Comments on: Er... naked lunch.

Er... naked lunch.

xmattxfx — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:12:01 -0800

By: xmattxfx

xmattxfx — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:14:38 -0800

well i couldn't find the promised photo of the living dinner plate on arabia's site, so that's why i say it's SFW.

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:19:30 -0800

I don't know which is weirder, the body sushi thing or the fact that I too vividly remember that Reader's Digest article about the guy getting his arm caught.

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:21:59 -0800

I went to a party in Chelsea a few years ago where they did this with a transvestite instead of flat-out traditional woman. Either way, it's a fun presentation but a LOUSY way to eat sushi---you want your fish fresh and cold, right? Not 98.6 degrees.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:24:43 -0800

The Reader's Digest DIRL bit I remember from childhood was the skier that caught a tree in the groin at full speed. Retch-o-matic. I sure hope they scrub the girl down well beforehand, regardless.

By: xmattxfx

xmattxfx — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:25:05 -0800

ok, so i found it and it's sorta kinda NSFW.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:25:12 -0800

And is it just me or is Arabia's site super-annoying?

By: goethean

goethean — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:29:27 -0800

I'd eat it. </fark>

By: ScottUltra

ScottUltra — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:30:53 -0800

No, gottabefunky ... it's definitely not you.

By: silusGROK

silusGROK — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:33:45 -0800

It's nothing new... and though the story may be apocryphal, it still pre-dates Gary. My understanding is that this very form of food presentation is the source of our term "kinky"... Apparently, American GIs in Japan (shortly aftern WWII) were treated to this on the island of Kinki. As I said, I can't attest to the veracity of the statement, but I heard that story years ago.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:36:11 -0800

It looks like food is presented on a corpse. How is that supposed to be appetizing again?

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:36:40 -0800

Need info on how to be a naked human sushi platter

By: Stan Chin

Stan Chin — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:37:12 -0800

If it smells like fish, eat all you wish. [/obvious, rimshot] What the hell do you list that as on your resume? Global Cuisine, 2002-2003, Professional Platter? "Hey! Chopsticks aren't calipers!" I had plenty more worse jokes, but I think I've said enough. I'll be here all week folks, remember to tip your waitstaff, especially the sushi dumbwaiter. OW! I kill me!

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:40:46 -0800

The first thing that jumped to mind: And when they sat down they really did the take to end all takes, for they found out that the chairs they was sittin' on was composed of CHICKS! carefully woven together! About this time Minski say, "Table! Come here!" And the whole table go MMMMMMMMMMMMM. And they look at the table and they find out the same gig is goin' there but by this time they are so hungry they are so starved to get something in their belly, make the brain work, that's all, get some fuel going there, make the wheels turn, don't worry about a thing. You got all this food. We're gonna eat. We'll talk it over later! Lord Buckley's "The Bad-Rapping of the Marquis de Sade"

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:45:15 -0800

From eddydamascene's link: " Oh, and where does the wasabi go (the belly button just seems wrong)?" Given the alternatives, I'd say the belly button would be just fine, thank you.

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:46:50 -0800

And BTW Stan, I can't believe you skipped this one: "Hey! That's not pickled ginger!"

By: KevinSkomsvold

KevinSkomsvold — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:48:37 -0800

My intense dislike for sushi has now been solidified. Thanks MeFi! Do this at a Wendy's or Denny's and I'm all over it. Mmmm.. A triple-cheeseburger eaten off the supple breasts of a supermodel wannabe. Whats not to like?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:56:06 -0800

A triple-cheeseburger eaten off the supple breasts of a supermodel wannabe. You've just descibed my personal heaven, Kev.

By: botono9

botono9 — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:56:53 -0800

I'll take the box lunch? [/doh]

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 10:57:32 -0800

Stupidity, even when clothed in highbrow raiment (ramen?) and practiced by the upper crust, is still stupid.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:00:43 -0800

Stupidity, my ass. Naked flesh and food, two great pleasures and ones usually psychologically associated. Get off your high horse, my freind.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:14:31 -0800

Me? I prefer the lunch box...

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:15:25 -0800

I'm sorry, I won't be here all week...

By: konolia

konolia — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:24:35 -0800

What does the Health Department say about this/

By: serafinapekkala

serafinapekkala — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:25:49 -0800

i like how Arabia says that when he hired this woman to be a server, he knew she would be "a perfect sushi girl." how exactly did that conversation go? if my boss asked me to strip and cover myself with Post-Its, i think i might get a new job. OT re: Drama In Real Life -- anyone remember the guy who was horribly mauled by a bear? *shiver*

By: widdershins

widdershins — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:31:16 -0800

Sorry, this is just not cool unless there's a naked (waxed?) man right next to her. Let's be honest and call a spade a spade here - this is objectifying in the worst way. If it were a consenting sexual situation, fine. As it is, it's just degrading. I can't believe that there are women out there willing to do this - but it's one step up from lapdancing, I guess.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:34:15 -0800

Sorry, this is just not cool unless there's a naked (waxed?) man right next to her. Let's be honest and call a spade a spade here - this is objectifying in the worst way. Oh, come on. It's all in fun. Don't be so puritanical. Go ahead and get a male sushi tray. Men would line up for the opportunity.

By: ed

ed — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:34:17 -0800

The big cross-demographic question is how to tie this in with the cunnilingus enthusiasts.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:35:42 -0800

Just when I think people can't get dumber, something like this comes along. And its not new, what was that Brandon Lee cop movie? I think with Danny Aiello or James Woods or someone. They bust through a sushi bar where there are repressed Japanese businessmen eating sushi off a naked blond lady. Do they have to excuse themselves to have a most honorable jackoff?

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:52:55 -0800

"Naked flesh and food, two great pleasures and ones usually psychologically associated." I never really understood that. Wait, make that "I understand it, but it doesn't do anything for me". That's more like it.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:52:58 -0800

I love hearing all these men with their phony disgust and horror and the naked ladies. Like none of you all ever look at porn or go to strip clubs. Trying to impress the feminist chicks, guys? It's healthy for pete's sake. Loosen up.

By: widdershins

widdershins — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 11:56:29 -0800

Puritanical. Puritanical? That is a first! I have no problem with nudity. Or with consenting adults doing whatever the hell they want with consenting adults. But this is crossing a line for me, mostly because of the completely subordinate and passive role these models play. I don't claim to know what they must be thinking, but for me, lying stock-still and naked while men are poking at me with chopsticks does not sound healthy or fun. It would be one thing if they got to participate in the party in some way, such as presenting the food or feeding the clients or whatever you can think of. But serving as an inanimate object - a platter, for god's sake - is the very definition of objectification. At least exotic dancers and Hooters waitresses have some control over their situations. This is completely disempowering. BUT - to each their own.

By: zekinskia

zekinskia — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:00:54 -0800

So you do realize that this was portrayed in the movie Rising Sun about ten years ago, right? I think that might be what Fenriq is vaguely referring to...

By: jonmc

jonmc — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:02:13 -0800

But this is crossing a line for me, mostly because of the completely subordinate and passive role these models play. I don't claim to know what they must be thinking, but for me, lying stock-still and naked while men are poking at me with chopsticks does not sound healthy or fun. Some people dig being passive. Or it's a way to make a quick couple bucks. There's always been stuff like this and there always will be. And yes, free-thinking liberal-minded pro-feminist people can be just as puritanical as any replubican baptist. They just don't realize that they are as hobbled by their neuroses as anybody else.

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:13:06 -0800

Some people dig being passive. ...and some people make compromises for money.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:13:38 -0800

I'd serve ice cream off my ass if somebody paid me enough. which brings to mind an apocryphal but i think self-explanatory tale from back in the debaucherous college days which i shall only embellish by saying it was quite a hairy ass, and rocky road

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:15:17 -0800

It's nothing new... what was that Brandon Lee cop movie? According to Arabia, body sushi has a long tradition in Japan; he first experimented with it nine years ago "for a very special celebrity client who wanted something completely different." He did it again for the 1993 movie "Rising Sun," Food & Sex, seems like an old tradition but here, you eat have sex then drive home. while men are poking at me with chopsticks does not sound healthy or fun. Whose poking them? This can mean that the location won't work — because of obvious temperature concerns, body sushi doesn't work outside — or that Arabia feels the spirit of the client is not in keeping with the dignity of the presentation. particularly female guests, have reacted to body sushi events. "The women just love it. When we did 'The Surreal Life,' there were four guys, four girls, and three of the guys wouldn't sit down [around the sushi model]. They were very uncomfortable. But the women loved it." Wonder what this costs, sushi alone is expensive, I could only afford the cheap version, table for one tableclothed in lingerie newspaper adds.

By: Ogre Lawless

Ogre Lawless — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:15:45 -0800

The whole thing sounds somewhat uncomfortable. How should the Modern Gentleman react in such a situation. Avoid eye contact? Make pleasant banner? Oh, twenty-first century and all your predicaments.

By: GhostintheMachine

GhostintheMachine — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:16:11 -0800

My understanding is that this very form of food presentation is the source of our term "kinky"... ...and here I thought it was derived from the Dutch word "kink", meaning a twist in a rope.

By: romakimmy

romakimmy — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:17:37 -0800

Objectification, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. As a born and bred pervert, I would find the experience interesting from both, um, ends.

By: pomegranate

pomegranate — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:19:05 -0800

She CHOSE to do this job, as much as the look on her face implies that she was somehow forced to do it and is currently holding in all kinds of bodily functions. This is what she WANTS to do for money, for whatever reason. Maybe she's a civil rights lawyer during the day, or a brain surgeon, or a CEO, and it relaxes or arouses her to have people focus on her body rather than her brain. Maybe she's charging a ton of money and sees herself as exploiting Arabia. Who knows?

By: pomegranate

pomegranate — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:20:29 -0800

Sigh... romakimmy said it so much better than me. Must use preview button more often...

By: vito90

vito90 — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:26:14 -0800

Jade Marcela did this in Gang Bang Angels 6

By: the fire you left me

the fire you left me — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:26:54 -0800

The Sun, also.

By: urlnotfound

urlnotfound — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:32:14 -0800

Oh her fake tits look awful in that picture. The way they wrinkle on the sides like a cheap inflatable raft. EWWW Body temperature sushi? EWWW Eating food off a woman with the need to have implants and have food eaten off of her for money? EWWW Does it still make me tingle down there? ...

By: widdershins

widdershins — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:41:28 -0800

I was set to get all huffy about being called "hobbled by [my] neuroses" when I realized that that is, of course, true. I can personally think of few things I would hate as much as being powerless. And yes, I recognize that the models have a choice and no one is being forced to be platters and that some of them may get off on it. And I never suggested that the models were stupid. However, none of these points makes this any less objectifying. If you don't know whether you should make eye contact (as per Ogre Lawless' comment above), something about the situation is dehumanizing.

By: romakimmy

romakimmy — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:02:56 -0800

Eye contact as a barometer of objectification is imprecise, due to various cultural standards, as well as standards of ettiquette. I'm thinking here of various visitors I've heard over the years whinge about how Italian males "stare at me like I'm a piece of meat." Yet avoiding eye contact with a human pu-pu platter is also dehumanising. It's all about your own personal frame of reference and how you react when confronted with a situation or behaviour outside said frame.

By: Slothrup

Slothrup — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:06:01 -0800

And its not new, what was that Brandon Lee cop movie? I think with Danny Aiello or James Woods or someone. They bust through a sushi bar where there are repressed Japanese businessmen eating sushi off a naked blond lady. I believe you're thinking of Showdown in Little Tokyo.

By: euphorb

euphorb — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:10:55 -0800

And its not new, what was that Brandon Lee cop movie? I think with Danny Aiello or James Woods or someone. The movie was Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) with Dolph "I come in Peace" Lundgren. "We're gonna nail this guy. And when we're done, we're gonna go eat raw fish off of those naked chicks."

By: Driph

Driph — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:19:46 -0800

Oh oh, or the one where the guy fell off the roof and was impaled, crotch to shoulder, by rebar. That story will go with me to my grave.

By: ed

ed — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:21:02 -0800

This must be what those punks in Repo Man meant when they said "Let's order sushi and not pay."

By: titboy

titboy — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:49:20 -0800

what a rip-off. Not Safe For W... ?

By: mosch

mosch — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:55:21 -0800

I'm all for body sushi, but I'm not sure I agree that she's the perfect sushi girl, the de-hanced breasts kill it for me. Personally I don't even see it as being particularly exploitive, nor do I see that there'd be an issue with having a sushi guy as well as the sushi girl. You can't see any of the forbidden fruit, and surely the guests would understand that they're to touch the food, not the platter. As far as the warmness issue goes, I've had body sushi thanks to a wonderful, generous girl who made a very memorable birthday dinner. There really wasn't a problem, as the leaves placed between the sushi and the skin did a surprisingly effective job of dissappating the heat. I'd think that so long as the sushi is being replaced at a decent pace (which it must be anyway, since it's sushi), that there'd be no problem over the course of an evening.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 13:57:24 -0800

IT'S...PEOPLE!

By: 111

111 — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:26:07 -0800

Jade Marcela did this in Gang Bang Angels 6 Thanks for enlightening us.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:30:01 -0800

I love sushi, and I love naked women, but I don't think I'd like this particular combination. Re: sex and food, there's Big Night, Tampopo, and, distressingly, 9-1/2 Weeks and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:37:40 -0800

S'like, what's for dessert once the sushi's gone?

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 16:45:57 -0800

However, none of these points makes this any less objectifying. Okay, sure. It's objectifying, I don't have a problem with that. I think that if consenting adults want to objectify one another, that's their enjoyment/problem/whatever. Some people enjoy objectifying, some people enjoy being objectified. I'm reluctant to accept "objectifying" as a synonym for "wrong." I would have a problem with this if it were being presented as The Right Way for Women To Be. "Honey, if you study hard, you can become a human platter!!!" But I don't see that as the case here. We can argue about how women are shown on tv, or some other medium that has a huge cultural impact, but this site strikes me as something that's playing to a particular adult kink, and I just can't see it as a problem.

By: JoanArkham

JoanArkham — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 04:40:36 -0800

"What, and give up show business?" I once went to a trade show where, interspersed among the platters of food on the buffet, were people made up to look like vegetables. With their heads stuck through holes on the table so it looked like they were on a platter. I think I would be similarly disturbed by this, sexual and feminist issues aside.

By: sparky

sparky — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 10:07:56 -0800

The male version just isn't as appetizing... I guess they don't wax in Germany. Waiter, there's a hair in my sushi!

By: pjgulliver

pjgulliver — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 13:19:38 -0800

Do you talk to the person being the sushi platter? I can't imagine they are supposed to talk....but I would just feel really uncomfortable with some naked chick with food on her lying in front of me, listening to everything my friends and I were saying....it would be just so weird....

By: stoneegg21

stoneegg21 — Sat, 23 Aug 2003 22:09:59 -0800

It says the sushi people can talk if they want. I suppose it would depend on how bored they were, and if they could keep from laughing or spilling.