<div dir="ltr">I haven't seen the film yet, anticipating feeling the same way Aaron did, but I was talking about this at a bonenkai last night. A friend pointed out that Queen's initial popularity was in Japan and then it spread throughout the world (I haven't verified this), and many of the audience are middle-aged women who became fans during that time. So nostalgia may be a factor. Also the 応援上映 participatory screenings are quite an event, it seems. There are cine-complexes that are running it on all screens, and the release of other films has been delayed as a result. I'm planning to take in one of the oen joei, just out of sociological interest. </div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 11:12 AM Gerow Aaron <<a href="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu">aaron.gerow@yale.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;">On our last day in Portland, the family and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody in the theater. I am not really a Queen fan; in fact my main interest was trying to think why this was such a huge hit in Japan. As of today, it’s made $55 million at the Japanese BO (with predictions it will go over $70 million), with Japan being the film’s third biggest non-US market (the South Korean BO numbers are higher, but it opened there earlier). <div><br></div><div>I did not like the film that much, for its mythification of Freddie and predictable direction, but I wonder why it has not only made a bunch at the Japanese BO, but also came in number 1 in Pia’s satisfaction survey for all of 2018. </div><div><br></div><div>My inclination is to look at both its melodrama and its depiction of family—and the promise of mass unity—but I was wondering what others think, or what others might have written about this.</div><br><br><div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-align:-webkit-auto;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;border-spacing:0px"><div style="overflow-wrap: break-word;"><div>Aaron Gerow<br>Professor<br>Film and Media Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures</div><div>Director of Graduate Studies, Film and Media Studies</div><div><span style="text-align:-webkit-auto">Yale University</span></div><div>143 Elm Street, Room 210<br>PO Box 208324<br>New Haven, CT 06520-<span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px">8324</span><br>USA<br>Phone: 1-203-432-7082<br>Fax: 1-203-432-6729<br>e-mail: <a href="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu" target="_blank">aaron.gerow@yale.edu</a></div><div>website: <a href="http://www.aarongerow.com" target="_blank">www.aarongerow.com</a></div><div><br></div></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="gmail-m_9093872399198704647Apple-intercha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</blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">John Junkerman<div><a href="mailto:jtj53213@gmail.com" target="_blank">jtj53213@gmail.com</a></div><div>2-18-6 Ehara-cho, Nakano</div><div>Tokyo 165-0023</div></div></div>