the Fashion Spot - View Single Post

wild roses · 31-01-2013

Those of you who like her keep putting forth positive reasons as to why one should like her. I do see those things in her films, but to me, the negatives far outweigh the positives.

Not Plain Jane, have you considered that maybe the reason students aren't offended is because they don't know that much about Japanese culture themselves? On IMDB, there are a few people who wrote about not being offended by the film's portrayal of Japan, but then they moved there, or started watching Japanese cinema, and now that they've been enlightened, they admire the film less. Like they appreciate LIT as a 'gateway,' but they critique it for its stereotyping. Also, when the film came out, it got a bad reception from Japanese people because they felt they were being mocked by her 'Valentine to Tokyo.' (I do Charlotte comes off better than Bob in regards to the cultural exchange, but both never try to explore the culture outside of the American stereotypes of Japan. To them, Japan is just Godzilla, and flower-making, and weird food.)

I don't think one needs to read Frasier's biography to understand the film. Feminists have long tackled history from an unconventional, non-traditional bound angle. So that's nothing new to me. And if you're saying that one should read the biography to better understand the film, then it's a failure on Sofia's part, because one shouldn't neccessarily have to read the resources to 'get' her vision. (I'm all for books and reading, but film is an art medium in itself. If I go outside the medium to 'get' Sofia's POV, then she's not doing an awesome job.)

I am going to finish watching her other films before TBR comes out, but so far, the worst to me is NYS. (Francis actually directed it, but she co-wrote, co-produced, and had a hand in the fashion and music for it, so I consider it a Sofia film. You can see all her trademarks there even if she didn't direct it.)

31-01-2013	33
wild roses trendsetter Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Sandusky Gender: femme Posts: 1,111	Those of you who like her keep putting forth positive reasons as to why one should like her. I do see those things in her films, but to me, the negatives far outweigh the positives. Not Plain Jane, have you considered that maybe the reason students aren't offended is because they don't know that much about Japanese culture themselves? On IMDB, there are a few people who wrote about not being offended by the film's portrayal of Japan, but then they moved there, or started watching Japanese cinema, and now that they've been enlightened, they admire the film less. Like they appreciate LIT as a 'gateway,' but they critique it for its stereotyping. Also, when the film came out, it got a bad reception from Japanese people because they felt they were being mocked by her 'Valentine to Tokyo.' (I do Charlotte comes off better than Bob in regards to the cultural exchange, but both never try to explore the culture outside of the American stereotypes of Japan. To them, Japan is just Godzilla, and flower-making, and weird food.) I don't think one needs to read Frasier's biography to understand the film. Feminists have long tackled history from an unconventional, non-traditional bound angle. So that's nothing new to me. And if you're saying that one should read the biography to better understand the film, then it's a failure on Sofia's part, because one shouldn't neccessarily have to read the resources to 'get' her vision. (I'm all for books and reading, but film is an art medium in itself. If I go outside the medium to 'get' Sofia's POV, then she's not doing an awesome job.) I am going to finish watching her other films before TBR comes out, but so far, the worst to me is NYS. (Francis actually directed it, but she co-wrote, co-produced, and had a hand in the fashion and music for it, so I consider it a Sofia film. You can see all her trademarks there even if she didn't direct it.)