Uncertainty/unrepresentability - end of EVA -etc.

[Dunn Brian]

Possible Spoiler if you haven't seen the end of the Evangelion series yet:



>P.S.  The TV version was very straightforward, but I thought the ending of 
>the "Evangelion" film was anything but simplistic.  Did I miss something?

Are we talking about the original ending, the TV series ending?  Or are we 
talking about the movie endings made to appease the fans (some of whom were 
very upset and even made death threats) because the TV-series ending wasn't 
what the fans were expecting?

The TV series ended, showing how the whole thing was in his head, as a way 
to go on with life and feel good about himself - the whole thing was a 
psychological look at an arguably typical youth (shy, no self-confidence, 
introverted, etc.) of this new world we live in, or at least in Japanese 
society.

So all the action and religious symbolism was thrown out the window, which 
upset a lot of people.  If you watch the movie version of the ending 
closely, you'll see shots of threats and death threats in the form of 
graffiti on the Gainax buildings, in letters and e-mail, etc.  Admittedly, I 
don't know the whole of what happened, but it seemed to me like the movie 
endings were done to appease the upset fans who were either too dimwitted to 
get the psychological aspects of the series, and/or who just wanted to see a 
more action-packed ending and were just let down with the tame last 
episodes.


On some of the other comments, on young filmmakers and youth culture in 
general, I think there is a big backlash against the norms.  Kids grow up in 
bad homes, never seeing their fathers, salarymen, because of work 
responsibilities.  They see the tired out men on the trains, and just don't 
want to end up like that.  I think that's why there's a lot more people 
moving towards "furiitaa" and living their own lives, maybe not going to 
college, or just going to an art school to do someting creative.  They don't 
want to end up like the suits on the train, who are tired and hate their 
jobs, all slaves to making money and buying brand-name goods.

So I think this trend is spreading to other fields, like film.  They want to 
try new things, express new ideas, instead of just following the old 
conventions.  I'm glad there's movies out there like _Postman Blues_ and 
_Focus_ and _Swallowtail Butterfly_ and _Samehada Otoko to Momojiri Onna_ 
and _Bounce Ko Gals_.

I haven't seen a whole lot of Japanese films, but I have seen more films 
lately than any of the exchange students from Japan that come here.  I tell 
them I'm into Japanese film, and they just chuckle.  Then I show them one of 
these movies, and I often get a "I didn't know there were movies this good 
in Japan!"  I truly hope that Japan recognizes its own filmmakers instead of 
looking to Hollywood so much.

I was wondering, where does this attitude in Japan come from that Japanese 
things (movies/music/art/etc) are crap, and yet anything and everything from 
America or the UK seems to be revered?  I have my own ideas, but I was 
wondering what everyone else thinks about this, in the realm of art and 
film.

And what is the place of Japanese film in Japan, where Hollywood films seem 
to rule (like in most countries).  Is there recognition?  Is there more of 
an "underground" atmosphere, where only the real movie fans enjoy Japanese 
film and everyone else goes for the light Hollywood stuff?



Brian Dunn
b1dunn at hotmail.com
University of Washington
Dept. of Asian Languages and Literature

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