a flower in hell on 7/12/2008 at 23:26
Quote Posted by The_Raven
Maybe, I just don't see how melodrama can be so ingrained into a culture as to give it a complete pass.
Asking why the Japanese write in such a melodramatic way is akin to asking why Americans love hamburgers. There's really no reason other than that they like to do so.
It's merely the market at work; if over-the-top melodrama and philosophical nonsense wasn't so popular, it wouldn't be so endemic to Japanese media. Businesses don't keep making a product that doesn't sell if they want to stay in business.
I watch a good bit of anime, though I'm something of an elitist when it comes to the stuff, and it truly is endemic. By Western standards, even the best-executed anime is completely over-the-top and ridiculous at times. It's always very stylized, always overly-dramatic, never very realistic. That's just what the Japanese like. It's cultural, just like Americans liking hamburgers.
june gloom on 7/12/2008 at 23:29
You're clearly not understanding me, Raven, and because it's cultural it's inexplicible. Just accept it as a cultural thing and move on.
The thing to remember is that Japanese modern culture is basically a mishmash of their own pre-WW2 culture mixed with American culture that's been filtered through TV. This makes for a fairly explosive combination.
ercles on 8/12/2008 at 00:07
Quote Posted by a flower in hell
Asking why the Japanese write in such a melodramatic way is akin to asking why Americans love hamburgers. There's really no reason other than that they like to do so.
It's merely the market at work; if over-the-top melodrama and philosophical nonsense wasn't so popular, it wouldn't be so endemic to Japanese media. Businesses don't keep making a product that doesn't sell if they want to stay in business.
I watch a good bit of anime, though I'm something of an elitist when it comes to the stuff, and it truly is endemic. By Western standards, even the best-executed anime is completely over-the-top and ridiculous at times. It's always very stylized, always overly-dramatic, never very realistic. That's just what the Japanese like. It's cultural, just like Americans liking hamburgers.
I really don't think your helping yourself with the hamburger comparison, in my eyes just because a country is addicted to fast food doesn't make it any less fat, or it's food culture any less dissapointing...
ercles on 8/12/2008 at 01:46
Surely just saying "I think you missed the point" is a lot easier.
june gloom on 8/12/2008 at 02:13
a few extra keystrokes/mouse movements aren't gonna kill me
a flower in hell on 8/12/2008 at 02:15
Quote Posted by ercles
I really don't think your helping yourself with the hamburger comparison, in my eyes just because a country is addicted to fast food doesn't make it any less fat, or it's food culture any less dissapointing...
Wow... just...
Wow.
Koki on 8/12/2008 at 07:20
Quote Posted by dethtoll
The thing to remember is that Japanese modern culture is basically a mishmash of their own pre-WW2 culture mixed with American culture that's been filtered through TV. This makes for a fairly explosive combination.
Cool, but who gives a shit?
I mean seriously, you're essentially saying that you can't judge Japanese stuff because Japan has different culture.
So guess what. From now on Korean MMORPGs are not to be judged either. I mean you probably didn't even know Koreans have a culture!
Inline Image:
http://www.online-station.net/_news/2007/0612/09579_weapon1.jpgBet you'd like to criticize that shit, huh? Especially that guy in the back. Well too fucking bad. You can't.
june gloom on 8/12/2008 at 12:01
They've got more culture than you.
Thirith on 8/12/2008 at 12:17
I don't think bad writing should ever be given a pass - but some of what we consider bad writing is simply a different idiom, which I think some people here are getting at. What you're used to will usually seem more normal and therefore better; what you're not used to will often seem strange, possibly comical and less 'realistic' because it's not (your) normal. You need to see beyond idiom as much as possible before you can judge whether something is good or not. (You can judge whether you like it, which is a different issue.)
Look at a film such as Fritz Lang's M. Very different idiom, to the extent that some of the acting seems laughable. However, there is a reason why it's considered one of the best films of all time. If you can see beyond the acting idiom, you can appreciate it for what it is.
Same can be said about, say, Ran by Akira Kurosawa. If you measure it according to Western standards, you may come to the conclusion that the acting is bad. Again, though, I'd argue that this is a question of idiom rather than of quality.
Making a distinction between different idioms and quality is extremely difficult, though. Perhaps it's even impossible... :weird:
