“Politically Correctness” and Clint Eastwood’s film “Gran Torino”

The film “Moonlight” won best picture at the 2017 Oscars. The story of this film is about a black LGBT boy, who grew up in a tough environment. Of course it is of great value to bring attention to such a life in order to eliminate discrimination. Black LGBT people are a quite minority, but at least attention has been paid to them.

Clint Eastwood’s film “Gran Torino” is about Hmong immigrants and an old Polish man living alone in Detroit. Hmong people is an ethnic group from mountain area of Chine, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, and many of them became refugees because of Vietnam War. I guess they would be most abandoned people in the USA.

Recently it was said that displaced white people supported Donald Trump in the presidential election, and the attention to them is increasing. Clint Eastwood made the film “Gran Torino” in 2008, when the attention to them wasn’t high. Even now the situation of Hmong people isn’t well known at all.

In the interview by Esquire magazine Clint Eastwood said as follows.

When I did Gran Torino, even my associate said, "This is a really good script, but it's politically incorrect." And I said, "Good. Let me read it tonight." The next morning, I came in and I threw it on his desk and I said, "We're starting this immediately." 

CLINT AND SCOTT EASTWOOD: NO HOLDS BARRED IN THEIR FIRST INTERVIEW TOGETHER

I wonder why “Gran Torino” is “politically incorrect”. I could understand that “Gran Torino”, whose story was about Hmong people and an old Polish man, would not make a profit, but why is it “politically incorrect?”

In this interview Clint Eastwood also said, “Secretly everybody's getting tired of political correctness.” If “politically correctness” prevents the film about most abandoned people, what is “politically correctness” worth?

I don’t support Donald Trump, but at the same time I feel that “politically correctness” is quite shallow.

This is the Direction Science Fiction Should Take: My Impression of the Film “Her”

Somewhat belatedly, I managed to catch Spike Jonze’s great contemporary science fiction film“Her".



Before seeing it, I had believed that science fiction as a genre was dead.

Although the great novels and films in the history of science fiction have always depicted a new vision of the future, nowadays science fiction novels and films seem to be nothing more than imitations of what has gone before.

For example, in the film “Transcendence,” the consciousness of a scientific genius is transplanted into cyberspace. I read this idea in William Gibson’s novel “Neuromancer” which was first published back in 1984.

In "Transcendence", the transplanted consciousness attacks human beings. Again, I first came across this idea (computers attacking human beings) in the 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”



In contrast, the film, “Her”, envisions a future L.A., which is both similar to, and slightly different from, today's actual L.A. Spike Jonze's attention to every detail is what makes the film's vision so convincing.

The main character and an AI fall in love with each other. They constantly communicate with each other via PC and smartphone. While I find it hard to believe that computers would attack human beings in the near future, to me the idea that a human being and an AI could fall in love sounds entirely plausible.

I believe this film indicates a new direction for science fiction.

Every actor did a really good job. Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the role of the AI, was especially good. Watching "Her", I was once again struck by her talent.

Superman and the 442nd Regimental Combat team

The movie “Batman vs. Superman,” which is a sequel of “Man of Steel,” will be out in July 2015.

Batman and Superman are complete opposites in every aspect. Batman is the dark knight, but on the other hand the sun makes Superman a super hero. Bruce Wayne is a son of a millionaire in Gotham City, whose model is obviously New York City, but Clark Kent grew up in Smallville, Kansas.

It is most interesting that Superman who was born in the Planet Krypton is very patriotic, but Batman who is a born American doesn’t believe in his government.

In Frank Miller’s comics “Batman: the Dark Knight Returns,” Batman said to Superman, “You always say yes to anyone with a badge or a flag. No good,” while fighting against each other.

Superman’s patriotism reminds me the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat team, “Go for Broke.”

In the period of World War II, Japanese American citizens in the U.S. were interned in camps, because they were thought to be anti-American, even though they had American citizenship.

Most members of the 442nd Regimental Combat team were young Japanese Americans whose parents were interned. They had to prove that they were the true Americans, and they fought bravely in Europe in World War II.

After Superman fought for life to save America and the Planet Earth, at the end of “Man of Steel,” General Swanwick talked with Superman.

General Swanwick: Then I'll ask the obvious question: How do we know you won't one day act against America's interests.
Superman: I grew up in Kansas, General. It's about as American as it gets. Look, I'm here to help. But it has to be on my own terms. And you have to convince Washington of that.
General Swanwick: Even if I were willing to try, what makes you think they'd listen?
Superman: I don't know, General. I guess I'll just have to trust you.

Superman has to keep trying to trust American people, so he keeps fighting for Americans like the 442nd Regimental Combat team, because he was born in a foreign planet.

It Looked Directed in a Documentary-like Fashion, but It Was Too Dramatized: My Impression of the movie “Zero Dark Thirty”

This review may contain spoilers

I was interested in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” because I liked “Hurt Rocker,” but I have missed it until now. I found that it was shown in a theater for secondhand movies, and I went to see it.



Honestly, I was disappointed with it. I think that “Hurt Rocker” is much better than “Zero Dark Thirty.”

You know that this movie covers the true story about Death of Osama bin Laden, and it looked directed in a documentary-like fashion, for example moving grainy images shoot by a hand held camera. The back story is interesting, but the story is actually so dramatized that I couldn’t trust it.

The main character, Maya, was very capable and strong-willed, and her colleague, Jessica, was a nice person but frivolous. In the middle of the movie, she almost achieved a great deed. Before it became sure, she was already exited over it. When I saw this scene, I felt sure that she would tragically be dead.

In a stereotyped movie, someone that isn’t a main character became happy, and then they were hit by a tragedy. In “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jessica was killed by suicide bombing.

This suicide bombing is a true story. It is a problem that this movie described the real victim as a frivolous person in order to set the mood, isn’t it? I think that it is insufficiently deferential to her.

After losing a colleague, Maya started to think of her job as a personal revenge to Osama bin Laden. She found out where Osama’s compound was, and explained the member of SEALs that the object of their operation.

Maya: [to Navy SEALs] Quite frankly, I didn't even want to use you guys, with your dip and velcro and all your gear bullshit. I wanted to drop a bomb. But people didn't believe in this lead enough to drop a bomb. So they're using you guys as canaries. And, in theory, if bin Laden isn't there, you can sneak away and no one will be the wiser. But bin Laden is there. And you're going to kill him for me. 

It sounded quite unnatural for me. If she personally wanted SEALs to kill Osama, I couldn’t believe that she told, “You’re going to kill him FOR ME,” at all.

“ARGO” is based on a true story and dramatized well, too, but I love this movie. The true story of “ARGO” itself is somehow fantastic, and the movie is comedy, because no one was killed in it.

On the other hand, “Zero Dark Thirty” is based on a very serious true story and directed in documentary-like fashion, but in fact, it is too dramatized. It is deceptive.

A Quiet, Simple, and Elegant Film: My Impression of the Film “Barbara”

I visited Eastern Europe, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest, in March 1990. At that time, the Berlin Wall had already fallen, but Germany had not yet reunited.

People could freely come and go over the borders between East and West Germany. I went through Checkpoint Charlie to East Berlin, and I visited retro-future TV tower and saw Ladas running on street.

On a night train from Berlin to Prague, I asked a passenger sitting next to me if Germany would reunite within a year, and he answered that he didn’t believe it would happen so soon. But, in fact, the reunification of Germany took place in October later that year.

Although I had actually visited East Berlin, it is now almost impossible for me to believe that one half of Germany was a communist state just twenty-three years ago.

--------------------

“Barbara” is a German film about people living in East Germany in 1980. Barbara is a doctor who is being watched by the secret police.



It is one of the greatest German films that I have ever seen. There is no exaggeration or omission in this film. Every element in it is essential and I couldn’t find that anything that was superfluous.

This film is very quiet, because there is no background music. That makes audience concentrated in every tiny sound. Barbara was always nervous about the secret police, so she got surprised when the doorbell started to ring, and the audience also got really surprised with the sound of the doorbell, and fully understood her emotion.

Nina Hoss, as Barbara, is also great and attractive. She doesn't overact her role at all, but accurately conveys Barbara thoughts and emotions. After seeing her performance, most actors and actress became to look unnatural.

This film is quiet, simple, and elegant. If you love films, I strongly recommend you to see it.

Do What You Feels Right, When You Have No Idea What I Should Do: My Impression of the Movie “Star Trek Into Darkness”

After work, I went to see “Star Trek Into Darkness.” It is a very interesting movie, I think.



Compared with “Man of Steel,” the visual effect of this movie looks cheaper, although that of “Man of Steel” is outstanding.

Actually, the biggest appeal of “Star Trek Into Darkness” isn’t visuals but dialogs between characters, especially Kirk and Spock. When I read the quotes of it, I found that the script was really well written.

Since I became a middle manager of my company, I have been thinking about management and leadership for two years. “Star Trek” series are very helpful for it.

Spock is always quite logical and clear, so he is an extremely capable manager. Then, why is Kirk a captain of the USS Enterprise?

The answer is that management and leadership aren’t different. Spock is the best manager, but he isn’t good enough for a leader, and Kirk is inferior to Spock as a manager, but he is the leader of the USS Enterprise.

I think that the most important roles of leaders are motivating people and making a decision.

Motivation of human beings isn’t necessary logical. Sometimes emotional sympathy moves people more than reasonable explanation. It is important for leaders to express what they feel. Spock isn’t good at expressing emotion at all. Although Kirk is too emotional as a manager, it is one of the most important qualities of a leader.

Leaders have to make a decision, even when they don’t have any idea what they should do logically. Such a decision is often critical. Spock can point out only what shouldn’t do, but he can’t decide what really they will do. Kirk is sometimes thoughtless and makes a mistake, but he can make such a difficult and critical decision.

I’d like to show a typical dialog between Spock and Kirk.

Spock: Captain, I cannot allow you to do this!
Bones: Jim, you're not actually going after this guy, are you?
James T. Kirk: I have no idea what I'm supposed to do! I only know what I CAN do!

Spock warned Kirk that his idea was too dangerous, but he couldn’t show what they should do. On the other hand, Kirk decided to do what he could do.

Spock is appropriate for the lieutenant of the USS Enterprise and Kirk is appropriate for the captain.

Do what I feels right, when I have no idea what I should do.

Put Aside Logic. Do What Feels Right: My Impression of the Movie “Star Trek” directed by J. J. Abrams

First of all, I'm not a Trekky at all, but I'm interested in "Star Trek Into Darkness," because I heard that the director J. J. Abrams said that he wasn't a Trekky either, so he made it not for Trekkies but for people who hadn't seen Star Trek yet.

Prior to seeing “Star Trek into Darkness,” I saw the previous movie “Star Trek,” which was also directed by J. J. Abrams. It was interesting enough for me not to change my mind about seeing “Star Trek Into Darkness,” though I don’t know whether the Trekkies were satisfied with it.



Especially, I empathized with Mr. Spock.

People around me often say that I am very argumentative, and I myself agree with that. When I argue with someone, I try to be logical, and I don’t look emotional at all, like Mr. Spock.

Sometime, I feel that I am really not emotional at all, but I might be wrong. In fact I am so emotional that I suppress my emotion without intension. Of course, that is unhealthy.

In this movie, Mr. Spock encountered a deep tragedy, and he tried to keep being logical. But in the end, he lost control of his emotion, because his sadness was too deep to suppress it. He said, “I am emotionally compromised and no longer fit for command,” and gave up his duty.

I also did the same thing, so I understand Mr. Spock very well. Now I know how dangerous it is to suppress emotions.

In the end of this movie, Mr. Spock said, “Put aside logic. Do what feels right.” I understand that it is important to “put aside logic,” but I don’t fully understand “what feels right,” yet.

If I release my emotion, will I understand “what feels right”?

The Battle of the Gods in Greek Mythology: My Impression of “Man of Steel” 02

In the previous entry ‘Superman, the Loneliest Superhero: My Impression of the Movie “Man of Steel,”’ I didn’t deal with the action of “Man of Steel.” Of course, action is one of the most important elements of this movie, so I’d like to write about it.

The action is majestic like the battle of the gods in Greek Mythology. Superman and General Zod fight each other with full force in Manhattan. They are just concentrated in their fight. They destroy buildings by accident. They don’t even care about them. Their fight is like a natural disaster, which doesn’t have any intention.

On the other hand, the fight between Batman and Joker is earthly. Batman and Joker are ordinary human beings, so their fight can’t be heavenly; it has to be vicious.

Although I love “The Dark Knight”, I don’t like “The Dark Knight Rises,” because the fight between Batman and Bane is so physical.

I’d like to quote from my entry ‘The Dialectic of "Hero's Movies": The Failure of "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "The Dark Knight Rises."’

Joker, the enemy of Batman in "The Dark Knight," made a psychological attack. If he appeared on "The Dark Knight Rises", he would make best use of this lie. But Bane, the enemy in "the Dark Knight Rises" was too physically violent to be interested in this lie. He literally knocked Batman out.

Zak Snyder, who directed “300”, is a suitable director of “Man of Steel.” The action of this movie is almost divine.

Superman, the Loneliest Superhero: My Impression of the Movie “Man of Steel”

I saw the movie “Man of Steel” in an IMAX theater.



I didn’t like Superman, because he was so comical and  he didn’t look cool at all. For example his costume was too gaudy. People who love the original superman would think that “Man of Steel” is too serious, but I was moved deeply by this powerful movie.

Superheroes are lonely, because they are too special for ordinary people to understand them. They show their superpower to try to save people, but their superpower makes people fear them. Superheroes are like Jesus who was betrayed by the people he wanted to help.

I think that Superman is the loneliest superhero. 

Bruce Wayne is basically an ordinary human being. He wanted to be special, and he wears a mask to be Batman. 

On other hand, Kal-El was born in the planet Krypton and he isn’t a human being. He is fundamentally different from people on the planet earth. But he fought against and killed Kryptonians to save human beings. He is far lonelier than Bruce Wayne. 

The plot of this movie expressed the loneliness of Superman very well. He is lonely, so the plot couldn’t be comical but serious.

As an aside, Diane Lane, who played Martha Kent, Clark’s mother on Earth, was great. I was surprised that Laurence Fishburne has became so fat.

She Looked Very Cute and Fashionable. That’s All, but It’s Enough: My Impression of the Movie “Populaire”

I saw the French comedy movie “Populaire” after work for a change. 



Déborah François as the heroin, Rose Pamphyle, looked very cute and fashionable. That’s all, but it’s enough for me to see this movie for a change. I am guessing that Régis Roinsard, the director of this movie, just wanted to make Déborah look as cute and fashionable as possible in this movie, and he was successful.

Although this movie has many shortcomings that audience can point out, it doesn’t matter at all. For example, the plot of this movie is quite stereotyped, but it is better to make audience concentrated in the heroin Déborah.

I love Kabuki, whose plots are usually dubious. The audience of Kabuki mainly wants to be fascinated with the beauty of Kabuki actors, and a deep plot would disturb the entertainment of Kabuki.

Of course, Déborah François herself is very attractive. She shows a variety of expressions, smile, anger, tears, envy, and love, and all of them are charming.

If you thought that she was cute in the trailer, it would be worth seeing this movie.

A Great Story, Good Actors and Actresses, but a Cheap Direction: My Impression of the Movie, “The Great Gatsby”

I saw the movie “the Great Gatsby” yesterday.


I love the novel “the Great Gatsby,” so I was looking forward to this movie, and at the same time I felt anxious about it.

Of course, the plot is great, not due to any staff of this movie but to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Gatsby devoted whole his life to Daisy, who wasn’t what she really was but what he believed that she should be. He did anything that he believed that she would love, but actually it wasn’t sure that she would love it. In the end, he was betrayed by the real Daisy, because she wasn’t what he thought that her was.

In this sense, “the Great Gatsby” is tragedy and comedy like “Don Quixote.” Gatsby and Don Quixote lived in their own imagination. All of us also live more or less in our imagination, but we can’t forget the real world at all. Therefore, we look down on them and adore them at the same time like Nick Carter.

Would you like to live your own life at any cost and go to ruin like Jay Gatsby, or to watch someone else’s life from a safety zone like Nick Carter?

Tobey Maguire was adequate as Nick Carter. Although sometimes Leonardo DiCaprio overacted, I can’t imagine that another actor palys Gatsby. Carey Mulligan was cute enough for Daisy who Gatsby loved.

But I was really disappointed that the direction was so cheap.

In my entry “Punk Rock and the Digital Camera: the Impression of the Documentary Movie “Side by Side,” I wrote, “I want to watch a movie made by punk rockers more than by Thomas Edison.” I don’t deny developing of the digital technology, but I just hope that directors would use them effectively.

In this movie, everything in the images was unnatural. If it was a music video, I could say that their images were fashionable, but in this movie they broke my concentration on the story.

Did they use such artificial images in order to express the cheapness of the Roaring Twenties? If they wanted it, it would be successful. In fact, I seemed this movie to be cheap.

I’ll try Robert Redford’s “the Great Gatsby.”

Being Just Ordinary: My Impression of the Movie “Fight Club”

Ben Folds, one of my favorite rock singers, sang in his song “Rockin’ the Suburbs” as follows:

Let me tell y'all what it's likeBeing male, middle-class and whiteIt's a bitch, if you don't believeListen up to my new CD

I perfectly understand what he meant.

I grew up in an ordinary uptown in Tokyo in an ordinary middle-class family. I was almost happy, because my family wasn’t poor and I wasn’t discriminated. But nothing special ever happened in my childhood. I was a male, middle-class and Japanese child in Tokyo.

And now, I become a male, middle-class and Japanese "salaryman” in Tokyo. I don’t have any special complaints about my life, but sometimes I feel, “it’s a bitch, if you don’t believe.”

Last weekend, I watched the movie “Fight Club.”


The main character, who was played by Edward Norton, is young, single, male, middle-class, and white-color, enjoying his urban life. His life seems to be perfect, but he suffers from insomnia. He begins to dream another life.

This movie reminded me of the movie “American Beauty,” which I really love.


It is about a typical “happy” American family somewhere in an urban area. People in the family begin to do what they want in their heart, and the family is getting broken down.

I think that nobody can be just ordinary. At this time, I don’t get violent like “Fight Club” and quit my job like “American Beauty,” but I can’t be just an ordinary Japanese “salaryman.” When I “look closer” at my heart, I also would find something in it.

I write my weblog in English very eagerly. In order to be an ordinary Japanese “salaryman,” it is completely useless to do it, but I can’t stop it. My colleagues can’t understand why I keep doing such a thing. I don’t want to fight someone with bare knuckles in the Fight Club, but I also want to do something unordinary.

I might be lucky for me that what I want to do incidentally isn’t antisocial. It might be possible for me to fall down (rise up?) from my ordinary “salaryman’s” life to “the Fight Club,” someday.

Punk Rock and the Digital Camera: the Impression of the Documentary Movie “Side by Side”

Johnny Rotten shouted, “I wanna be anarchy,” and he broke down the values of music.



When I was a high school student, some of my friends formed a band and played punk rock in the school festival. The reason that they chose punk rock was because they could only play punk rock.

Before the Sex Pistols, music played better technically was better, but Sex Pistols showed that music didn’t have to be played technically well. They democratized rock music.

I watched the documentary “Side by Side” about the transition from film cameras to digital cameras in the movie industry. In this movie, Keanu Reeves interviewed many people: directors, cinematographers, producers, actors, editors, colorists, and so on. Some of them welcomed digital cameras, while others stuck to film cameras.



Digitalization changed movie making in two ways.

Firstly, movie making by a digital camera is far cheaper than by a film camera. Videotapes, which don’t have to be developed, are much cheaper than films, and it is much easier to use a digital camera than a film camera, so they don’t need trained professionals. But the picture quality of digital cameras used to be lesser than film cameras.

Secondary, digital cameras got rid of the technical limitation of film cameras. A film camera can shoot only ten minutes, and a director has to wait for a day to watch the pictures that they take, because films need to be developed. On the contrary, a digital camera can shoot much longer than a film camera, and director can check the pictures that they take simultaneously. The picture quality of digital cameras is getting better and is now comparable to film cameras.

The first way was represented by Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle, who made “Slumdog Millionaire,” and the second way was represented by George Lucas and James Cameron, and “Star Wars” and “Avatar”.

Dod Mantle worked for Dogme 95 project, in which they used digital cameras earliest to make movies.



Danny Boyle was deeply impressed by his avant-garde pictures and decided to make a movie with him using a digital camera. They used a handy digital camera and expressed the dynamism of Mumbai in “Slumdog Millionaire.”



George Lucas and James Cameron have been developing the new digital technology to make images that they want, and their movies, in which they used these technologies, were quite successful commercially. They are entrepreneurs in the movie industry.

Danny Boyle and Dod Mantel democratized movies by digital camera like the Sex Pistols, and George Lucas and James Cameron industrialized movies like Thomas Edison. 

I want to watch a movie made by punk rockers more than by Thomas Edison.

Yanki and YOSAKOI: the Real Dominant Culture in Rural Japan

What do you know about Japanese culture?

Tea ceremony (茶道), zen (禅), ukiyoe (浮世絵), sushi (寿司), or otaku (オタク)?

In a Japanese tea ceremony, the essence of Japanese high culture is condensed. A Japanese tea ceremony is performed based on the beauty senses, “wabi” (侘) and “sabi” (寂), which are the most sophisticated ones in Japanese history. If you are interested in the traditional Japanese high culture, it would be worth learning about the Japanese tea ceremony. 

On the contrary, otakuhood is one of the contemporary Japanese subcultures. Otaku people indulge in “vulgar” things: such as anime or video games. In a sense, they refuse sophistication. I guess that foreign fans like otaku culture because it is a kind of kitsch.

Both the Japanese tea ceremony and otaku are well known in the world. Even now the VIPs visiting Japan are invited to tea ceremonies at Kyoto, and the tourists that are interested in otaku culture go to maid cafes at Akiba (秋葉原). 

As I wrote, Japanese tea ceremony is high culture and otaku is subculture, so, in fact, people that like them are minority in Japan. There is another dominant culture in Japan.

Do you know “yanki” (ヤンキー) or “yosakoi?”

The origin of the word "yanki" was "Yankee." They are a type of delinquent youth mainly living in rural areas. I will introduce a movie about yanki, “Kamikaze Girls” (下妻物語). A picture is worth a thousand words.



Momoko's fashion is called “gosu rori (ゴスロリ)”, which means “gothic lolita,” and she is a kind of otaku girl. On the contrary, Ichigo is a typical yanki girl.

Momoko as a gosu rori girl is lonely especially in a small town, Shimotsuma (下妻). She should go to Daikanyama, Tokyo to buy her gosu rori outfits. I'm not saying that most people in rural areas are yanki, but yanki taste is actually quite popular there. Ichigo could buy her yanki outfits in a local supermarket.

I’d like to introduce another example. This video is the song “Rising Sun” by Exile, one of the most popular groups of singers and dancers in Japan.



Back dancers in this video perform the dance of yosakoi festivals, which are rapidly getting more popular in Japan. I don’t know about yosakoi well, but in my eyes, their costume is really yanki tasted.

Otaku is an urban subculture, and yanki is a dominant culture in rural areas.

Buddhism and Tsundere: My Impression of the movie “Silver Linings Playbook”

Recently, I read several books about Buddhism and wrote the entry “Exoteric Buddhism and Esoteric Buddhism: Buddha, Wittgenstein, and Me.” In this entry, I summarized Buddha's teachings as follows.

Early Buddhism was exoteric. Buddha's original teaching was very simple. Our lives are full of pain and nobody can run away from it. There is nothing eternal and everything is changing in this world. He said that we should just accept this.
In other words, it is the truth that there was no way to escape our painful lives, but we just had to accept such a cruel truth. It is too hard for ordinary people to accept it. 

I watched the film “Silver Linings Playbook” and found the way how main characters in this film overcame their problems was quite Buddhistic.



The main character, Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, obsessed his wife, who betrayed him. He believed that his wife still loved him, but people around him knew that she didn't love him any more. He suffered from bipolar disorder, and his obsession about his wife made him lose control.

The opposite character, Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence, obsessed his husband, who was killed by a traffic accident. She couldn't accept the fact that her husband was dead. She also lost control by her obsession about him.

Buddha might say that both of them should accept the fact, even if it was cruel, and it was the only way to overcome their pain.

In this film, they started training dance in preparation for a competition. At first, Pat couldn't understand why he should dance, but he became deeply involved in dance and gradually got freed from his obsession. While he was dancing, he didn't think about anything. Dance itself wasn't important, but devotion to dance was important.

Buddha just meditated and realized the truth, and Pat just danced and was freed from his obsession.

I'll change the subject.

The character of Tiffany was typically “tsundere(ツンデレ).”

“Tsundere” is a type of heroines in Japanese anime. “Tsun tsun” means being sullen or arrogant, and “dere dere” means being sweet or charming. At first a "tsundere" heroin behaves toward the main character coldly, and sometimes they fight each other. He doesn’t understand why she is so cold to him at all. After they find that they love each other, she dramatically turns to be sweet to him.

Tiffany in “Silver Linings Playbook” showed up on Pat as an eccentric and rude woman. In other words, she was completely “tsun tsun.” In the last part of this film, she turned to be “dere dere.”

Jennifer Lawrence perfectly played the role of "tsundere" heroin and was so cute. Her performance was worth the Oscar award.

Both Sides of the Same Coin: Haruki Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood” and Hideo Levy’s “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard”

In 1949 Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto. His father was a high school teacher and moved to a high school in Kobe, so Haruki Murakami was brought up in Kobe. In 1968 he entered Waseda University and moved to Tokyo. Although his novel “Norwegian Wood” isn’t an autobiography, in it he described the student lives in Tokyo at that time.

In 1950 Hideo Levy was born in Berkeley, California. His father was a diplomat, and he was brought up in Denver, Taichung, Hong Kong, Washington D.C., and Yokohama. In 1967 he began to study Japanese at Waseda University, and then he ran away from his home in Yokohama, and moved into his friend’s room and worked at a coffee shop in Shinjuku. He described Waseda University and Shinjuku from the standpoint of a foreigner in his first novel “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard.”

In the late 1960s student movements escalated throughout the world, May Event in France, anti-Vietnam movement in the U.S., the Cultural Revolution in China, and Zenkyoto movement in Japan. Waseda University and Shinjuku were in the midst of Zenkyoto movement, and Haruki Murakami and Hideo Levy were deeply influenced by it but both of them couldn’t fully get into it.

Haruki Murakami felt something different from Japanese society. In fact he wanted to run away from his parents, so he chose Waseda University in order to move to Tokyo and to live alone. But in Tokyo he still felt something different from students especially who took part in Zenkyoto movement. All of the characters in the novel “Norwegian Wood” more or less couldn’t fit in Japanese society.

Hideo Levy also felt something different from his father and wanted to run away from him and get into Japanese society, but he, as a foreigner, was rejected by Japanese society and people. Of course he couldn’t get into Zenkyoto movement, because he couldn’t speak Japanese and he was a “Gaijin”, which means “foreigner” in Japanese.

“Norwegian Wood” and “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard” are both sides of the same coin. After that, Haruki Murakami became a world-famous novelist and he got out of Japanese literary society into the world. Hideo Levy began to write novels in Japanese, and got into Japanese literary society, if not fully.

If you like the novel or movie “Norwegian Wood,” I strongly recommend that you read Hideo Levy’s “A Room Where The Star-Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard.” If you have learned Japanese, I suggest you try the original Japanese version of this novel, but you can read it in English translation as well.

Let's Spend A Little More Time Leaving Everybody Alone: Clint Eastwood and Me

Although I have only a vague memory of it, it might be first time to see Clint Eastwood in the movie "For A Few Dollars More," when I was a small child. At that time cheap Spaghetti Western movies were broadcasted on TV in Japan again and again, and I was crazy about Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.

And then I've watched "Dirty Harry" so many times on TV. The first his movie I watched in a theater was "Escape from Alcatraz", when I went to Junior high school.

I have been a big fan of Clint Eastwood almost for forty years. After "Dirty Harry", constantly he made good movies, for example "The Gauntlet," "Pale Rider," and "Bird", though, he was considered as a second grade action star.

After he won the Academy Award for "Unforgiven," suddenly he became considered as one of masters. Of course I was glad, but at the same time I thought that he hadn't changed at all. I love his Western movie "Pale Rider" much more than the Academy Award winning "Unforgiven." Before "Unforgiven", he made many good movies, and after it, he continued to make good movies.

His latest movie "J. Edgar" wasn't successful, but I think that it is much better than most critics said it was.

I read an interview about "J. Edgar" on the GQmagazine, and he talked about business and movies as follows.

GQ: Speaking of business, the movie kind: One thing you've both seen grow is a public obsession with box office. By Sunday afternoon, everybody knows how everything did. These days, when you have a flop, does it hurt more to have it—

Clint Eastwood: —broadcast all over the place? You know, it's really crappy. If it doesn't do well that first weekend, screw it. But you make a film to make a really good film, and if people don't embrace it, there's nothing you can do. You've always gotta remember that a lot of great movies didn't do anything. Everybody would like to have the business that some of these turkeys do, but would you be proud to have your name on them? Not particularly. Would you love to have the bank account? Sure. I made a good living. But that was just lucky. If I'd made a mediocre living, I would have felt the same way.

As Clint Eastwood said, I guess that he "loves to have the bank account" but he purely "makes a film to make a really good film." I believe that "J. Edgar" will receive a higher reputation than it receives now.

Edgar Hoover was a gay, so Clint Eastwood talked about gay marriage in this interview. I completely agreed with what he said.

GQ: You've described yourself as a social libertarian. What does that mean to you?

Clint Eastwood: I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21, because he promised to get us out of the Korean War. And over the years, I realized there was a Republican philosophy that I liked. And then they lost it. And libertarians had more of it. Because what I really believe is, Let's spend a little more time leaving everybody alone. These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage? I don't give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We're making a big deal out of things we shouldn't be making a deal out of.

Yes! Anybody should get married to anybody who they want to get married to. That's it!

I, myself, am a libertarian. I learned everything from his movies.

Congrats Ben! Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and River Phoenix

I'm really glad to hear "ARGO" won an Academy Award for Best Picture. I enjoyed "ARGO" and I think that it is appropriate for an Academy Award.



Now I'm forty-six years old, which is enough time for me to know sweet and sour. I, myself, have experienced them, and I also have seen people experience them. Without any condition it pleases me to know that people, who know sweet and sour, get through their difficulties.

I first saw Ben Affleck in the film "Good Will Hunting." I loved Gus Van Sant's film "My Own Private Idaho," so I saw "Good Will Hunting" as his new film. I loved this film so much that I began to pay attention to Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. They were young and looked getting along with each other.




And then they became Hollywood stars, but I had guessed that they might have been interested in directing a film. It might be difficult to get a chance to direct a film in Hollywood. Finally Matt Damon began to produce a film, and Ben Affleck began to direct a film. It took fifteen years to get from "Good Will Hunting" to "ARGO."

In "My Own Private Idaho", we can see young River Phoenix, who passed away in 1993. I really regret his early death, because he would be an amazing actor. Someone died so early, and another get to their goal with time.

When I saw River Phoenix in "My Own Private Idaho", I feel like seeing my old friend who died young. And when I saw Ben Affleck in the Academy Awards ceremony, I'd like to say to Ben Affleck, "Congrats, Ben!"

I hope that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will create a film together someday.

Adele Is the Ultimate Feminist

Honestly, I am not interested in Adele's music at all, and I don't know much about her. I don't even know if she is a feminist, so this entry might miss the point.

Anyway, when I went to preschool, I loved the young and beautiful female teachers much better than the old and kind female teachers. At that time I didn't know about the multiple aspects of personality, and I just focused on the external aspects of human beings.

Now that I've got older and grown as a human a little, so I became to be able to see women from many aspects, and now I love the women who are not young but old, not beautiful but kind.

I saw actresses walking on the red carpet of the Academy Awards. All of them were beautiful and thin. But only Adele was not thin. That's not to say that she wasn't beautiful, but in fact she didn't look like a Hollywood star.

She looked full of confidence and her dress emphasized her physical frame. Apparently she insisted that the value of women walking on the red carpet wasn't limited to beauty and thinness. I wonder if it is feminism. If it is feminism, Adele is the ultimate feminist.

I Wanna Do Something about It: My Impression of the film "Beginners"

I watched the film "Beginners" on DVD.



The main character, Oliver, who was played by Ewan McGregor, had just lost his father. His father had lost his wife four years ago, and then he came out that he was gay.

When his father and mother married, homosexuality was thought to be an illness. His mother proposed to his father and said, "I will cure you," and he decided to accept her proposal.

But, of course, his "illness" wasn't cured, and he realized that he wasn't ill.

When he came out, he also said, "I wanna do something about it," and he actually did many things about it: he made a boyfriend, joined a gay association, enjoyed parties, and participated in Gay Pride Parade. He had lived as a gay for four years and passed away with his boyfriend and gay associates.

I think that it is really wonderful for anyone to realize what they, themselves, are and to actually do something about it actually, no matter how old they are. If my father does so, I must be proud of him.

And I, myself, wanna do something about it.