Lizard vs Heads of Meat!
November 9, 2005 2:53 PM   Subscribe

Japanese games shows are f*cked up, part 4,543,213. Contestants strap meat to forehead and release giant lizard. Hilarity ensues.
posted by XQUZYPHYR (98 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher



 
Magnificent.
posted by killdevil at 2:56 PM on November 9, 2005


Best double-posting ever! Matt, please don't delete this. Let it remain for posterity.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:56 PM on November 9, 2005


WTF? Awesome.
posted by goatfish at 2:58 PM on November 9, 2005


I recently enjoyed this video of Tony Almeida off '24' appearing on some Japanese TV show.

Needless to say, he moonwalks like Michael Jackson. No, really.
posted by tapeguy at 2:59 PM on November 9, 2005


I was really hoping the two were NOT related so I could make some witty remark.
posted by iamck at 2:59 PM on November 9, 2005


It's a tie!
posted by tatnasty at 3:00 PM on November 9, 2005


Awesome. They really need to export more culture.
posted by jmccorm at 3:00 PM on November 9, 2005


I must be missing out on some good television. Japanese and/or expats... please comment.
posted by killdevil at 3:00 PM on November 9, 2005


Best double post ever.
posted by puke & cry at 3:02 PM on November 9, 2005 [1 favorite]


Wow. Meat helmets. Literally.

(A friend posted this in my LJ already, as my LJ name is 'meathelmet'. Because it wasn't taken, amazingly enough, and I think it's the best name ever.)
posted by spinifex23 at 3:05 PM on November 9, 2005


*waiting for part three of the japanese+lizard trifecta*
posted by arcticwoman at 3:18 PM on November 9, 2005


I'm-a-bettin' Matt's gonna re-neg on his usual "first post wins" policy because this one will have more comments.

Any takers?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:24 PM on November 9, 2005


i think this is my new favorite video. At about the 25 second point when they pull the monitor back and he starts freaking out is great, but the best moment is at about 45 seconds when they cut to a different angle and you can see the people not directly being charged reacting...

Genius.
posted by quin at 3:28 PM on November 9, 2005


Man, what is up with the girl on the left in the shot that comes in at 45 seconds? She seems creepily uninterested in the preceedings.
posted by cloeburner at 3:36 PM on November 9, 2005


second post for teh won!
posted by lemonfridge at 3:37 PM on November 9, 2005


Leaping lizards, that was hilarious!

*is shot*

I think I'd watch Fear Factor a whole lot more if it featured a bunch of jumpy Japanese girls.
posted by kosher_jenny at 3:46 PM on November 9, 2005


Man, what is up with the girl on the left in the shot that comes in at 45 seconds? She seems creepily uninterested in the Proceedings.

She's a trained lizard meat target, planted there by the producers for extra hilarity.
posted by kosher_jenny at 3:49 PM on November 9, 2005


Awesome.
posted by spazzm at 3:56 PM on November 9, 2005


polar bear
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:01 PM on November 9, 2005


i really need to move to japan ...
posted by paradroid at 4:04 PM on November 9, 2005


Man. Why can't we get American pop stars to participant in such tomfoolery?
posted by jazon at 4:12 PM on November 9, 2005


LOL
posted by swift at 4:14 PM on November 9, 2005


Man, what is up with the girl on the left in the shot that comes in at 45 seconds? She seems creepily uninterested in the preceedings.

The one who doesn't scream or duck? She is so fired.
posted by dhartung at 4:15 PM on November 9, 2005


Japanese games shows are f*cked up, part 4,543,213.

You know, I think America has surpassed Japan in terms of f*cked up games shows... like here's a description of Family Fear Factor... During one segment, a mother locked her daughter into a Plexiglass box full of cockroaches, and then forced the kid to undo her lock. For some strange reason, being locked in a box and covered with hundreds of cockroaches didn't sit too well with her daughter; the girl looked terrified and was sobbing as she fumbled with the lock.
posted by bobo123 at 4:35 PM on November 9, 2005


These "game" shows always remind me of the classic 1958 Robert Sheckley short story, "The Prize of Peril", which seems to be the Ur-story of the reality TV genre. Although the lizard/meat hat angle of this FPP is mighty weird...
posted by mosk at 4:52 PM on November 9, 2005


Very nice.

Is it just me or has today been an exceptional day on metafitler?
posted by delmoi at 4:53 PM on November 9, 2005


Morning Musume... cute moniker.
posted by clevershark at 4:54 PM on November 9, 2005


Oh, gee, yet another "Look at those wacky Japanese" post...
posted by nightchrome at 5:07 PM on November 9, 2005


Oh, gee, yet another "Look at those wacky Japanese" post...

Well, if that isn't wacky, I don't know what is.
posted by chuq at 5:17 PM on November 9, 2005


Donna mushi ga nightchrome no oshiri ni iru ka?
[Translation: What kind of bug is in nightchrome's butt?]

Seriously, there's plenty of things in Japan that aren't wacky. Kids riding bicycles or the subway to school, salarymen working long hours and getting drunk with their co-workers at the end of the day, housewives listening to soap operas as they scrub the bathroom floor... these things happen in Japan every day, and they aren't wacky in the slightest. And how about traditional culture? Kabuki, noh, sumou, calligraphy, the tea ceremony? These things are unfamiliar to most Westerners, but nobody could fairly call them wacky, either. But girl group members with meat strapped to their heads being assaulted by a huge lizard while a TV studio crowd goes nuts? I'm sorry, that is wacky, no matter who you are or where you're from, and I'm sure any Japanese person would agree. Perhaps nightchrome's wackometer needs calibrating.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:36 PM on November 9, 2005


This is great.

It must be fun to be a Japanese TV game show producer.
posted by effwerd at 5:40 PM on November 9, 2005


Oh and the same minute double post just adds to the wackiness.
posted by effwerd at 5:41 PM on November 9, 2005


Is this the first same minute double?
posted by Mitheral at 5:46 PM on November 9, 2005


This individual post is not the point.
It's the fact that mefites seem obsessed with finding wacky stuff from Japan and pointing and staring, then shaking their heads and going "Oh those wacky Japanese..."
Everyone seems to believe that ALL Japanese are ALL wacky ALL the time, and that stuff like this is representative of the country as a whole. It's a lame stereotype is what it is.
posted by nightchrome at 5:53 PM on November 9, 2005


nightchrome writes "It's a lame stereotype is what it is."

Likewise: Americans, you are being judged by Fear Factor, Gigli, and speeches by George W. Bush.
posted by clevershark at 6:05 PM on November 9, 2005


Come on clevershark, we get some Batman and Pynchon don't we?
posted by freebird at 6:09 PM on November 9, 2005


give me a break nightchrome. it's women with meat strapped to their heads getting rushed by giant lizards.

NOT THE FACT THAT THEY ARE JAPANESE. get over it.
posted by freudianslipper at 6:13 PM on November 9, 2005


That's bull, and you know it.
Posts like this show up all the time making fun of stuff in Japan. Heck you can probably just go through my comment list and find all the ones I've bitched about. It's a recent pet peeve I've developed.
posted by nightchrome at 6:17 PM on November 9, 2005


We equally enjoy finding wacky stuff from Kansas and pointing and staring. 's all good.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:25 PM on November 9, 2005


clevershark writes "Likewise: Americans, you are being judged by Fear Factor, Gigli, and speeches by George W. Bush."

When I was in Japan, I saw a lot of Jerry Springer on TV....
posted by mr_roboto at 6:28 PM on November 9, 2005


girl group members with meat strapped to their heads being assaulted by a huge lizard while a TV studio crowd goes nuts? I'm sorry, that is wacky

And there's probably a hentai manga out there with a very similar plot too.
posted by kosher_jenny at 6:28 PM on November 9, 2005


If you can't appreciate the majesty, no, the pure steam-distilled awesome of women with meat hats taunting a lizard, then I pity you.

...because it's a world of meat-hats out there, and we don't have nearly enough lizards to do the job right.
posted by aramaic at 6:31 PM on November 9, 2005


I can think of a few people in Kansas that could stand to have meat strapped to their heads and put in a cage with a large Floridian lizard.
posted by anthill at 6:41 PM on November 9, 2005


Did someone say "meat hats"?
posted by clevershark at 6:46 PM on November 9, 2005


nightchrome writes "Heck you can probably just go through my comment list and find all the ones I've bitched about."

I went back three pages in your comment history and I couldn't find another comment by by you bitching about MeFis making fun of Japan. There were several of you ragging on the US for immediate post war Japanese legilation though.

There was this fairly surreal comment in the Cohen thread. Are you defending Japan there or Canada or the US. I'm not sure who you meant by we in the comment.
posted by Mitheral at 6:49 PM on November 9, 2005


Mitheral, well I have to admit I make a lot of comments bitching about a wide variety of things. But I assure you there are bitchy comments in just about every Japan-related thread in the past few months.
The Cohen one was about Canada, since I am in fact Canadian.
posted by nightchrome at 6:58 PM on November 9, 2005


Posts like this show up all the time making fun of stuff in Japan.

I'm betting that if it were members of New Pornographers (Canadians), it would still have been linked. I'm also betting that if there were no meat hats, helmets, or lizard it would not have been linked.
posted by Manhasset at 7:03 PM on November 9, 2005


Everyone seems to believe that ALL Japanese are ALL wacky ALL the time, and that stuff like this is representative of the country as a whole.

Actually, no. The stereotype is they're mostly rigid and boring until they let their freak flag fly on national television (or wherever). My experience has pretty much borne this out as true, and yes I think it's awesome. "It's not racism if you like their race." - Seinfeld
posted by fungible at 7:04 PM on November 9, 2005


What nightchrome said.
posted by dydecker at 7:04 PM on November 9, 2005


So, if I go through nightchrome's comment list I'll find more japanese wackiness?! Awesome!
posted by photoslob at 7:09 PM on November 9, 2005


Nah, if you go through my comment list you'll find an extremely bitter and sarcastic person sniping whenever an opportunity arises.
posted by nightchrome at 7:28 PM on November 9, 2005


Apparently he fell through the Earth and ended up in Norway.
posted by homunculus at 7:34 PM on November 9, 2005


Jesus Christ, man. You know why I like clips from Japanese game shows? Because they kick ass. If our game shows had that much variety and melodrama, they'd be fun to watch!

Did you watch the seal girl and the polar bear? Genius. Clips like that are why I enjoyed that one show on Spike TV (the..uh...Japanese game show). Not the crappy announcers, but the coolness of the games themselves.
posted by graventy at 7:40 PM on November 9, 2005


Admittedly, Japanese variety shows totally wipe the floor with just about everything on North American tv.
posted by nightchrome at 7:43 PM on November 9, 2005


How embarrassing, XQUZ etc.
posted by punishinglemur at 7:52 PM on November 9, 2005


nightchrome writes "Nah, if you go through my comment list you'll find an extremely bitter and sarcastic person sniping whenever an opportunity arises."

er, who among us can't say the very same thing?
posted by clevershark at 7:58 PM on November 9, 2005


Metafilter: bitter, sarcastic sniping in meat-hats
posted by nightchrome at 8:01 PM on November 9, 2005


that one show on Spike TV

Unfortunately, Takeshi's Castle was the coolest show on J-TV ever. I lived in Japan 1992-2000 and saw nothing even remotely like it.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:17 PM on November 9, 2005


that rules ... i really would have liked to see if the lizard would actually eat meat off of someone's head like that
posted by pyramid termite at 8:30 PM on November 9, 2005


this is great.
posted by j-urb at 8:39 PM on November 9, 2005


Posts like this show up all the time making fun of stuff in Japan

Then find some clips of Brazilians, Danes, or Italians and we'll make equal fun.
Wait! Correction: we're not even making fun of it. In reality, we're totally bowled over by the ultimate awesomeness of these activities. Meat hats? Giant Lizards? Could it get any sweeter?

Dude, it's not like we're saying things like, "tea ceremoney is teh gay and they've got small eyes pearl harbor put them in camps let's n00k them agin hahahaha." 1
It just so happens that we don't often see this sort of extreme hyperactive surrealism coming from other nations.
It's like getting to watch grownups play Double Dare all the time.

Settle down. I mean, really, if you're getting bent out of shape about how excited we all are about japanese women wearing meat hats running from a big lizard, you've got a lot of indignant outrage to spare.


1: Would never ever say something like that in real life.
posted by Jon-o at 8:47 PM on November 9, 2005


PS: Just click on the "meat" tag. Go on.
posted by Jon-o at 8:50 PM on November 9, 2005


Am I the only one who thought this was hot? Not the thread, just the Japanese pop stars with meat on their head fleeing from a lizard.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 8:55 PM on November 9, 2005


* awkward silence *
posted by yhbc at 8:56 PM on November 9, 2005


Am I the only one who thought this was hot?

Probably not. You're just the only one who didn't care about our feelings enough to prevent you from sharing that disturbing tidbit.
posted by Jon-o at 9:15 PM on November 9, 2005


there is certainly always a fine lane between exoticizing Japan and appreciating the myriad of amazing cultural products they produce. but I wonder how disparate reactions of people in the US say are from people in Japan when seeing a video like this. isn't this in all likelihood also seen as completely bonkers in Japan? we have equivalent shows in the US it seems. fear factor etc. isn't ot rather odd to assume that Japanese people think that this is completely unremarkable? do Americans think that fear factor is completely normal? maybe they think its stupid and uninteresting because we understand its rather banal context, but its still really absurd.

also, unless I've missed it, everyone has failed to mention that those girls are members of two incredibly awesome japanese bands: morning musume and minimoni!
posted by huffa at 9:46 PM on November 9, 2005


If by "incredibly awesome japanese bands" you mean "amalgamation of talentless cutie-pies forged into a mass-market powerhouse" then sure.
posted by nightchrome at 9:52 PM on November 9, 2005


That's bull, and you know it.

nightchrome is right. How many Brazillian meat-helmet eating lizard game shows get posted to MeFi? What about the Italian ones? Or the Iranian?

Clearly the wacky isn't found in Japan. We find it because we look there.
posted by dreamsign at 10:10 PM on November 9, 2005


nightchrome
posted by Jon-o at 10:26 PM on November 9, 2005


Jon-o, Yeah, I totally agree that I fly off the handle over this topic. I have an agenda. It's a pet peeve, something I get antsy over, something I poke and prod at incessantly. We all have something that irks us. There could be countless reasons why these things bug me. Probably none of them are very flattering to me.
posted by nightchrome at 11:17 PM on November 9, 2005


Am I the only one who thought this was hot?
Hot? No. Adorable? Yes.
I dunno. It's cute watching women be afraid of (harmless) things. My wife was afraid of a mouse last month and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Wouldn't let me kill it either. It got so that I thought the mouse was too cute to kill and I had to shoo it out the garage (took about an hour).

I think it's harmless, although I understand where nightchrome is coming from. There is a bit of fetishization (is that a real word?) of the Japanese and Asians in general.

What I'd like to find is the 'reality' show I saw a long while back when I was overseas. It was produced when airport bombings were the thing among terrorists (pre-9/11 "tearists") they pick some shnook in an airport, walk up to him, drop a briefcase in front of him and run. Now that's offensive and funny. (Note - I'm not mentioning the country).
posted by Smedleyman at 11:51 PM on November 9, 2005


Probably should have emphasized the "AND" on that last bit there.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:54 PM on November 9, 2005


Meathats and lizards? I gotta agree: it's one of the more insane things I've seen. It's like Salvadore Dali does a TV Game Show. A work of Art.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:04 AM on November 10, 2005


It was produced when airport bombings were the thing among terrorists (pre-9/11 "tearists") they pick some shnook in an airport, walk up to him, drop a briefcase in front of him and run. Now that's offensive and funny.

I should imagine that would be a fatal practical joke these days, especially in the US. A shame, because it would otherwise be a great sick prank.
posted by five fresh fish at 12:06 AM on November 10, 2005


I think I'm just bitter because I had a serious thing for 1st generation MM girl Yuko Nakazawa, otherwise known as "the old one".
posted by nightchrome at 12:25 AM on November 10, 2005


I have little experience with it, I admit, but from what I've seen, I love Japanese TV.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:50 AM on November 10, 2005


Japanese television is excellent. I firmly believe that Japanese are way better at comedy than (North) Americans. Why hasn't the concept of celebrity-run variety shows taken off back home? For that matter, why don't we have any genuinely amusing and interesting celebrities who aren't comedians by trade?
posted by nightchrome at 12:54 AM on November 10, 2005


Japanese television is excellent.

Taken as a whole, I found it to be pretty average.
posted by the cuban at 2:04 AM on November 10, 2005


Mainly because there isn't as pervasive a celebrity factory spitting out geinojin whose sole purpose in life is to populate all these stupid shows. Japanese TV is teh crap. The only thing worse than Japanese TV is Morning Musume. I was hoping that they were going to get eaten by the lizard.

By the way, none of those girls are more than like 13 so don't go finding them hot. Or at least don't go telling anyone about it. (unless you're a 50 year old Japanese man; then it's okay.)

And yeah, you people are all far too fascinated with Japan and things that you can find wacky about it. However, if it weren't for the other 6000 posts along that line, this post would have been cool. Although some might be compelled to mention that it's just one link with no contextual information.
posted by donkeymon at 2:13 AM on November 10, 2005


Shut up nightchrome, I didn't come to this thread to read about you.
posted by Joeforking at 2:16 AM on November 10, 2005


Woah, the hate.
posted by nightchrome at 2:33 AM on November 10, 2005


I'm no PETA handwringer, but I felt sort of sorry for the lizard. Between getting shoved around and, the girls freaking out, and the studio audience going ballistic, it looked pretty befuddled.
posted by alumshubby at 3:44 AM on November 10, 2005


oh thank god, alumshubby... i was starting to wonder "am i the only one who feels bad for the lizard?" and the polar bear: thud! i hope neither animal got hurt.

although i was laughing hysterically, even as i worried. heh.
posted by lapolla at 4:26 AM on November 10, 2005


Meh, it's all good -- this thread is due to be deleted within a few hours anyway. FWIW, I see where you're coming from, nightchrome (I also currently live in Japan--Shinjuku, if you're curious), and I do get a bit irritated by the "it's CRAZY Japan! wild and CRAZY!" kind of reactions to Japan.

But, on the other hand, meat hats. On teenage Japanese girls' heads. With a lizard running around. I don't care where you're from, that's downright hilarious.
posted by armage at 4:35 AM on November 10, 2005


nightchrome writes "If by 'incredibly awesome japanese bands' you mean 'amalgamation of talentless cutie-pies forged into a mass-market powerhouse' then sure."

Yeah, you'd never see that sort of cheapening of culture in America, that's for sure.
posted by clevershark at 5:37 AM on November 10, 2005


OK, wtf? You can't put meat on someone's head and let a lizard loose on them and then say 'don't talk about this.' If people in Japan are going to keep creating this stuff, we're going to keep staring and saying 'that's crazy.'

And it's not like we're singling out Japan. Did we all have a laugh at the German 'training' video? Yes we did. How about those crazy Russians? OMG, what's up with Sweden? Don't even get me started on the stuff coming from America that gets posted here.
posted by Who_Am_I at 5:48 AM on November 10, 2005


1983: - "Dang man, what is that you are eating, sushi? eeewww. Look everyone, he's eating raw fish!!"

-"hey man, how do you say boobies in chinese"
"um I'm Japanese"
"ya whatever, how do you say it?"

"hey! ching chang wang bang ah so!!... did i say anything in chinese?"

"hey teach me how to do a judo chop"

2005: "oh you are japanese? man I love sushi! california rolls are my favorite!"

"hey man, what does your name mean in engilsh?" its beautiful!"

"what is that old lady saying to bill in the hospital scene in lost in translation? I love that movie"

"teach me how to do a sake bomb"
posted by elemenopee at 5:52 AM on November 10, 2005


MXC (that SpikeTV japanese game show) is insanely great if you mute the sound. The contest where they shove the contestant into a ball and then roll them down a giant pinball table was one of the insanest things I've ever seen.
posted by Mitheral at 6:56 AM on November 10, 2005


Japanese television is excellent. I firmly believe that Japanese are way better at comedy than (North) Americans. Why hasn't the concept of celebrity-run variety shows taken off back home? For that matter, why don't we have any genuinely amusing and interesting celebrities who aren't comedians by trade?

I take it you've never seen VH1.

(by the way, I find that sort of 'entertainment' almost unberable when it comes out of American culture)
posted by delmoi at 6:58 AM on November 10, 2005


I got really ill in Kyoto and was bedridden for a whole day, once. Trust me: a whole day of Japanese TV can be quite dull.
posted by fungible at 7:05 AM on November 10, 2005


nightchrome: Japanese television is excellent.

I'm Japanese. Overall Japanese television is worse than American television. Sure there are some exceptions to the rule, but there's a reason why American TV is watched around the world whereas Japanese TV is almost never watched overseas.
posted by gen at 7:42 AM on November 10, 2005


I'm with alumshubby & lapolla-- amusing as the clip was, I seriously felt sorry for the lizard, who obviously was no threat to the girls (except maybe in a hygenic sense).
posted by mowglisambo at 7:45 AM on November 10, 2005


I suppose this is probably one of those cases of the grass always being greener on the other side. Most people I know here don't like local tv either, but fawn all over the most retarded sitcom crap that comes out of the US.
posted by nightchrome at 8:24 AM on November 10, 2005


nightchrome writes "I suppose this is probably one of those cases of the grass always being greener on the other side."

More that it's being screened for the "best"[1] content. For example, of the hundreds of hours of British programming broadcast everyday BBC Canada only shows 24 hours of it. And big chunks of that are repeats of popular shows. So there is a bar keeping the truely horrible programming out raising the average of what is percieved to be programming from country "foo"

[1]whatever the metric setting the best is at the moment
posted by Mitheral at 11:26 AM on November 10, 2005


I had never heard of Takeshi's Castle- perhaps it's even better in German?
posted by wzcx at 3:29 PM on November 10, 2005


i was starting to wonder "am i the only one who feels bad for the lizard?"

Nope.
posted by dreamsign at 3:43 PM on November 10, 2005


I believe that that was one of the most disturbing things that I have seen in a very long time.
posted by inconsequentialist at 4:44 PM on November 10, 2005


clevershark : "Morning Musume... cute moniker."

And just shows the awkwardness that comes from folks not knowing history. They're named "morning musume." after their first song, "Morning Coffee", which has the refrain "Let's drink morning coffee together". The average age of band members was maybe 15 at the time. "Morning coffee" is an old roundabout way of saying sleep together. (Think "Would you like to have breakfast tomorrow? Should I call you, or nudge you?") Most people nowadays don't know this old slang, so it was taken as an innocent little ditty, as opposed to a band named after paedophilia. And, no, Japanese don't all think paedophilia is the best thing since sliced bread.

Heywood Mogroot : "Unfortunately, Takeshi's Castle was the coolest show on J-TV ever. I lived in Japan 1992-2000 and saw nothing even remotely like it."

I wish I'd seen it. It's still talked about with reverence. I should go check if there are videos of it.

Mitheral : "So there is a bar keeping the truely horrible programming out raising the average of what is percieved to be programming from country 'foo'"

Exactly. Living in Japan, you find two things: you get used to stuff like this (I doubt I would have given the clip in question a second glance if it were on regular TV), and that there's a whole lot of crap that people outside Japan don't have to sift through.

When I say "get used to", I don't mean that this is humdrum ordinary stuff, no different than riding a bike or baking pancakes. It's "xtr33m zany stuff". But it's extremely common "xtr33m zany stuff". Think of it the way you might a band like Slipknot: is wearing demented clown masks with nails coming out while screaming into a mic normal in the US? No, not really. It's far from average behavior. But it is relatively common for bands who need a gimmick, so after a while, you just stop registering that band X has pictures of themselves covered in pigs blood or the like. It's both extreme and really common, at the same time.
posted by Bugbread at 6:51 AM on November 11, 2005


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