New York Times and Sen to Chihiro

Roddey Reid rreid at ucsd.edu
Tue Jan 8 22:55:50 EST 2002


Readers of this list may be interested in a Japanese/English 
publication that appeared in September 1998 titled Warawareru 
nihonjin/ Japan: Made in USA. It contained articles by Japanese and 
American journalists and scholars dissecting the NYT long-standing 
reportorial pratices with respect to Japan. There is even reply by 
the notorious Nicolas De Kristof. Published by Zipangu 
(IBN4-8123-0615-9), it was released at a special colloquium organized 
by the International House in Tokyo.

Roddey Reid

>To me, the whole situation is one more installment in a long line
>demonstrating the New York Times resolutely provincial relation to Japan on
>every imaginable level, but particularly with regard to editorial policy on
>what passes for cultural commentary. Last year's NY Times magazine had a
>"what I did on my subsidized vacation" story trying to pass itself off as
>insight into contemporary Japanese culture. Conversations with acquaintances
>at a bar were presented as native informants shedding light on globalized
>Asian mystery. This kind of thing couldn't go on for five minutes without
>deep editorial complicity and ignorance and would be unimaginable regarding
>most other countries. Does anyone have the time or energy to take the
>editorial staff of the Times to task for its repeatedly demonstrated
>unprofessionalism and clear negligence of basic journalistic responsibility
>regarding Japan? That's what I'd like to see. This issue goes way beyond the
>uninformed, amateurish pretense of being qualified to review an animated
>film. It may also be a question of personal and professional failure, but
>it's more fundamentally a question of the Times' pervasive, militantly
>provincial editorial culture as it relates to Japan.
>
>Mark Anderson
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "mark schilling" <0934611501 at jcom.home.ne.jp>
>To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
>Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 8:44 PM
>Subject: Re: New York Times and Sen to Chihiro
>
>
>>  Bill Thompson describes James Brooke's NYT article on "Spirited Away" as
>>  "positive and upbeat," which I suppose it is if you focus on the quotes
>from
>>  fans, but from the rest of the piece it is clear that Brookes (1) didn't
>do
>>  the legwork for his story and (2) is woefully ignorant of the country and
>>  culture.
>>
>>  He says that Miyazaki "talks vaguely about one day opening the film in the
>>  United States," but if he had read the trade press or listened carefully
>>  during Katzenburg's Tokyo press conference, he would have known that (1)
>>  Disney, though an investor in the film, has decided not to distribute it
>and
>>  (2) Dreamworks is in talks with Studio Ghibli to release the film in the
>US.
>>  Nothing vague about that.
>>
>>  He opines that the popularity of comics here is "a reflection of low
>>  literacy rates due to the difficulty of learning Japanese characters," the
>>  sort of ethnocentric howler he probably picked up at the Press Club bar.
>>
>>  He whines that a Studio Ghibli publicist would not "provide background
>>  material on 'Chihiro,' subtitled versions of earlier films, or even a
>ticket
>>  to Mr. Miyazaki's new studio museum." The necessary 'background material'
>is
>>  freely available from Toho -- or indeed any theater selling the program.
>If
>  > he needs English-language info, he could have easily found it on the
>  > Nausicaa Net and other fan sites. As for subtitled versions of earlier
>  > films, why should he expect Studio Ghibli to supply them? The logical
>place
>>  to ask is the sales company, in this case, Disney. And why should Studio
>>  Ghibli give him a free ticket to the museum, despite its reservations-only
>>  policy? If they made an exception for him, they would have accommodate the
>>  entire Japanese and foreign media. (Actually, they did, with a press tour
>>  last fall that Mr. Brookes obviously didn't attend.) His whole plaint
>reeks
>>  of entitlement -- but then what else should we expect from a recently
>>  parachuted reporter for America's Newspaper of Record?
>  >
>>  Finally, he mentions that Sen "fends off dragons and sorceresses while
>>  trying to lift a curse on her parents." What "dragon" is he talking about?
>>  Haku, who is Sen's ally? Are the parents "cursed"? A better word here, I
>>  think, is "spell." Did this guy really see the movie? Comments anyone?
>>
>>  Mark Schilling
>>
>>
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>  From: "Bill Thompson" <siswt at CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU>
>>  To: "KineJapan" <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
>>  Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2002 9:08 AM
>>  Subject: New York Times and Sen to Chihiro
>>
>>
>>  >
>>  > Kinejapan ---
>>  >
>>  > The New York Times had an article on Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/
>>  > Spirited Away, written by James Brooke, last Thursday.  It can be
>>  > found at:
>>  >
>>  > http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/03/movies/03JAPA.html
>>  >
>>  > and access to the article is free for seven days from publication
>>  > (registration to the Times site is required, but that is also free).
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Overall, this is a positive and upbeat article about the success
>>  > of the film in Japan and its response, containing very little
>>  > that has not appeared in Kinejapan.
>>  >
>>  > For me, however, the interesting part appears near the end:
>>  >
>>  > "With the film opening this winter in Asia and in France, Mr.
>>  > Miyazaki has talked vaguely about opening one day in the United
>>  > States.  "Princess Mononoke," his only film to open commercially
>>  > in the United States, bombed, drawing barely 2 percent of the $150
>>  > million in box office revenue it had earned in Japan.
>>  >
>>  > "Not surprisingly, Studio Ghibli was in no rush to raise its
>>  > American profile.  For this article, a publicist declined to arrange
>>  > interviews with anyone from the studio  He would not provide
>>  > any background material on 'Chihiro,' subtitled video versions
>>  > of earlier films, or even a ticket to Mr. Miyazaki's new
>>  > studio museum.
>>  >
>>  > "The publicist said, 'Other than my mother living in New York,
>>  > I am not interested in this article being written.'"
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > I realize that the American box office for Princess M may have been
>>  > over-discussed in Kinejapan, but let me add a few observations
>>  > (and these are simply my observations, with no facts
>>  > to back them up) about its New York run.
>>  >
>>  > Princess Mononoke initially played as a special event as part
>>  > of the 1999 New York Film Festival in October 1999, then
>>  > opened a good month or so later, spaced to play well away
>>  > from the big Disney animation of the season.  Its distributor
>>  > also helped to coordinate a Miyazaki retrospective at the
>>  > Museum of Modern Art in late September that was well
>>  > attended and played in several other American and Canadian cities.
>>  >
>>  > Many papers run features on forthcoming seasons (i.e., the films
>>  > that will play during the fall), and a couple included articles
>>  > on Miyazaki's films and/or Princess M in September.  In fact
>>  > they appeared to generate more interest then
>>  > than when the film actually opened.
>>  >
>>  > The Times review during the NY Film Festival was favorable but
>>  > lukewarm, certainly nothing to appeal to an art house crowd.
>>  > I had trouble determining the desired audience from the ads
>>  > which appeared at that time:  the film was positioned not as
>>  > a young children's movie to keep the young Disney crowd
>>  > from being disappointed;  it also did not seek an art house crowd.
>>  > Instead, the ads implied that it was a kind of pure and basic
>>  > entertainment animation film for adults (??? a G-rated film for
>>  > adults?) that had something to do with ecology.  Perhaps this,
>>  > plus the Miyazaki name, is enough to sell a film in Japan,
>>  > but the US is not Japan.  A fair amount
>>  > of money spent on these ads in NY when the film opened, probably
>>  > more than the entire annual budgets for companies like Milestone
>>  > or Kino (companies that have successfully distributed Japanese
>>  > films in the US, albeit on small budgets).
>>  >
>>  > Even though Princess Mononoke did not do well commercially,
>>  > its distributor did keep it in New York for a couple of extra
>  > > months, and it helped to close the Greenwich Theater in the
>>  > West Village (which I believe is now a construction site
>>  > for a new apartment complex).   Although it played in several
>>  > large cities around the US, when the distributor became
>>  > disillusioned with the box office results, it did not try
>>  > to open it more widely like a Milestone would have done.
>>  > The Disney/Miramax people never realized what they had nor
>>  > how to advertise it, and when throwing a bit of money at
>>  > it didn't seem to work, they just stopped.
>>  > Presumably because of this disappointment, other Miyazaki
>>  > films have been released on video, but not theatrically,
>>  > although titles like Kiki's Delivery Service have had
>>  > special screenings as children's matinees in places like
>>  > Lincoln Center.
>>  >
>>  > I'm not going to provide any moral here.
>>  > I simply hope that I get to see Sen to Chihiro in New York
>>  > some day.
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > Bill Thompson
>>
>>
>>
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