Waratte Iitomo (Literal translation: go ahead and laugh) is a daily variety show hosted by Tamori that features anything funny, odd, or sensational. Like most Japanese people of my generation, I grew up having this show on TV during meals or family time in the living room (it debuted in the early 80s). The humor is typically Japanese—a lot of slapping and making fun of people and pointing out interesting insightful things about quirky situations. It's also often politically incorrect and sexist in ways that could really make a hardcore feminist boil.
Check out this clip from an Iitomo episode in which the reporter visits a hostess club featuring a transvestite famous for being naturally beautiful. That girl in pink is a former guy in pink, and she's had zero plastic surgery on her face. The reporter then takes a special camera and gives the audience a zoomed-in tour of her boobs and legs. And the whole country—both in the studios and in living rooms at home—goes, whooooaaaa!!!
Yesterday, a long-time director of Iitomo was arrested for slapping a 25-year old woman who refused to have a drink with him. I don't know why he did it. Maybe he thought it was ok because people do it on his show all the time. Or maybe he's used to people not saying no to him, ever. Or he was just having a bad day.
Several years ago, after I'd grown out of my non-thinking adolescence and became aware of just how misogynistic some of this stuff was, I was like, this is awful! No wonder women's lib is decades behind in Japan. But I have to be honest, I really appreciate its entertainment value. I believe in political correctness, but it can be really boring. Japanese people are usually pretty good and separating entertainment from reality. You don't hear anyone in Japan blaming violent video games or TV shows for freak crimes committed by disoriented youth.
That director is crazy. Did he not see the embarrassing hell Shimada Shinsuke had to go through for striking a female Yoshimoto Kogyo employee a few years back?
Posted by: tameguchi | August 18, 2007 at 10:09 AM