TAKEN FROM THE LOVE LIFE OF AN ASIAN GUY (facebook) because everyone needs to know
-
Dragonfly777 — 10 years ago(January 08, 2016 02:02 PM)
This is somewhat an aside, but I can't help but to take issue with the certianty you project concerning suicide always being "dumb," "irrational,"mentally unbalanced,"insane," that there "is no sane reasoning that goes into it in the first place."
I too have lost people to suicide, and in one case, for example, it was an older man with a relapse of a terrible cancer. He secretly studied the best methods of ending his life, no doubt thought long and hard about whether, at this stage in his life, it would be better for all concerned to end his life or to go through the hell that was fast approaching and would likely end in death anyway. He sanely, rationally, concluded that to take his life was the better choice, and it would be wrong and presumptuous of me to belittle, with false accusations of "insanity," the difficult and dreadful decision he wrestled with and reached when faced only with two horrible and frightening options.
This may sound morbidly pessimistic, but I seriously doubt that there are many sane, clear-sighted and rational people, especially those no longer young, living today who haven't at least questioned whether or not it is really better to be alive, burdened with the body and the conscious awareness of the inevitable physical and emotional suffering to come. Death will come regardless of any effort to ward it off. Note this I am not advocating suicide. I simply resent the false claim that only dumb or insane people would choose it. Most philosophies and religions at least acknowledge that inevitable suffering comes with life, with the cohabitation of awareness and a corporal mortal body, and to love others who too will suffer and die. What's the first Noble Truth in Buddhism? A great deal of thought throughout the ages and all over the world has gone into how to remedy this problem, through enlightenment and nirvana, or through a soul that is immortal and can be saved from all suffering, etc Other philosophers offer no hope. Some acknowledge that life is a kind of Sisyphean loop of drudgery and suffering, but argue against suicide.
I've faced that decision, and I've chosen life, with its beauties and wonders and terrors and inevitable end, primarily because I knew I am needed and wanted by those I love and who love me. I've been in mental states that were not rational, Major Depression (the real thing, without any identifiable external cause), depressive to the point of living in an uninterrupted cycle of crippling anxiety, followed by hours of uncontrollable weeping, ending the day exhausted and afraid to go to sleep, and this going on every day for many months. I often thought that I simply couldn't live through another minute of this weird and mysterious malady, or put my loved ones through more days, weeks, months, of having to see me that way, and if I'd given into the temptations to end it that were always in my mind, I would have made a dumb and irrational choice. The depressive cycle ends, things come back into focus, life continues with its ups and downs, and I can breathe again, eat again, feel good again sometimes, function and help others again. I wouldn't argue that all, or most, suicides are rationally committed, but I will argue that there are people who choose suicide for perfectly rational, sane, unclouded clear-sighted reasons.
Lastly, unrelated to the above, if you know of real statistics (not "probability theories"), or know of any studies done that would show that people from around the globe, or even from "the west," travel to this forest in Japan to end their lives, please share. It sounds improbable to me, but I don't know, or claim to know. I do know I won't boycott this film based on the OP's complaint. I want to see it.
The moon is dead. Long live the moon. -
Stiles5339 — 10 years ago(January 08, 2016 06:45 PM)
I would have made a dumb and irrational choice.
Exactly.
I should note that I'm not talking euthanasia, or any form of euthanasia, which I would define as something
different
. Euthanasia is ending suffering when you know death is inevitable and it's a way to end your pain faster and gentler. Suicide is an impulsive act caused by something you think is life ending and will never go away, but always with time usually does get better. As said, to me they're two different things and they're two different words/terms entirely. I should note I don't even see a cancer patient going off chemo as any form of suicide - chemo is far from an easy process and might cause pain until your dying breath since it is far from a guarantee. As said, I view one as euthanasia (whether assisted or not) and the other as suicide.
I have not been able to find statistics. But, in a lot of the reports I have read it states that people travel from all around the world to see the forest due to their morbid curiosity. In a world where people travel to far off distant lands to drop off one's ashes, to me it is well within the nature and law of probability that there have been those who have traveled to places where they want to die. People already do go to extremes in setting up ways that they would like to die. Thus, with both of those elements already in our nature - I wouldn't call it a stretch of the imagination at all especially since money wouldn't enter into it for many people especially when you're young (only supporting yourself). Also, as originally stated it would be in the minority, but we are talking about world population and saying not even one person would ever do something. To me, due to the number of people, those odds seem really slim - even .5% would be a lot when looking at the numbers.
I actually had no interest in seeing the film, I saw it earlier today because someone I know wanted to see it and while the acting was good it wasn't scary and it was very predictable. To each their own though. I thought I would jump on the boards and was flabbergasted seeing complaints about racism, some films - like '21' I can definitely see that being the case, but to me I'd say there's absolutely no problem since this film was clearly going after the small fish in a new land story. To those who might say "you're white! You're American!" Actually, I'm neither and all of the above. I'm an adoptee brought to America from a foreign country with no way at all of knowing what my ethnicity or race is. What that means is that I'm race/ethnicity/nationalism blind - it's all one giant world to me and we're
all
the same, so I have no leaning in these regards other than knowing business (you need a name) and story-telling (as said, here they're looking for bringing somebody into a new pond and you need to establish that rather quickly, and that is the route that the story took).
And as said earlier, what the OP wants and what this film is aren't the same at all. To me, it would be a shame to bring those elements into a film like this since they would get buried and not given the respect and time and care that it deserves. To me, with those elements - you don't want to put it into a genre film where those elements are shrugged off - rather you should put that in a dramatic movie. I'd say that 'The Sea of Trees' more than let the ball drop in these regards, everyone is trashing that movie and although I haven't seen it (nor do I think it will ever get released) I am lost as to why the protagonist isn't Asian; it would have made it more timely, it would have introduced new and interesting topics into it, I don't see how you'd need a big name actor - there I'd guess the budget is a lot higher (mainly because of Mcconaughey) than what it should have been to make a solid profit (is there a chance it could have? Yes, but it makes it riskier unless he took a
serious
pay cut). There I'd say it was either a white writer who wanted a white character, racist casting (as said, with that movie having a "big name lead" only makes your budget a lot higher than what it should be on what is essentially a risky character piece dealing with suicide (since the protagonist is the one seeking to commit suicide, I doubt they would give any thought (like this film did) to reacting to different abroad customs), or using the forest only because people know about it. That movie, as said - I could understand because something is off. Here, it adds to the feeling of being out of place and seclusion (not at all safe) because it is far from home. This was a by the books horror movie about a stranger in a strange new land, they're really a dime a dozen. -
Stiles5339 — 10 years ago(January 08, 2016 08:21 AM)
I have no idea who this question is targeted to. So, I'll answer the best way I can if it was directed toward me, a name is a name - is a
name
. As long as it's a name that you know will draw in more people due to their reputation in the US, and exceptionally great abroad, if possible. The only thing is, has to be a proven name with a fanbase already behind it. -
kirsten_ot — 10 years ago(February 07, 2016 12:07 PM)
You're right, but if they'd cast a Japanese woman, or any other east Asian (cos lets face it, Hollywood thinks all brown people are interchangeable), it would have made no sense to have her speaking English. Obviously many Japanese people do speak English, but it would make no sense in the film to have a Japanese person interacting with other Japanese people in Japan, in English. And they wouldn't be able to market it as a blockbuster horror with subtitles.
-
GravityCakes — 10 years ago(March 25, 2016 08:44 PM)
As a person who went to school at Berkeley and lived for years in the Bay Area, I just laughed out loud when I read your comment about the Golden Gate Bridge as you are wrong. People travel/have traveled from all over the country to jump off the bridge in addition to actual Bay Area residents just as the other poster commented about the forest in Japan and Niagara Falls. Very famous, iconic sites like these attract just that sort of attention (people also have committed suicide by jumping in front of subway trains in New York). It is not that much of a stretch when I visited Niagara Falls in fact I remember reading stories about people who had traveled from all over the world to commit suicide at that famous site, and they were even doing this in the days when a country wasn't a short ride on a jet away.
I love Natalie Dormer (since her days on The Tudors), and the cinematography in this film looks beautiful so I plan to see it at some point. Rejecting it for purely political reasons (and I am very sympathetic to the poor treatment of Asian actors in Hollywood, believe me) seems gestural and empty. Maligning this film will accomplish zero as far as the suicide epidemic in Japan is concerned.
"Hearts and kidneys are tinker toys! I am talking about the central nervous system!" -
viciouslove — 10 years ago(January 06, 2016 09:37 PM)
The woman that dissappears in the movie was working in Tokyo as a school teacherso she was already there. Obviously you just assumed and don't know much about the movie. A lot of Americans take jobs in Japan and many other countries.
-
-
dreamdoggie — 9 years ago(April 05, 2016 10:10 PM)
Exactly, I highly doubt everyone that goes to that forest to commit suicide is one race or another. Every race, every gender has more than likely taken their life in said forest, so it is realistic. If statistics said 100% this race or this gender committed suicide in this forest, that's one thing - but, that isn't the case here.
Nice circular reasoning guy. -
inuimari — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 11:42 PM)
This " LOVE LIFE OF AN ASIAN GUY " can F Off.
Just got banned from his site cuz I told a girl not to be so judgmental. He basically said that a lot of Asian parents beat their kid. Some posters said that that is abuse and they recanted how abusive their parents were. And this one chick went on dissing all those people who were saying it was abuse. I told her not to be so judgmental and then I got banned. I wasn't even using a swear word. And some of the posters were saying that people who are saying that spanking their kids is abuse where pu&&y white people. SMH.
He's okay with child abuse but is now complaining about mental health among Asians? WTF, man. Total hypocrite. According to this ridiculous site, "tone policing" is a real thing and it's bad. What the. There's nothing wrong with being nice to people online and your assumed minority status (as in people assuming they are in a more disadvantaged class than those they are speaking to) does not make it okay for people to be a b1tch online. -
gumshoebelly — 10 years ago(January 01, 2016 05:19 AM)
Most Americans are to lazy to read subtitles . I like being able compare different directors vision of the same story. Why make a crappy American version when there's an original that kicks ass i.e. "Old boy" , " a Tale of Two sisters". Laziness pure and simple.