Remaking Japan, one affront at a time

It's always tough to watch movies about Japan made by American producers. The cringe factor for those who know anything at all about Japan is usually off the meter. Stereotypes. Ethnic jokes. Blatant misrepresentations. Offensive caricatures. Superfluous Second World War and/or Kamikaze references. Height jokes.

Hollywood movies about Japan tend to ignite the J-Blogosphere like wildfire. Take the latest American cringe-inducing remake of the classic Japanese film Tanpopo, "The Ramen Girl": American girl in Tokyo gets dumped by boyfriend, somehow 'stuck' in Tokyo, and finds solace in a ramen bowl rather than a hostess bar. No doubt the Japanese cliches will be thick enough to cut with hashi.

We all know (or should) that Hollywood is pretty much out of ideas and has been for almost two decades. Plenty of explosions and killing, not too many fresh plot lines. But mining for gold by exploiting wonderful Japanese stories and bastardizing them to suit the palate of North American moviegoers should be considered a form of cultural rape.

I'm not saying Japan's culture is perfect, ideal, or untouchable, or that America's culture is less important or worthy of movie making. I'm saying that blending the two almost never works and usually results in grotesque miscombinations like, say 'The Last Samurai' or 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. Shudder.

Sadly, American films about Japan must be seen to be believed so expect a little more on "The Ramen Girl" after I've paid my eight bucks and lost another two hours of my life in a movie theatre. Who knows, I might like it.