On values dissonance and the resolution thereof
Recently I've been watching an anime called Hajime no Ippo. It's an adaptation of a very popular and long-running manga about a late-teens guy named Ippo (pronounced eep-oh) who gets tired of getting beat up at school and decides to become a boxer. He rises quickly through the Japanese boxing tournaments, the guys who were bullying him become his fans, and he learns valuable lessons along the way about discipline, friendship, and determination (enough of it will let you do anything in anime!) The animation is medium-quality--the artists take obvious visual shortcuts to save money throughout, but the overall effect is okay. It applies anime tropes to boxing in an interesting way, getting you inside the heads of the boxers and letting the fans and coaches do exposition in a way that wouldn't be possible in real life. It's a pretty fun show which I'd guess is targeted at kids through teens with an interest in sports.
Oh, and every dozen episodes or so it has full-frontal male nudity in the shower room. Not just nudity either--Ippo's friend and mentor likes to grope people and make loud verbal similes regarding the length and bore-size of their plumbing. None of this as seen as inappropriate--well, of course it's inappropriate, but it's portrayed in a humorous watch-this-guy-screw-around-in-front-of-his-buddies sort of way, not a watch-this-show-get-kicked-off-the-air way. The subtitled version I watched pixeled out all visible male anatomy, but you can see what's going on, and I'm led to believe that it was broadcast uncensored in Japan. In the US, nothing like that would make it into the first draft of a for-broadcast show, because the FCC, most parents, and countless watchdog organizations would have kittens. But apparently in Japan, as long as there's nothing sexual about it, nudity among friends and family is accepted among all but the very shy. (Ippo is one of the shy ones and really doesn't appreciate his friend describing the girth of his wang to all the cute girls he meets. This, of course, is played for laughs.)
The difference between Japanese and American culture on this matter is striking. I've read that it's not uncommon for family members to bathe together regardless of age or gender, and (gender-segregated) public baths are also somewhat popular. Of course, when such a scene is depicted in an anime and then brought over to the US, the natural cultural reaction is to say "This scene is about pedophilia."
TVTropes' "Values Dissonance" article writes:
In episode 19 of Clannad After Story, Tomoya, his five year-old daughter, and his father (in his 50's-60's) are all seen sharing a bath together. Now, under a Japanese values system, this is a very touching moment, because it represents Tomoya's acceptance of his father into his life, thus allowing him to share an intimate, very Japanese tradition of the family all bathing together; particularly significant insofar as Tomoya scrubs his father's back while his daughter looks on. In short, it is meant to be highly symbolic and touching. But under a Westerner's values, or for that manner many other cultural perspectives, one simply sees two adult men and a five-year-old girl naked in a bathroom together and this could be interpreted as very disturbing.
It’s good for the mind to consider what other cultures would have to say about different situations and to wonder how much of one’s ideology is founded on one’s cultural background and how much is founded on real truths about good and evil. When I see something like the example above, I try not to just say “That’s OK because it’s in Japan,” since I’m fairly sure that where you do things is much less important than why. Maybe the Japanese have something to teach us about not always taking nudity to imply sexuality…or maybe they’re just less proactive about suppressing their inner chikan.
And even ignoring all of the talk about right and wrong, watching anime always makes for a good solid degaussing and recalibration of one’s personal Weirdness Meter.
Oh, and every dozen episodes or so it has full-frontal male nudity in the shower room. Not just nudity either--Ippo's friend and mentor likes to grope people and make loud verbal similes regarding the length and bore-size of their plumbing. None of this as seen as inappropriate--well, of course it's inappropriate, but it's portrayed in a humorous watch-this-guy-screw-around-in-front-of-his-buddies sort of way, not a watch-this-show-get-kicked-off-the-air way. The subtitled version I watched pixeled out all visible male anatomy, but you can see what's going on, and I'm led to believe that it was broadcast uncensored in Japan. In the US, nothing like that would make it into the first draft of a for-broadcast show, because the FCC, most parents, and countless watchdog organizations would have kittens. But apparently in Japan, as long as there's nothing sexual about it, nudity among friends and family is accepted among all but the very shy. (Ippo is one of the shy ones and really doesn't appreciate his friend describing the girth of his wang to all the cute girls he meets. This, of course, is played for laughs.)
The difference between Japanese and American culture on this matter is striking. I've read that it's not uncommon for family members to bathe together regardless of age or gender, and (gender-segregated) public baths are also somewhat popular. Of course, when such a scene is depicted in an anime and then brought over to the US, the natural cultural reaction is to say "This scene is about pedophilia."
TVTropes' "Values Dissonance" article writes:
In episode 19 of Clannad After Story, Tomoya, his five year-old daughter, and his father (in his 50's-60's) are all seen sharing a bath together. Now, under a Japanese values system, this is a very touching moment, because it represents Tomoya's acceptance of his father into his life, thus allowing him to share an intimate, very Japanese tradition of the family all bathing together; particularly significant insofar as Tomoya scrubs his father's back while his daughter looks on. In short, it is meant to be highly symbolic and touching. But under a Westerner's values, or for that manner many other cultural perspectives, one simply sees two adult men and a five-year-old girl naked in a bathroom together and this could be interpreted as very disturbing.
It’s good for the mind to consider what other cultures would have to say about different situations and to wonder how much of one’s ideology is founded on one’s cultural background and how much is founded on real truths about good and evil. When I see something like the example above, I try not to just say “That’s OK because it’s in Japan,” since I’m fairly sure that where you do things is much less important than why. Maybe the Japanese have something to teach us about not always taking nudity to imply sexuality…or maybe they’re just less proactive about suppressing their inner chikan.
And even ignoring all of the talk about right and wrong, watching anime always makes for a good solid degaussing and recalibration of one’s personal Weirdness Meter.