[KineJapan] Johnny Depp and Minamata

[Bruce Baird]

Hi Aaron,

I would be interested in using your post as a way to kickstart this group into a discussion about the politics and ethics of the use of such images. In the world of butoh, in 1972, Hijikata Tatsumi created a dance with a movement which was conceived as doubling the Pieta and Smith’s "Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath” 1971. So I do show Smith’s photograph to my students. I was aware that I wouldn’t be able to get the photo for my upcoming book, but wondering how we all think about using such a photo in class and in presentations in terms of the ethics of what the subject wants, illustrating environmental damage, caucasian males capitalizing on the suffering of non-caucasians who are geopolitically less powerful, etc.

Best,

Bruce 



> On Oct 24, 2018, at 10:15 AM, Gerow Aaron <aaron.gerow at yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> I was surprised to see reports in the US entertainment press that Johnny Depp will be playing W. Eugene Smith in an adaptation of the book Minamata written by Smith and his wife Aileen Miyoko Smith. 
> 
> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depp-play-war-photographer-w-eugene-smith-minamata-1154396 <https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/johnny-depp-play-war-photographer-w-eugene-smith-minamata-1154396>
> 
> It is being developed by Depp’s production company. Filming is supposed to start in January, and will take place in Japan and Serbia (?!).
> 
> There’s a lot to worry about with this. Depp has had some good roles in the past but seems to have mostly fallen into self-parody. But more than that, I worry this will be another of Hollywood’s “white man comes to non-white nation to save the day” films. And I worry about how the victims will be presented. Remember for instance that we are not supposed to use Smith’s most famous photograph of Minamata because the family of Tomoko don’t want us to anymore.
> 
> I hope they at least reference Tsuchimoto Noriaki’s films on Minamata, which thought a lot about how to depict the “kanja-san.”
> 
> https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/minamata-the-victims-and-their-world/ <https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/minamata-the-victims-and-their-world/>
> https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/the-shiranui-sea-minamata-series-part-2/ <https://www.zakkafilms.com/product/the-shiranui-sea-minamata-series-part-2/>
> 
> Aaron Gerow
> Professor
> Film and Media Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
> Director of Graduate Studies, Film and Media Studies
> Yale University
> 143 Elm Street, Room 210
> PO Box 208324
> New Haven, CT 06520-8324
> USA
> Phone: 1-203-432-7082
> Fax: 1-203-432-6729
> e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu <mailto:aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
> website: www.aarongerow.com <http://www.aarongerow.com/>
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Bruce Baird
Associate Professor
East Asian Languages and Cultures
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Butô, Japanese Theater, Intellectual History

439 Herter Hall
161 Presidents Drive
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-9312
Phone: 413-577-2117
Fax: 413-545-3178
baird at umass.edu

Recently Released: The Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance

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Now out in paperback and e-book: Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh:

http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9780230120402

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