Forum - View topicINTEREST: Critic Calls Out The Wind Rises For Perpetuating Historical Revisionism
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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Lets put things in perspective yes ? Millions of civilians were killed by Germany and the The Japanese Empire. The US didn't. The French didn't. The British didn't. The Soviets didn't. Trying to put everyone on the same playing field is dishonest and IS historic revisionism. We can debate about the Soviet purges of the '30, the violent decolonisation of the French and British Empires among others post WW II. We can even discuss the different US doctrines about interventionism in South America since the middle of the 19th century (something most joe sixpacks are blissfully unaware and that have brought countless misery to that continent). But as far the second world war is concerned you cannot put the US, France and the British Empire on the same plane as Germany and Japan. And spare me any kind of bullshit moral/historical relativism. |
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lizardking461
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No doubt, but nowhere near to the same degree or as conceited as in many American films, at least not from what I've seen over the years. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14886 |
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Hey if even an acclaimed Argo (2012) film dramatization of the Iran hostage crisis receive these kinds of criticisms..............
Keep in mind that Miyazaki is a lifelong leftist, while Japan is moving to the right.
To be fair, parts of the film can't be seen as anything but childish, like the long transformation sequences and the roundtable tea party cheez song. Still you're correct - anybody not seeing the TV series would not feel an emotional impact about the film.
And Japan. And China. Actually, a whole lot of countries too. |
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VORTIA
 SubscriberPosts: 943 |
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I think statements like this from foreign commentators are part of a perpetual cycle of denial and blame which serves only to perpetuate Japanese white-washing of their own history out of shame.
In summary, neither designing a warplane nor being Japanese in the 30s is murder. Let's all condemn actual crimes, not persecute the Japanese public for not being self-depricating enough. Had a film like this been made about the designer of the P-51 Mustang, or even the Bf-109, I doubt there'd be a tenth of the controversy about it as there is about The Wind Rises, despite the fact that the content would be very similar. This criticism seems to not be about the film at all, but a general attack on Japan's refusal to meet foreign expectations to admit to their historical crimes. This expectation that any film about early Showa Japan must include scenes of Japanese military barbarism or it is somehow whitewashing history is unfair to Miyazaki and the Japanese people. Designing a warplane is not a war crime, and an engineer has no say as to whether those who operate his equipment do so lawfully or unlawfully. Certainly, I condemn the subborn refusal of many within Japan to acknowledge the multitude of crimes they committed during their invasion of China and World War II, but the insistance of foreign commentators that the populace of all Japan throughout the decades bare responsibility for the crimes of specific institutions and individuals and need to force some form of moral self-flagellation into every element of their entertainment isn't condusive to getting an objective assessment of Japanese history out of the Japanese public. All it does is perpetuate a sense of unfair persecution and prejudice that plays right into the hands of nationalist hardliners. If we want the Japanese public to acknowledge the crimes of their wartime government, we have to offer them an opportunity to separate their national identity from the crimes that occured. Just as being German doesn't mean being a Nazi, being Japanese doesn't mean being a war criminal. If we are tp expect the Japanese to come to terms with the crimes of their wartime government, we must afford them the reasonable opportunity to identify as something other than murderers and rapists. |
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rpgamer79
Posts: 59 |
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When the Wind Rises was released in Japan, it was classified as ”大人向け映画” a movie directed mainly for adults. Yes I could tell that by seeing how boring the movie was for the child sitting next to me in the theater :p So the best foreign language film category suits it better actually. Last edited by rpgamer79 on Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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3 countries started WW2. Germany, Italy and Japan. Two of those countries have owned up and more to their own history. Guess who is the outsider even 70 years after the facts ? 
So spare me the "we shouldn't be throwing stones...." mantra. Japan deserves every harsh critic going there way. Never apologised for its war crimes during WW2. Having revisionist history in its history textbooks aimed at schoolchildren. Japanese government officials paying respects to war criminals who have their own "shrine". Viewing the invasion of Cina and successive decade and more of war crimes as a "liberation" type war. Don't let your love of anime obfuscate the reality of a society that hasn't really processed its own history, especially that going from the 1920s to 1945. |
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RAmmsoldat
 Posts: 1261 Location: North wales coast |
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Hey im not putting everyone on a level field here, just pointing out that if you're going to play in the dirt you'll get dirty and its pretty normal for film makers to gussy up their stories. I try not to get my history lessons from movies anyway |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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I agree with you that The Wind Rises is a romanticised account of the history of the designer of the Zero airplane. It is a film primarily about the love of flight, with all its consequences. Its like making a film on the life of Howard Hughes, or of Boeing himself and later characterising them as war criminals since their creations were used in strategic bombings. I think the only point where the film is pretty naive is in saying that your pursuit of your dream somehow exonerates you from a moral conflict. Designing a civilian airplane is one thing. Designing the best fighter plane is as good an inspiration as any (from an engineering point of view). That doesn't mean deep down you are unaware of what your own creation is destined to be used for. To blame Jiro Horikoshi for the Pearl Harbor attack is nonsense, but not having the character question at least a little bit not his love for flight, but his work in the industrial militray complex yeah that is a little bit jarring. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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The problem though isn't really about the movie doing it, it's that Japanese society on a whole does this and Out the Wind doesn't challenge this fact, even when it had the obvious opportunity to do so. Historical license would probably barely raise any eyebrows if it was only done in a fictional context. |
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Wow, I've rarely seen so much prejudice and bias in one place. Comments like "whitewashing" and "it's all Hollywood's fault" or "Japan was more evil" or "the US was more evil". All any of this political soapboxing and rhetoric does is demonstrate how ignorant people are of reality and how they'll convince themselves anyone smells like crap or anyone smells like roses so long as it suits their own desired world view.
Give it a rest already with the close-minded garbage, particularly since this is not a political forum and we have no intention of making it one. What Hollywood does all the entertainment industries do, including anime, it's just in one instance what they do caters to your tastes and not in others. What Japan did other nations have done, and what the US has done other nations have done. Welcome to freaking reality where so long as you're going to start generalizing you might as well except the fact that people in general all suck, which is the ultimate failing of generalizations and prejudice such as this. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Geez, why is that second one on cruise control for cool? Is it part of the "Hulk" shtick? It makes me not want to read it. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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It's actually pretty intelligently written, though I disagree with some of what he says. I recommend reading them both. |
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Mad_Scientist
Subscriber Moderator  Posts: 3013 |
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Yah, all of the articles by Film Critic Hulk are written like that. I've gotten used to it, which is good because he's a very well written critic with interesting things to say. |
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daichi383
 Posts: 313 Location: England |
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Well awesome, now i'm getting spam mail from some crazy dude saying how wrong and dumb i am for my opinions.
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MorwenLaicoriel
 Posts: 1617 Location: Colorado |
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I hate, hate, hate, hate his caps lock gimmick too (and yeah, it's part of the Hulk gimmick) but even I can admit that he's a really good writer despite the caps lock, so I definitely recommend making an attempt to read his stuff. |
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