The Peruvian donkey from Hokkaido

[Michael Badzik]

Aaron Gerow wrote:

>In another incident that poses questions concerning not only television 
>ethics, but also the relationship between fiction and documentary in 
>contemporary Japanese media, one of the weekly magazines revealed that 
>Roshinante (I'm using just the direct romanization of the Japanese), the 
>donkey made popular through the TV show _Denpa shonen_, was in fact
>born and bred in Hokkaido, not in Peru, as the TV show emphasized in 
>dozens of episodes.  
>

Even though I do have a few things to say about the interesting issues 
Aaron brings up here, I must admit that I haven't been watching this 
particular show. So add your scepticism wherever appropriate.

>Much of the success of the series lies in its borrowings from 
>documentary. 

I have a bit of a problem with this statement. It seems to me that you 
would have to allow only one way of reading what is happening on the 
screen (the literal, just-like-an-NHK-documentary one) to argue this, 
and I am not ready to concede this point. Why can't I expect there to be 
viewers who see this program as a parody of documentary, or as a 
chance to laugh at pampered talento having to survive in the "real" 
world, or some other reading, where humor (not drama) is the major 
source of the enjoyment of the program?

>The treks are usually shot in 8mm video or with a small 
>digi-cam, mostly by a single cameraman or sometimes by the talento 
>themselves.  You thus get the requisite hand-held camera shots, poor 
>sound, grainy images, etc.  It also relies a lot on the phenomenological 
>perception of reality: that the hardships and the situations are real.  
>Elements of entertainment style are mixed in, such as comedic voice-over 
>narration and titling of dialogue, but it is clear that those who watch 
>the series latch on because they perceive "real" emotions and situations. 

Yes, a perception of reality it is. A viewer may savor real emotions 
from the "drama" without believing that the events being viewed are 
in the least bit real. The end effect can be the same for both the 
credulous and the non-believing viewer, so it would be difficult to 
infer an audience perspective from the end result alone - or often, 
the means used to create it. Audiences have also shown a willingness 
to overlook the small "cheats" done on everything from quiz shows 
to cooking shows; only the most pathologically gullible could believe 
that nothing happens on these shows that is not shown on the screen.

These are the sort of arguments that lead me to believe that reality 
in television - in entertainment shows at least - has been overrated. 
Do broadcasters need to show disclaimers before airing professional 
wrestling, lest serious social problems arise? And for that matter, 
why are so many people eager to watch staged fights, when they 
could watch real wrestling? (hint: see above paragraphs)

>But clearly, as is evident from complaints from viewers, that is not how 
>much of the audience sees this.  Since this is not the first incident, 
>the Ministry of Posts and Communications (do I have that right?), has 
>said it will investigate.

One has to wonder what good could come of Ministry of Posts and 
Telecommunications involvement. Are there really a significant 
number of the general public complaining, or is this the work of 
embarrassed members of the media who offered up stories on 
Roshinante and now think this donkey has taken them for a ride? 
Just wondering...

Michael Badzik
mike at vena.com