'what could Terrace House have done ...?'
July 9, 2020 5:52 AM Subscribe
The biggest lie we ever told ourselves about the Japanese reality show was that it wasn't like all the other ones. - 'When I first pitched this piece, I wanted to know what it would take for Terrace House to return to television. Not because I wanted the show to continue, but because I wanted to know: what could Terrace House have done that might have prevented Hana’s death? [...] It is, to be clear, an absolutely futile and perhaps even offensive suggestion that, in a different world, things would be different. I also pitched the story weeks before Kyoko began speaking to the press, fighting to defend her daughter’s legacy and seek justice for her death. But I began digging, looking for so-called solutions to the mental health ramifications of sudden fame imposed by reality TV.'
Farah Hasnain, the Pakistani-American translator who's been posting English translations of Kimura's mother's interviews on twitter and quoted in this piece, also just posted a short video why she's doing this.
Previously (the thread was just closed).
Farah Hasnain, the Pakistani-American translator who's been posting English translations of Kimura's mother's interviews on twitter and quoted in this piece, also just posted a short video why she's doing this.
Previously (the thread was just closed).
Hana’s mother, professional wrestler Kyoko Kimura, has said that Terrace House producers pushed Hana to act aggressively during the scene with Kai, encouraging her to hit him.
I'm so angry to hear this. It had come out that the show was extremely guided, thanks to a Lauren Tsai interview a few years back. And (though I haven't seen the episodes) it sounded odd: Hana was such a kind and socially aware person, so easily embarrassed and mild. Even if she did slap his hat off, she would never have held a grudge enough to not say goodbye the day Kai left the house.
This tv program cast a young, sensitive, easily embarrassed "mixed race" woman who plays a villain wrestling character for her career. She was savaged online because her father is Indonesian. The show knew this was happening, and probably knew it would happen. They pressured her into acting more like her villain character on the show itself. She did, if only a bit. This confirmed the worst racist ideas about her: she's violent, out of control, and mean. But that wasn't her. She really was just Hana. Painfully shy, inexperienced in love, sensitive and bruised. They led her to be slaughtered.
And maybe the worst part is knowing, without watching, what the show commenters (Yamasato Ryota et al) said about her in those episodes. It wouldn't have been explicitly racist, but it would have been damning and enough to kick off the frenzy. The commenters may not actively bully the castmates (though I think Yamasato has alluded to joining the online conversation himself), but they certainly frame the discussion, and often in a very unfriendly way.
The whole thing was a setup. I'm heartbroken for Hana, and disgusted at every level of this thing. I hope the episodes are never released on Netflix. They've already done enough damage.
posted by erinfern at 7:33 AM on July 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm so angry to hear this. It had come out that the show was extremely guided, thanks to a Lauren Tsai interview a few years back. And (though I haven't seen the episodes) it sounded odd: Hana was such a kind and socially aware person, so easily embarrassed and mild. Even if she did slap his hat off, she would never have held a grudge enough to not say goodbye the day Kai left the house.
This tv program cast a young, sensitive, easily embarrassed "mixed race" woman who plays a villain wrestling character for her career. She was savaged online because her father is Indonesian. The show knew this was happening, and probably knew it would happen. They pressured her into acting more like her villain character on the show itself. She did, if only a bit. This confirmed the worst racist ideas about her: she's violent, out of control, and mean. But that wasn't her. She really was just Hana. Painfully shy, inexperienced in love, sensitive and bruised. They led her to be slaughtered.
And maybe the worst part is knowing, without watching, what the show commenters (Yamasato Ryota et al) said about her in those episodes. It wouldn't have been explicitly racist, but it would have been damning and enough to kick off the frenzy. The commenters may not actively bully the castmates (though I think Yamasato has alluded to joining the online conversation himself), but they certainly frame the discussion, and often in a very unfriendly way.
The whole thing was a setup. I'm heartbroken for Hana, and disgusted at every level of this thing. I hope the episodes are never released on Netflix. They've already done enough damage.
posted by erinfern at 7:33 AM on July 9, 2020 [2 favorites]
The casting was always a bit dubious and seemed largely a reflection of Japan's imposing talent agencies, but the show was such a nice low stakes break from reality. The current season, even before the tragedy with Hana, had turned quite a bit darker than past seasons.
The panelist balance was off and generally a bit meaner and less funny and the cast chemistry was off and portrayed in a less endearing manner than usual. Some of the behavior taken at face value with "Boss" in particular veered into MeToo territory when seen through a Western lens, although one of the interesting things about the show is that its not "the West".
posted by ejoey at 8:49 AM on July 9, 2020
The panelist balance was off and generally a bit meaner and less funny and the cast chemistry was off and portrayed in a less endearing manner than usual. Some of the behavior taken at face value with "Boss" in particular veered into MeToo territory when seen through a Western lens, although one of the interesting things about the show is that its not "the West".
posted by ejoey at 8:49 AM on July 9, 2020
I stopped watching Opening New Doors an episode or two after that kiss Shohei forced on Seina (UGH); the show's play was that Seina liked it, but it felt to me like she needed to try to appear "nice" and went along with it. As a model, as one of the older members, and someone who'd been back multiple times, I would expect that she very carefully considered how the show worked in line with her public image and acted accordingly, whatever her actual feelings.
I'm not particularly suprised at Kyoko Kimura's allegations about the producers in light of that, but what really grates at me is that I didn't really question anything about how the show captured what it did until I'd heard about Hana's death. That "nice low stakes break from reality" that ejoey mentions was really valuable to me at a time when my life was a lot weird, but in retrospect ... oof.
posted by minsies at 11:41 AM on July 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm not particularly suprised at Kyoko Kimura's allegations about the producers in light of that, but what really grates at me is that I didn't really question anything about how the show captured what it did until I'd heard about Hana's death. That "nice low stakes break from reality" that ejoey mentions was really valuable to me at a time when my life was a lot weird, but in retrospect ... oof.
posted by minsies at 11:41 AM on July 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
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We knew that the cast was not left entirely pristine by the producers, especially because Lauren Tsai let it slip that the cast members are encouraged not to talk to each other when the crew isn't filming and it makes life in the house awkward. But we watched anyway because it's really fun to watch people work and achieve their dreams in surfing, modeling, art, cafe ownership, or just getting a job.
I haven't been back to Japan since we started watching (we were scheduled to go in June), but I'm really curious what my friends have to say about the series. The one thing that I do know for certain is that internet culture in Japan is especially noxious and uncaring about real people.
When we were back in Japan a few years ago one of our friends had recently lost their 11 year old son in a skateboarding accident. We spent a lot of time with them and we were a shoulder to cry on. I didn't know any of the details about what happened, just that their son was gone and they were devastated. I looked for a local newspaper article to know the details so I wouldn't accidentally say anything hurtful, or accidentally have the mom walk past where he died during a walk to the park. I read the article and it let me know what happened and the spot to avoid, and then I stupidly scrolled down to the comments. There was mundane stuff like dissecting the parents' choice of characters for their son's name, but otherwise the comments were foul - blaming the son and his family for the accident, calling him a brat, commenting that it was good that he was dead for skateboarding in a busy street (he'd made a wrong turn). If that was so easy for me to find, I could imagine that both parents had read the same. It was such a gut-punch, but also an unnecessary one. Who are the people trolling newspaper articles about a dead child?
Our friends are doing much better now. I hope Kyoko is able to find healing after this.
posted by Alison at 6:57 AM on July 9, 2020 [5 favorites]