blanket ignorance

[Mark Mays]

My first thought about the statement was "there's one in every group" and let it slide. It wasn't until I saw it repeated in another post did I consider that there should be some kind of challenge to the statement. There are probably many people who come to the list seeking some "expertise" on not only film but Japanese culture and some might go away and repeat the same idea as an expert opinion.

I was sort of hoping that a Japanese person would speak up, however it's good you did Joanne.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: j.izbicki at att.net 
  To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu 
  Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 1:39 PM


  I expected a flurry of messages to appear about a previous poster痴 blanket comment that "Japanese are childish and theatrical."  Others have apparently decided to ignore the remark but I think some comment is due.  

   I already deleted the message but with due respect must assume that the writer has had little or superficial interaction with Japanese people and is still under the sway of 1940s-50s generalizations about Japan.  Or have I lost my sense of humor and the comment was meant to be a joke?  I hope members of this list have gotten beyond attributing any single trait or peculiarity 用ositive or negative・to ALL the people in any given country--or of any ethnic or racial or gender group.  It痴 much more informative and helpful to look at specific forces and contexts at play than to simplify cause and effect by asserting instead that there are sweeping national traits to explain specific human actions or situations. 

   

  In 1951, Douglas MacArthur made a post-SCAP (i.e., after he壇 been fired by Truman) comment that lost the respect he壇 gained (gained justifiably or not) of many Japanese while he had been Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.  The comment was that 奏he Japanese・were 斗ike a boy of twelve as compared with our development of forty-five years.・SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">  The 双ur・apparently meant 羨merican,・suggesting a too common assumption among stereotypers that their listeners/readers share and approve the stereotype--in this case that Japanese people couldn't measure up to American maturity.  Even if MacArthur meant to apply his view only to the political situation in Japan, he was still ignoring a history of sophisticated and complex political structuration and struggle in the country.  MacA's personal history, however, suggests he was applying the ! put-down more broadly.

  (MacA痴 comment is from the 滴earing to Conduct an Inquiry into the Military Situation in the Far East,・82nd Congress, 1st session, 1951.  Quoted in Takamae Eiji痴 的nside GHQ,・p. 7.)



  Joanne Izbicki


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