Beautiful Stranger
NOTE: The seek bar does not work on this video. (The metadata is missing from the flash video, and I need to inject it.) When you click play, you can only pause and continue to play from that point. Do not try to seek – either nothing at all will happen, or you will restart the video. Since it is 15 minutes long, that would suck. When I fix it, I will remove this warning. Thanks.
This was a student project from a course I took called Intro to Urban Anthropology: Tokyo under the auspices of Professor Bernard at Waseda University in the 2004-2005 academic school year, whilst studying abroad. I didn’t want to work in a group, so I worked by myself – but give credit to Megan and Sam for playing dual roles as interviewees and part-time camera folk. The theme I chose was how foreigners handle interactions with one another, and whether or not culture or ideals from their home country is present in these decisions and feelings. Sounds fun, huh? No? Ok, fine. Be that way. Anyhoo. Please indulge yourself in a 15 minute long joyride through my young-skull-full-of-mush’s version of an anthropological short. My goals were two; not to take myself too seriously, and to make a video that stood out from the sure-to-come onslaught of boring stuff that did eventually come. (I only say that with a twinge of jealousy, for many of the boring films blew mine out of the water. Hence the need to differentiate myself in some way.) Behold it and weep – or just giggle at my awkwardness. That’s what I do.
Some notes:
- I am not an anthropologist. I am a bit of a joke. But you have likely gathered that information for yourselves.
- This project was concerned with interviewing exchange students at Waseda University’s SILS program. All were Western – American or Icelandic, based solely on who had free time when I had free time. We were living in Tokyo – with host families or in dorms / private apartments. The views represented only apply to these certain people at this certain time in that certain experience. But the ideas may have some resonance with other foreigners. Completely depends. Anyway, understand that it was a student project with a small sample size.
- I find myself in a different situation now that I am a JET working in Ehime Prefecture. Sometimes. I still only really associate with foreigners I have met (likely through other foreigners), the only change is that the people around me are seeking me out just as much as I seek them out. We all like company here, and seem to be of the personality type that drives us to mingle. I was figuratively hired to be “the foreign guy” in a community. I’m not the only one, but I am the official one. Weird? Yes. Socially awkward? Oh yes. Special? Not so much.
- All of the processing and animation was done by myself. I taught myself some rudimentary motion graphics in order to get the look that I wanted. I should say – tinkering is a hobby of mine. So it’s not as painful as you might imagine. I actually quite enjoyed it.
- The quote at the beginning leaves the screen too quickly. It says “Ironically, Westerners are far more suspicious of other Westerners than the Japanese ever are.” It’s from Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson.
- The animals were there to serve two purposes. They provide a pause or interlude for a few fleeting seconds, and they are supposed to elicit a response. It’s a metaphor, people. The birds are Japanese people in Japan – animals in their natural environment. You figure the rest out. It’s not hard. If you thought “What the? That shouldn’t normally be there.” then it was successful. And even if it wasn’t successful, I bet you giggled.
- The “date” scene is hard to explain. Basically, a map of Japan gets up from a table, hands the viewer a rose, and sings Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable while a sommelier steps in. People want Japan to court them in a weird kind of way, I think. Sometimes, I feel like it reverses the same exoticism that Japan broadcasts to foreign countries (through their jidai-geki films, etc). Some foreigners hope that by entering a world that exoticized, that by some kind of paradoxical twist, their normality will also become exoticized to the natives. I dunno if you follow, but yeah. That’s what I was thinking.
- This project was meant to be a goofy one. I did that part right.
- I asked five questions. I don’t really say them in the short, though you do hear some followup interaction with Angela, and some others. They are as follows: 1) What do you think (what goes through your mind) when you see a foreign person on the street? 2) What do you imagine a foreign person thinks when they encounter you? 3) Are there any unwritten / unspoken rules for interacting with other foreigners? 4) In your home country, what kind of people like Japan? 5) How do you feel as a foreigner in Japan?
- Maybe I should repeat it in rural Japan? Ha ha. I dunno. Maybe not. Headaches. Ha ha.
Feedback, anyone?
