Cultural differences?
"Moeyoken" arrived the other day, so I went to the bookstore to pick it up and I recently finished the first chapter of it. There are quite a few words that I need to look up, but I get gist of it and I've read it before.
The chapter got me thinking, why is it that there is so much rape in Japanese literature and in media overall? I don't mean to generalize and say that only the Japanese do it, but that's where I've encountered it the most.
I took a course in Japanese literature last year and one out of three works that we read had something about rape. I'm into BL and slash in some Japanese fandoms and the amount of rape in canon as well as fanon is astounding, negatively so, I should add.
I'd like to think that writers in general work with the philosophy that everything that's written means something, or adds something to the story and the progress of the plot, even parts that seem nonsensical might add something to the characters or the world the story is set in.
In the first chapter I read as much as two pages when it is revealed that Hijikata has a plan do go out and rape a woman that he had laid his eyes on. Two pages, people. Two little pages, not A4's. They had apparently met before and the only thing Hijikata had said to her was "Soon."
Anyway, it stopped being nice for him the second it occurred to him that she might have actually been waiting for it *_* THAT'S when it occurs to him that it might be wrong!
And in the narrative it says something along the lines of "this incident proves how much Toshizou lusted for someone of high social standing."
Yeah, thanks for the clarification, I was starting to think that Hijikata had taken one too many hits to the head.
That entire part had my face stuck like this ô_Õ. It was like the ultimate proof that the majority of Japanese-made characters get off on the other party not wanting to party. For a minute I thought; "All those weird BL CD's that I've heard finally make sense. The lack of consent is like a frickin' aphrodisiac to them."
Then I thought: "Well, maybe I encounter it so much because most of it is underground and this might be catered to those with major kinks blah blah blah,"
But then I remembered that movie that won an Oscar for best foreign film, "Okuribito" a.k.a "Departures". There's a scene where the main character (a dude) wants some lovin' from his wife and they're in the kitchen, he was upset about something, the wife didn't have a clue and suddenly he's all over her and she gets where it's going, but she says no.
She says it at least three times, "No. No - stop it. No, it's embarrassing."
....the man could at least have gotten her into the mood first, or something!
TL;DR I don't get how rape adds anything to the story when it's waved off like it's nothing. Also, I don't understand why rape is so appealing that it has to be added into nearly everything -.-
The chapter got me thinking, why is it that there is so much rape in Japanese literature and in media overall? I don't mean to generalize and say that only the Japanese do it, but that's where I've encountered it the most.
I took a course in Japanese literature last year and one out of three works that we read had something about rape. I'm into BL and slash in some Japanese fandoms and the amount of rape in canon as well as fanon is astounding, negatively so, I should add.
I'd like to think that writers in general work with the philosophy that everything that's written means something, or adds something to the story and the progress of the plot, even parts that seem nonsensical might add something to the characters or the world the story is set in.
In the first chapter I read as much as two pages when it is revealed that Hijikata has a plan do go out and rape a woman that he had laid his eyes on. Two pages, people. Two little pages, not A4's. They had apparently met before and the only thing Hijikata had said to her was "Soon."
Anyway, it stopped being nice for him the second it occurred to him that she might have actually been waiting for it *_* THAT'S when it occurs to him that it might be wrong!
And in the narrative it says something along the lines of "this incident proves how much Toshizou lusted for someone of high social standing."
Yeah, thanks for the clarification, I was starting to think that Hijikata had taken one too many hits to the head.
That entire part had my face stuck like this ô_Õ. It was like the ultimate proof that the majority of Japanese-made characters get off on the other party not wanting to party. For a minute I thought; "All those weird BL CD's that I've heard finally make sense. The lack of consent is like a frickin' aphrodisiac to them."
Then I thought: "Well, maybe I encounter it so much because most of it is underground and this might be catered to those with major kinks blah blah blah,"
But then I remembered that movie that won an Oscar for best foreign film, "Okuribito" a.k.a "Departures". There's a scene where the main character (a dude) wants some lovin' from his wife and they're in the kitchen, he was upset about something, the wife didn't have a clue and suddenly he's all over her and she gets where it's going, but she says no.
She says it at least three times, "No. No - stop it. No, it's embarrassing."
....the man could at least have gotten her into the mood first, or something!
TL;DR I don't get how rape adds anything to the story when it's waved off like it's nothing. Also, I don't understand why rape is so appealing that it has to be added into nearly everything -.-