I don't really understand this scene. A prostitute (or whatever the hell she is) was sent by one of the men he's there
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Lost in Translation
daughterofolaf — 11 years ago(November 09, 2014 07:41 PM)
I don't really understand this scene. A prostitute (or whatever the hell she is) was sent by one of the men he's there working for and she demands that he lip her stockings then she starts screaming "don't touch me!" And waving her legs in the air. Is she somehow trying to fulfill some rape fantasy she believes he has or what?
Does anyone have any insight on this scene?
It wasn't me who was murdered, was it? -
jaystarstar — 11 years ago(November 10, 2014 11:41 PM)
One of the guys (I presume it was a guy) who helped arrange Bob Harris's appearance probably saw some of his 70s/80s movies where he played a devil-may-care action hero or secret agent, and assumed he would like a hooker role-playing a little rough stuff.
Of course it turns out Bob has less than no interest.
In fact, for most of her 'visit,' Bob looks scared as hell, as I would be, thinking the whole thing was some kind of setup for some weird rape-entrapment arrest scam.- You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
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detroit-velvet-smooth — 11 years ago(March 01, 2015 10:12 PM)
I think its partly meant to reflect that even sexually Japanese culture is strange and foreign. Dominance and submission are pretty strong elements in mainstream Japanese pornography. Rape is like mandatory for more than 50% of Hentai it seems.
So for Bob even having a prostitute bought for him is bizarre. -
CapnKaos — 11 years ago(March 21, 2015 10:44 PM)
Short answer: she's a call girl playing out a "premium fantasy".
Long answer: she's still a call girl playing out a "premium fantasy" but there's a reason behind it. Your typical salaryman in Japan has no power, no opportunity for advancement and if he's working for a typical Japanese company will probably be doing the same job there for the rest of his life. He works long hours, hardly sees his family and needs some kind of outlet. For some it's alcohol. For others it's gambling. And for some it's any type of power they can hold over anybody else.
Enter the chikan or "groper". They can be found on packed subway and train cars. They'll locate a woman, rub up against her, actively grope her and in some cases actually try to rape her if they're brave enough. They're counting on her being too scared to say anything or not wanting to cause a scene. This allows them to continue with what they're doing.
For the ones not wanting to do this in real life there are "clubs" Japanese men can go to where they pay a fee to do this. It's a mockup of a subway car, there's a pretty girl there usually dressed as a sexy schoolgirl and for a specified amount of time they are allowed to grope her. How far it goes, I don't know as I was never invited to one of those clubs.
So what the call girl is doing is putting herself into the role of a woman being sexually assaulted by Bob. Call it a cultural misunderstanding that is, like the title, "Lost in Translation". -
KBiker — 10 years ago(November 08, 2015 09:07 AM)
"Lip my stockings."
To me it was simply hilarious, though it might have had a message over whoever sent the girl thought Bob might like, based on one of his movies or whatever. But it made me laugh out loud - his consternation, the girl's over-the-top acting out the scene she thinks he wants, him trying to just get rid of her, his falling over into a semi-wrestling match with her. -
alonzo9772 — 9 years ago(July 12, 2016 08:30 PM)
It is to point out the culture shock that the characters are going through. In Japan, it is common for women to pretend to being raped while having sex. Bob knew neither this nor that it is common practice for Japanese bosses to send over prostitutes to male co-workers. Also, for the comedic effect of showing a woman trying to have a man be interested in her.
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Dominik528 — 9 years ago(September 09, 2016 11:44 PM)
Insightful explanations.
Meanwhile, someone on Tumblr wrote a post about how much & why they hate this movie, saying that the "'Lip' my stockings" scene just gives off the impression of "Gee! Japan sure is
weird
!"