【Text/Observer Network Columnist Moon Yong Fantasy】
On December 15, 2021, the Miss World pageant was held in Israel. This is supposed to be a time for the people of the world to appreciate the aesthetic trend together, but there is no small storm - an Israeli designer designed a kimono for Japanese representative Player Watanabe Zhuri, which caused a huge controversy.
Controversial dress-up
The "left front" way of wearing the kimono is a symbol of shouyi in Japanese culture, and the chrysanthemum coat of arms on the belt, which symbolizes the Japanese imperial family, has also been obscured when it is officially used due to excessive controversy. And the model Watanabe in the hands of the cat and the Japanese flag on the sleeve, the most controversial off-the-shoulder vibrating sleeve, coupled with the big "Japan" word on the chest, a group of Japanese netizens angrily rebuked: "This is an insult to Japan!" ”
But according to a tweet from the Israeli Embassy, the design incorporates a Harajuku-inspired design that expresses a desire to welcome and celebrate.
Speaking of Harajuku wind, the most easily associated is the famous Japanese Harajuku style singer Carly Monster (きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ), Chinese commonly called her "Peng Weiwei". She wore a pink bright-sleeved kimono at the 2013 coming-of-age ceremony. Perhaps Israeli designers were inspired by this style.
Peng Weiwei (data map)
But even "Peng Weiwei", who has some unique designs, cannot make the kind of "design" of Israeli designers. Because not only in addition to the aforementioned shouyi wearing method, the kimono design and chest writing that exposes the shoulders itself will also lead to misunderstandings, and there is a great controversy in Japanese folklore. Whether it is from the information provided by kimono practitioners, or from the historical "flower queen" dress, this revealing design is by no means formal.
The method of wearing revealing kimonos is also controversial in Japanese folklore. Image credit: https://labliss.net/search/column/vulgar-wearing-kimono/
Some voices even say that a large number of exposed kimonos belong to the lowest level of prostitutes such as "Nighthawks" compared to the more advanced "Flower Queen".
Therefore, in formal occasions and designs, the kimono with vibrating sleeves is not deliberately designed in such a form that exposes the body in large quantities and has some suggestive associations.
The protagonist of "In the Flower Night Road"
Claims to be "celebrating" Japanese culture, but in reality may play the opposite role, and such phenomena are not uncommon in literary and artistic works from a Western perspective. The reason for this is that the portrayal of "Japanese culture" or "Eastern culture" in modern literary and artistic works with a Western perspective as the mainstream is basically two styles: either "extremely traditional and primitive" or "cyberpunk full of neon signs in the dark night".
This has led to the natural stereotype of those who do not understand East Asian society: people with yellow skin and black hair can only live in these two worlds. Although this design is not pleasing, this design style is more in line with the current impression that Japan has left in the world.
In Avengers 4, Hawkeye is also cyberpunk-style Japan when he seeks revenge in Japan.
However, the formation of this stereotype is not unrelated to the export of Japan's own literary and artistic works and Japan's "self-Orientalism". Although modern Japan is a cultural export power, it more or less likes to bring foreigners' perspectives on themselves into their works, and even feedback them into their works, reinforcing this impression. Against this backdrop, most Westerners naturally reel in the framework of "cyberpunk" and "traditional backwardness."
Orientalism believes that everything in the East belongs to the original, backward, and extremely "traditional" content. If such a country develops, it will not be the "prosperous" appearance of Europe and the United States, but only a high-tech low-life appearance, or a cyberpunk with an alien sense.
In fact, the real modern city is not so different from the East and the West. Japan makes a cyberpunk style, one is to cater to the seemingly contradictory concepts of "oriental countries" and "developed cities" in the eyes of many people, and at the same time, it is also a kind of contempt for itself under the premise of highly homogeneous modern development.
If the description in the above article is still the "expression of different interests" of the Western people because they do not understand the Eastern countries, then as the Japanese who have been despised by Orientalism, it is absurd to bring Orientalism into the depths of their minds.
When works with a strong Orientalist perspective swept the world and lacked their own thinking, Japanese creators and consumers also consciously or unconsciously looked at China from a similar perspective, and did not think of "doing what you do not want to do to others".
Just like the outfit worn by Watanabe, some Japanese netizens feel that it is the image of Chinese in the hearts of Japanese people: "This double pill head is the template for the role of a Chinese-style girl in Japan." Indeed, in Japanese anime and game works, the ball head and the cheongsam are both essential elements for the representation of Chinese women.
At the same time, the netizen also said that this overexposed dress looks more like the women in Chinese court dramas.
Stills from "Daming Palace Words"
Labeling specific groups with certain stereotypes and elements is the easiest for the vast majority of people, but it is also the sloppiest. Separating specific ethnic groups from modern society and imagining abstractly only in traditional and sci-fi style designs is undoubtedly a condescending imagination of people who consider themselves "advanced civilizations" to define "backward civilizations".
This kind of imagination is like the remarks of the actor of "Shangqi" on Weibo – this is to "celebrate" Chinese culture. This perspective may penetrate deep into the marrow of most people and become a habitual thing, and even they themselves do not feel that this expression has any contempt or disrespect.
But any form of culture does not like others to express "celebration" "condescendingly", and it is enough to express it properly in the right place - it is very unpleasant to take it out in the case of no relevance and show it as a fixed and unchanging sample.
"Kung Fu Panda" is healthy because its story is set in "antiquity", and it is certainly understandable to show tradition. But in the setting of "Shangqi", all of them are in the 21st century, and it is still showing backward traditional villages, and trying to express "celebration" with stereotypes in unknown works, it is very crotch-pulling...
It can be seen that the "Oriental style" under the current mainstream perspective of the West does seem to be tacit, as long as the culture of the Eastern countries is expressed, it will consciously or unconsciously dig out a set of "ancient, traditional" and exaggerated "high-tech cyberpunk" in the modern context. This line of thinking implies the negation of the development made by these Eastern countries.
In Black Panther, the world's most technologically advanced country, its people live a traditional life, and the king needs to rely on life-and-death duels, which are fought with spears, cloaks and various cold weapons.
Similarly, the movie "Black Panther" is using a similar perspective.
From an Orientalist perspective, any country that is considered "backward and traditional" does not seem to deserve a fully modern ordinary city, and must have a part that highlights its backwardness or tradition: either to emphasize local characteristics or to cater to the imagination of some people who think of "those backward places". This has to be speculated that european and American countries deserve modern facilities and environments, high technology and weapons, and normal, and in fact universal everyday clothing in modern society.
Fortunately, with the deepening of exchanges, the Chinese images that have appeared in Japanese dramas and anime in recent years have begun to show some relatively real "ordinary feelings": the uncle who thinks room 808 is very suitable in "The Woman Who bought a house", the Chinese who asks who will pay when he comes up in "Late Night Canteen", and even "Love Live!" Super star！！ Tang Coco, who came to Japan to study for his favorite Japanese culture.
These all represent some Japanese people's perception of China, because of the increasing number of Chinese they are exposed to in their lives, and the Chinese image that the Japanese people actually feel is not the same as that created by the media. The same is the "stereotype", those equal, decent "stereotypes" will not make people so uncomfortable, but let the audience have a sense of resonance; and the stereotype of Orientalism implies the deep meaning of "condescending" - the other party is backward, need to be picked up as a "superior civilization" themselves, give some humanistic care, and then "celebrate" a good "celebration" to show their universal care and sense of moral superiority.
You must know that the times are progressing and exchanges are deepening. Nor will the victims of the Orientalist perspective be limited to China or Japan, but all those who are gazed at maliciously by some in the West, and those who are unconsciously influenced by this "gaze" but have no malice in fact. In this regard, we need to pay full attention to it, and through statements and exchanges, to make the other party change this "gaze" posture.
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