Monday, December 29, 2008
A chat I thought was interesting
[10:50] wongojack: I generally just don't think Japanese fiction is very good
[10:51] wongojack: I think we have much more mature perspectives on life and human interaction [in this country]
[10:51] wongojack: I've got some detailed thoughts on this that I don't want to bore you with
[10:52] K: please do...
[10:52] wongojack: Basically Japan hasn't gone through the decades of social change that our country has
[10:52] K: is it the whole hello kitty and obsession with that sort of stuff?
[10:53] wongojack: they were pulled from a near fudal society into the modern world after WWII
[10:53] wongojack: now they have a world class economy but still live within severe sexism and classism
[10:53] K: that's true
[10:54] wongojack: as a result their fiction doesn't depict a realistic 'tableau' of emotion and feeling
[10:54] wongojack: certain things are not accepted as acceptable for mainstream content
[10:54] wongojack: Their attempts to write ream after ream of gender bending manga should be applauded as a step in the right direction, but that doesn't make it interesting
[10:55] wongojack: I play a lot of video games and the same sort of thing comes up over an over- the stories are less than what they could be because of the cultural limitations regarding what is appropriate
[10:56] K: i've never thought about it. it's true that most of the stories I enjoy from Japan are ones of history and past cultures that, as you said, don't exist any longer.
[10:56] wongojack: Chinese fiction on the other hand always seems to be able to really tell stories without that same impedement
[10:57] wongojack: but they have other things that get in the way
[10:57] wongojack: still, I usually prefer things that are Chinese to things that are Japanese
[10:58] K: food? :)
[10:58] K: i do love me some sushi
[10:58] wongojack: Actually me too; Japanese food is usually better than Chinese
[10:59] wongojack: Having traveled I really admire our 'social progress' in this country. We usually don't let things get in the way of expressing ourselves and I think we are typically better adjusted psychologically for it
[11:01] K: you'd think from watching the media, films, and TV, that our country is terrible, uneducated, and filled with uncaring people.
[11:01] K: that's kind of a blanket statement. i don't really think that - but I have to say it has definitely opened peoples' eyes to what more we can do to help other people and the world.
[11:02] wongojack: the problem is that people see our way of treating each other as different than their own
[11:02] wongojack: we are fast and efficient
[11:03] wongojack: But we offer therapy for em because we can be serious with each other without cracking a joke; talk about how we aren't really very good at some things; and we think about what really matters to us
[11:04] wongojack: In France they see that kind of self-honesty and don't trust it.
[11:04] wongojack: But its like a therapy patient before and after 2 years of therapy; you have no idea what the benefits are before you start but they can end up being life changing
[10:51] wongojack: I think we have much more mature perspectives on life and human interaction [in this country]
[10:51] wongojack: I've got some detailed thoughts on this that I don't want to bore you with
[10:52] K: please do...
[10:52] wongojack: Basically Japan hasn't gone through the decades of social change that our country has
[10:52] K: is it the whole hello kitty and obsession with that sort of stuff?
[10:53] wongojack: they were pulled from a near fudal society into the modern world after WWII
[10:53] wongojack: now they have a world class economy but still live within severe sexism and classism
[10:53] K: that's true
[10:54] wongojack: as a result their fiction doesn't depict a realistic 'tableau' of emotion and feeling
[10:54] wongojack: certain things are not accepted as acceptable for mainstream content
[10:54] wongojack: Their attempts to write ream after ream of gender bending manga should be applauded as a step in the right direction, but that doesn't make it interesting
[10:55] wongojack: I play a lot of video games and the same sort of thing comes up over an over- the stories are less than what they could be because of the cultural limitations regarding what is appropriate
[10:56] K: i've never thought about it. it's true that most of the stories I enjoy from Japan are ones of history and past cultures that, as you said, don't exist any longer.
[10:56] wongojack: Chinese fiction on the other hand always seems to be able to really tell stories without that same impedement
[10:57] wongojack: but they have other things that get in the way
[10:57] wongojack: still, I usually prefer things that are Chinese to things that are Japanese
[10:58] K: food? :)
[10:58] K: i do love me some sushi
[10:58] wongojack: Actually me too; Japanese food is usually better than Chinese
[10:59] wongojack: Having traveled I really admire our 'social progress' in this country. We usually don't let things get in the way of expressing ourselves and I think we are typically better adjusted psychologically for it
[11:01] K: you'd think from watching the media, films, and TV, that our country is terrible, uneducated, and filled with uncaring people.
[11:01] K: that's kind of a blanket statement. i don't really think that - but I have to say it has definitely opened peoples' eyes to what more we can do to help other people and the world.
[11:02] wongojack: the problem is that people see our way of treating each other as different than their own
[11:02] wongojack: we are fast and efficient
[11:03] wongojack: But we offer therapy for em because we can be serious with each other without cracking a joke; talk about how we aren't really very good at some things; and we think about what really matters to us
[11:04] wongojack: In France they see that kind of self-honesty and don't trust it.
[11:04] wongojack: But its like a therapy patient before and after 2 years of therapy; you have no idea what the benefits are before you start but they can end up being life changing
