The Last Samurai

Watched The Last Samurai recently- t'was pretty funny. Just gonna go for it.

Its really easy to slate 'The Last Samurai' for all its obvious shortcomings. Whenever one of these movies come along, people leave the cinema- basking in the not-so-amazing knowledge that, "the story has been done before"- and guess what, it will be done again. Dance with Wolves, Fern Gully, Pocahontas, Avatar- they are all the same story, but range vastly in quality; plot is not the measure of a film. Its amazing how similar films are actually. But you know this.

Anyway, its the implications of the story that really rustles people's jimmies- but the question is whether or not the controversy is coming from that annoying group of people that are all too fast to yell 'racist'. Either way, the notion of the white American man entering an "other" or "savage" culture, ingratiating himself, and then become their saviour of sorts is sketchy to say the least. The Last Samurai is very much guilty of this despite what people say. The question of whether it is Katsumoto or Tom Cruise (and I'm calling him Tom Cruise- because thats really what the character is), who is the last samurai is ambiguous, sure, but that in itself is outrageous. Just watch Katsumoto's death scene to see how blatant this American feeling of superiority can be (watch from 04:00). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZTWCwqmgLc . Tom Cruise's train of thought can be roughly transcribed as "God, are all these Japs bowing to me or Katsumoto?" Its about 04:43 that you can see "What was I thinking, of course they're bowing to me- I am a golden American god, praise me and my glorious white skin." I only exaggerate a bit.

Despite how absurd it may seem, so far this is not new and very predictable- Hollywood doing what Hollywood does. Things become far more interesting when you take into account that Japan fucking loved this movie- it grossed a higher amount in Japan alone than it did in the whole of America, it is one of the highest grossing movies ever released in Japan, and the critical reception was far more positive than in anywhere else in the world. So as a Western audience our self-righteous bleating, trying to "protect" Japan from Hollywood's modern pseudo-imperialism, falls flat and is a bit ridiculous.

So why do Japan not only tolerate, but gobble up this film filled with historical inaccuracies seething with a sense of American superiority? Many reasons. Firstly, Japan has had a long history and has been famous for its ultra-intense nationalism. Examples are rife, some stereotypes, some not; duty to country over love for family, a deep seeded love for the emperor that embodies Japan, a national religion that doesn't even recognise the existence of the rest of the world, a country that even now clings on to a sense of ethnic homogeny, and the famous 'asian work ethic' fuelled by the love of their nation. Suddenly, however, since the war, ultra-nationalism in the global consciousness has become very much negative affair, conjuring images of cults of personality, dictatorships, nazism etc. (I'm coming to my point in a minute).

Japan has had to deal with a very similar sort of post-war guilt as Germany. A guilt that has had Japan terribly insecure regarding its common perception as 'the villain of Asia' from both America and post-imperial Asian countries. This once again is very apparent in American and Chinese cinema- the likes of 'Pearl Harbour', 'The Last Emperor', 'The Go Master' etc. The attempt to deal with the guilt, as well as the more forceful power of American occupants, and a changed of constitution- made the expression of Nationalism, the very tool that dragged Japan into a modern power, extraordinarily taboo.

Back to The Last Samurai. It is in fact the very naivety and revolting American-ness of the movie that allowed it to be popular. For one, it showed to the Japanese people a foreign entity portraying them in a positive light- it is the fruits of their labour, an international public relations success story. Secondly, The film is highly nationalistic- portraying the emperor in a position of power despite the reality of him being merely a figure head. It allowed the Japanese people to connect this nationalism without any sense of guilt. If the film were Japanese, questions would be instantly cast regarding 'what is the political motivation?', subversive and unsettling undertones would be present- corrupting an otherwise pure affirmation of Japanese nationalism.

The rabbit hole goes deeper, nationalism is not the only layer of Japanese identity that is clouded and peculiar. It stems from the fact that the Japanese have been told their whole lives that Japan is special, different, and weird; not only unique, but uniquely unique. This gives rise to an obsession of what it means to be Japanese, and a brand of literature referred to as 'Nihonjinron' i.e. The examination of Japanese Identity. Examples of characteristics include, a language that foreigners will never be able to truly speak, Japan as an island country that has an immaculately preserved culture, Japan as a 'groupist' society, Japan as a 'shame' society, the Japanese as having a dichotomy between who they are on the inside and on the outside, vertical social structures, Japan as one of the last surviving homogenous nations- the list goes on. But, it is ultimately a fallacy.

The Japanese are not to blame- Nihonjinron is a reaction to Western 'orientalism'- and in fact the Last Samurai is very appropriate in showing that. Orientalism is the western creation of an "other" to reaffirm itself. Just as the basic archetype of the movie is- show how awesome the American is by showing how savage or weird or different the [insert an interesting world culture] is. Nihonjinron is the adaption of this image to something that reasserts Japan as something more than a backdrop for an American story. Nihonjinron is very much the assertion that Japan is in fact better than the rest of the world in self-defense- uniquely unique.

The Last Samurai fills this need perfectly- it presents to Japan an image of what it is to be Japanese, an interesting one that carries the intrigue of the entire film- large chunks of the movie in fact serve as mere extended montages of samurai life. The Japanese consume this image, repackage it as Nihonjinron, and then once again export it to the west. The director definitely researched Nihonjinron as some sort of pre-production, content in ripples, as everyone else, of earlier examples of a false image of Japan, (think 'Chrysanthemum and the Sword' and 'Shogun'). Indeed we have all witnessed the western exotification of Japan, the weeaboos, and the wankers who insist they know what they're talking about. Unfortunately what we all see, including the Japanese, is the product of a long cycle of a self-perpetuating stereotype. In The Last Samurai we bear witness to a false identity, a fake history, and a magnificent lie.

I'm not denying the existence of the samurai but in actuality they were a corrupt group- described in actual history as content in their own power, unproductive members of society, and cruel. Nor am I denying the very broad historical facts in The Last Samurai- but in actuality the samurai were not in rebellion to preserve 'the old ways' because of honour, but because it would eradicate their standing in modern society- a guaranteed life of gambling, drinking without having to work. In the movie progress is represented by the progress of war, only slightly manipulative. But In fact not only were the Samurai standing in the way of progression of war, but of education, law, industry, science etc. When we root for the Samurai in the film- we're rooting against the country Japan was able to become. Nevertheless this is Nihonjinron, the identity of Japan, and what modern Japanese model themselves after.

The reality of Japan NOW is dire, (I'm going to get back to how it links into The Last Samurai and Nihonjinron): racism on a fundamental level- law and otherwise, a stagnating economy, a young population not getting married and having children, as well as an ageing population. Now, my statistics aren't going to be exact- so look them up, but in 40 years over 40% of the population will be over 65. If they don't decide to go on a mass culling of their elderly- for every 1.7 worker, they 1 old person has to be sustained. That number is going to grow- and won't sustain itself for long.

 For my final point, it is the very stereotype that is maintained that holds Japan back. The solutions can be found: importing foreign workers, increased interaction and trade with others, no more stupid international relations issues- but for a Japanese population that has convinced itself so strongly that what makes its country strong is Nihonjinron, this is difficult to accept- going against the principles of an isolated, homogenous nation. Katsumoto is the Japanese identity- the product of American orientalism, the obstacle of progress, and the subject of admiration from an oblivious Japanese population.

Its a bit sensational- but its funner that way.