that movie. Care to explain Dori-san?

 

Sure, I agree, the movie was not about Japanese living in Japan, but it was most definitely about Americans working (or being dragged along for work) in Japan.

Sure, we all feel alienation and aloneness at one time or another throughout our lives, but it seemed like the main source of distress for all the characters in the movie was the fact that they were in "THE SUPER SCARY LAND OF NIPPON". Even the name of the movie, "Lost in Translation", gives a not so subtle hint that the movie is about feeling out-of-place in a foreign land. I think the film would have had much greater impact had it examined how an American could feel "alone in a crowd" in a major American city like L.A. or N.Y. or, even better, in one's own hometown; it would have had a much more powerful impact to feel alienation in familiar surroundings than to cop out and say, "Ooooh, Americans in a scary foreign country, look how bad they feel".

To be honest, I couldn't connect with Johansson or Murray's characters; I actually thought that she was being immature and that he was in a situation of his own making. Regarding Johansson's character, I constantly wondered why she wasn't open-minded or mature enough to try to make the best of the situation that she was in; we as human beings are built with an innate coping ability that often becomes subliminated when we become too self-centered or close-minded. Presented with the chance to explore a foreign country, I'm sure many would jump at the opportunity and consider it a silver lining to the cloud that is getting dragged around by the significant other. What Johansson's character demonstrated was a stereotypical contemporary young white American female's attitude towards anything unfamiliar: rejection followed by self-pity -- "Eeew, why me?". Then, to add the fact that hanging out with an old rich American man made her happier is a little creepy, don't you think? The situation tacitly implies that infidelity is not only acceptable but can be a downright good thing, hardly an encouraging message (although admittedly reflective of a fair number of people in contemporary American society). It also tacitly implies that women are weak and need to rely on an older, more stable man to support them (emotional support in this case). Had Johansson played the character as an apprehensive but strong young woman who took the situation into her own hands and grew via her own experiences in a foreign land, I would have lauded her role as much more impressive. Especially if she gathered the will to dump her boyfriend by the end of the movie haha! Graceful, independent, and in-control women are harder to find than timid, emotionally weak and dour women, and as such, it's much harder to portray a strong woman without slipping into caricature IMHO. The role that Johansson played was unimpressive because it was easy, I feel.

As for Murray's character, we are supposed to see him as an unfortunate old man who is doing something that he doesn't want to do: making Japanese commercials. However, I felt that he had a choice to NOT to be Japan if he didn't like it; instead, he was there to make money then moped about it. If being in Japan was such a bitter pill, why didn't Murray's character just go back to the U.S. and continue making a living there? It's a depiction of another American stereotype of self-entitlement: I'm the man and everything should go my way, and even if things only go partly my way, I'm gonna be emo about it. I think it would have been more interesting to see a Murray character that was self-assuredly "playing the game" in Japan (building a successful livelihood, perhaps at the expense of the Japanese entertainment businessmen even), and to play that off an apprehensive Johansson character.

The characters' attitudes are very ironic, in my opinion, considering that America was built on the values of resilience, persistence, and a pioneering spirit combined with a stiff upper lip, yet so many Americans could relate to a movie about wallowing in self-pity and self-centeredness. If the movie had an element of snark to it or had presented Johansson and Murray as antiheroes (an example of how Americans SHOULDN'T be when abroad), I think it would have made a much stronger impact. Also, I honestly feel that the Tokyo setting was too great a crutch if the movie's focus was indeed the struggles of the characters as you had stated. The sheer number of shots establishing the "foreignness" of Tokyo was excessive and just not very foreign-feeling IMHO, and served only to foment an "us vs. them" sentiment that is typical of close-minded individuals. Again, it's ironic considering that America is considered an international "melting pot" society. I could see how the movie would have had a profound impact on Midwesterners, Southerners, or those that don't live in a major metropolitan area, but for us college-educated coastal Americans, it should have been a little ridiculous-feeling in its overemphasis of the foreignness of Japan considering that Japan is first-world country with lots of Western influences. It's not like the movie was set in Outer Mongolia or Kazakhstan or something.

OK, I'll shut up now

P.S. No denying that she was pretty good-looking in "Lost in Translation" though

 

OK, fair enough. I may not see eye to eye on a few of those points but well said!

 

Thanks. Now we should all go back to ogling wimmenz!

 

see PM.

 

wait. she played Black Widow in IM2?

 

did she ever

 

Is this thread now about Ryan Reynolds?




Oh who am I kidding...