Forum - View topicINTEREST: Deceased Pro Wrestler Hana Kimura's Mother Criticizes Oshi no Ko Episode 6
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TokimekiCrisis
Posts: 42 |
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I can understand the mother being upset at being reminded of her daughter, but there's no reason people can't draw inspiration or write stories based on current events and social issues. All of Persona 5's villains/palaces were based on real events that happened. Kamoshida was based on an actual Judo coach Masato Uchishiba, and there's plenty of even bigger scandals in that realm like the whole USA Gymnastics thing that happened with nasty coaches abusing their pupils. But I don't think people shouldn't be able to write about an abusive coaches just because it may remind people of those incidents. I don't really like the idea of creators being limited and unable to make works they want just because it might hurt somebody's feelings. That sets a slippery slope.
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ViviP
Posts: 73 |
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I don’t really like the idea of creators being able to endlessly exploit death and suffering for money without even trying to acknowledge any of the victims. That sets a slippery slope to a very unkind world. Or maybe the lack of respect and compassion comes from already being at the bottom of that slope? |
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minamikaze
Posts: 221 |
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I'm not sure how someone could have watched episode 7 and still believe that the incident was exploited by the creators when they used it as the inspiration for this story arc. This story arc was instead used to provide multiple teaching points on the horrors and dangers of online abuse and what should be done to prevent tragedies that can result from it. I'm assuming that the text messages were not actual messages that were sent to Hana Kimura. If actual messages were used, that would have been both extremely insensitive and lazy. However, it seems more likely that they were just similar. The messages displayed in episodes 6 and 7 were used to reveal the extent of the utter viciousness of the online abuse, and because we had seen what really had happened between Akane and Yuki, that abuse was also shown as being completely unwarranted (as it also was in the real world incident that had inspired it). The makers of the reality show were rightly blamed multiple times as being responsible for the situation Akane ends up in, because ultimately, making her the villain by not showing everything that actually had happened, was considered by them to be better for ratings. Aqua confronted the director about the fact they still had not shown what had really happened. The director admitted that even after Akane became the object of vicious online abuse, they did not want to release the video that showed that Akane was actually not the villain that she had been portrayed to be, because the outrage would then be directed at the the show instead of Akane. Episode 7 also provides examples of efforts to help Akane. Aqua's explanation on why he was out looking for Akane: "People die easily. When someone cries out for help, if you don't act quickly, it will be too late", is a reminder that the emotional distress of people suffering from online abuse has to be taken very seriously and not dismissed if we want to prevent suicides. Also when you consider that many victims may try and keep their distress to themselves like Akane did, it implies that people should actively look for signs as well. If that wasn't clear enough, there was also the nearly two minutes spent where Kana, Ruby and Myako discussed the severity of the problem of online abuse of people who had appeared on reality shows (and in Kana's case, celebrities in general). Included is the information that perhaps even as many as 50 reality show participants have killed themselves, and as Kana said, the number of people who probably came close to doing so was probably many times higher. Myako also mentioned that some countries even require by law that people participating in reality shows receive counseling. The other positive action displayed is how wholeheartedly the other cast members rallied around Akane to support her, as soon as they found out how much she had been suffering. Granted, Akane's rescue and subsequent largely successful rehabilitation of her public image is probably much less likely to happen in the real world. However, that does not detract from the underlying message of the episode that things can and should be done to prevent tragedies from happening in the future. I just want to add that I think that Hana Kimura's mother is completely justified in becoming upset when she sees something that reminds her of her daughter's tragedy. Also, while her comments were made before episode 7 was aired/streamed, I would not blame her if her opinion of the show has not changed, even though the arc was ultimately used as a appeal to prevent things like this from happening. The death of a child is just such a devastating loss. |
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ViviP
Posts: 73 |
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Making money from the suffering of others is in now way exploitation just because you approve of the way it was done? (Or maybe you think the word exploitation is an entirely negative term?) This isn’t a PSA or a documentary, it’s profit driven entertainment made for the audience’s pleasure. Your enjoyment came at the cost of making someone else miserable, that’s all. It could have been done with a bit more compassion to try and avoid this, but it’s just normal not to. I find it a bit hard to take you or anybody else seriously when I so strongly suspect that you aren’t trying to defend ‘the message’ but rather trying to defend yourselves for enjoying something that causes someone else so much pain. |
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minamikaze
Posts: 221 |
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Exploitation is a negative term, e.g. exploiting workers, privilege, a situation. Even the formerly neutral use of exploiting resources has taken on a negative context when looked from an environmental viewpoint. I disagree with your assertion that only a PSA or a documentary can be used by a creator for social commentary and that by implication, fiction is only meant for entertainment. Two quick examples: both The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe were fictional works inspired by real circumstances, which were written to convince people that those circumstances should be changed. With those works, the more copies that were sold meant that more people would be exposed to the message, and definitely more than would have been if the authors had instead relied on submitting newspaper editorials. Both works were written in a way to evoke emotional responses in readers in order to increase the impact of their messages. The plot in Oshi no Ko so far has (likely) been inspired by at least two other incidents that took place in Japan, aside from Hana Kimura's suicide. The idol Asuka Kiraboshi (輝星あすか) was criticized by fans who said that she had betrayed them by getting pregnant. The idol Mayu Tomita (whose idol name was Ai Takano 高野愛- EYE) was stabbed over 20 times by a fan who was angry that she had returned his gift to her. (I just noticed that Ai Hoshino 星野アイ may have been a combination of their names too, although I'm guessing someone had already noticed that a long time ago.) The depiction the murder of Ai and its aftermath in Oshi no Ko powerfully and effectively criticized fans' unrealistic and unforgiving expectations of idols. In depicting Akane's suffering, the makers of reality shows and abusive online activity were both criticized in the same way. The fact that similar incidents occurred in real life substantially reinforces the effectiveness of the criticism, because it cannot be dismissed by saying "It is only fiction and something like that couldn't happen in the real world" or "That only could have happened in the distant past, something like that couldn't happen now". In his interview with ANN Aka Akasaka said that his purpose in writing Oshi no Ko was not just for entertainment:
When that was cited in the Article for this thread it was followed by a comment
I would say that upsetting or angering someone is not the same as "harming" them though. I also say that it does not reach the level of what you said was "making someone else miserable" either. To respond to Richard Eisenbeis's comment, if the education actually results in preventing similar deaths, then potentially upsetting and/or angering someone for a short time could be worth it, if taking a strictly utilitarian view.
Ha, I'm an adult who spends far too much time watching "foreign cartoons", I stopped caring about justifying what I watch to anyone a long time ago. In reading Kyoko Kimura's tweets ANN Translation and commentary, Original Japanese Source (it was actually not an interview, just a listing of some of her tweets) and Other tweets, Japanese only, to me, she seems to be more angry than miserable, but I definitely could be wrong. In particular, I do sympathize with her regarding the fact that episode 6 was broadcast/streamed within a week of the anniversary of the day that Hana Kimura died「まして、命日が近いこのタイミングでのアニメ配信?」which was inexcusably bad timing, although I would tend to disagree with her assertion that it was done intentionally to boost interest in the show and ultimately sales without any regard for anything else.「売るため話題になるためなら手段を選ばないやりくち」(Those two quotes came from the "Other Tweets" link.) |
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FeelMyBlade
Posts: 142 |
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No one needs to justify or defend themselves liking media It's perfectly fine to enjoy movies based on real events or people, no matter how tragic they were. No one is a bad person for liking Titanic, 12 Years a Slave, or Schindler's List. They're all pretty universally well regarded and popular in pop culture. I'm sure someone who had family die on the Titanic, World War II, or the Holocaust may be put off by the idea of any media based on those events and being reminded of them, but unless it's an actual law there's not much they can do but just avoid it themselves and let other people enjoy it. |
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minamikaze
Posts: 221 |
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Actually for more comparable examples of TV episodes based on or inspired by actual incidents, police procedural shows would probably be the best. Starting with the grandparent of them all Dragnet, which began every episode with the preface: "Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." The stories in Dragnet were advertised as being based on actual LAPD case files. For something more contemporary, there is the never-ending Law & Order franchise of shows, which advertises "Storylines ripped from the headllines!" yet every episode begins with the disclaimer: "The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event." 
While Dragnet episodes were "based on" real events, Law & Order franchise episodes are only "inspired by" real events so their stories are fictional. Here are some examples of Law & Order franchise shows' episodes that were inspired by real events: 10 episodes 10 episodes 20 episodes 12 episodes |
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