Tuesday, November 8, 2005

...this is why i don't read film reviews...


“The idea seems to offer a meditation on virtual experience but, as such, it is virtually incomprehensible…For geek philosophers and computing theorists only.” Daily Mail

“You can’t help but be seduced by the glow of Mamoru Oshii’s cutting edge visuals- even if the exasperating, Morpheus-style pseuding about free-will and humanity overloads the patience portals”-Metro


Now I don’t claim to say that “Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence” is a better film than its predecessor, the original Ghost in the Shell movie by award winning Director Mamoru Oshii based on the highly acclaimed manga by Masamune Shirow, and indeed, I did find “Innocence’s” story a little harder to follow than the original GITS. However, the above reviews released in two English newspapers have got me, an avid British Anime fan, outraged.

It’s not so much that they imply that this film is for “geek philosophers and computer theorists only”. Granted I feel insulted at being called a geek-who doesn’t? But it’s the comments like “the exasperating, Morpheus-style pseuding about free-will and humanity overloads the patience portals” that get me really steamed. Firstly, that’s the whole point of the film. The comments about our free will. About our humanity. And how the human race might lose those in an increasingly cyberized society.
Second: “Morpheus-style”? Look, just because “The Matrix” trilogy was released first, doesn’t mean it’s the be-all and end-all of humanity introspection in a digital age. If I recall correctly, “GITS” came first. Then came the Matrix (which, I might venture an opinion, became a poor excuse for a trilogy after the first movie), which probably wouldn’t have even come about if not for anime movies like GITS and Akira.

But the thing that really annoys me, as a true anime otaku, is the notion that because you can’t understand and fully comprehend the movie, it automatically becomes rubbish. I understand that the Critic is thinking of Joe Average and trying to suggest to him that he probably wouldn’t like the movie, but you CANNOT slate a movie just because it throws in a few Milton references and generally takes its discussion above your level of thinking.

I think this is the reason that anime hasn’t taken off so much in this country (UK). I mean, it’s big, but not as big as the US. People…just don’t understand it. Anime humour is completely different from average humour. Anime musings are different from average musings. If I showed a group of average human beings “End of Evangelion”, they’d probably say something along the lines of “WTF was that?” Whereas If I showed them something similar, but oh so westernised like “The Matrix” (sorry for continuing to use this reference, but it’s the best one out there) they’d be like. “That was cool. Lots of gun fighting-sh*t and some interesting thoughts on identity and reality.”
Which is fine, I guess. Each to his own. But don’t knock something just because you don’t understand it.
In the January 2005 Issue of Newtype USA, they alluded to the fact that Oshii frequently asserts that “films shouldn’t be understood but vaguely felt.” And I think this is the mark of a true anime.
I didn’t fully understand “End of Evangelion”. I didn’t fully comprehend “GITS2: Innocence”. Did that stop me from enjoying it any less? No. Granted the awesome visuals did help somewhat, but still. If you’re told everything, told what to think, have everything in the film explained to you, where’s the fun in that? I don’t know Milton. I am unfamiliar with the religious references involved in “Eva”. But why should I? I'm not a scholar. But that doesn’t stop me from finding out. Getting off my backside and doing a little research. Understanding what they meant AFTER I watched the film adds to the enjoyment. It prolongs the fun I get from the film.
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I'm one of the few true otaku, before anime became popular. Perhaps I’ll still be an otaku after it disappears into obscurity again. There’s nothing wrong with anime you can watch and get instantly. But don’t let that be the limiting factor on your enjoyment. Anime that pushes boundaries. Anime that makes you think. Anime that you ENJOY even though you’re not quite sure why. That is true anime.
That is why I spend money on new manga and new DVDs even though I clearly can’t afford to. That is why I spend hours in front of my TV watching and re-watching anime classics. That is why I spend so much time online.
This is something that few people will understand. True Anime isn’t to be understood. Just “felt”. Just enjoyed. People say this makes me a geek? Fine. I don’t expect them to understand. It is beyond them. Perhaps I shouldn’t get angry, but just take the view of the teacher with a difficult student. Is that arrogant of me? Perhaps.

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