Racist "Darrin the Gaijin" animation featured on JR trains.

[alicia454]

I take the JR Chuo-Sobu express line frequently. Lately I noticed on the video screens over the doors are showing racist "Darrin the Gaijin" (ダーリンは外国人) video animation segments. These videos feature the bearded foreigner Darrin, with beady little eyes and messy hair, and his Japanese girlfriend/wife. (Kind of ironic considering that non-asian foreigners typically have much bigger eyes than Japanese.) They show Darrin as a stupid foreigner who is causing numerous problems (mostly culturally related) to himself and his wife/girlfriend. Needless to say this is very offensive and racist, especially since these videos are running on JR trains owned by the Japanese government.

Below are some Amazon Japan links to a couple of books of the manga version of the animation.

ダーリンは外国人―外国人の彼と結婚したら、どーなるの?ルポ。



How would the Japanese like it, if North American or European trains showed animation of stupid buck-toothed Japanese men with small penises? No wait, that would be illegally there, since unlike Japan, those countries have actually anti-discrimination laws which they enforce.

[Mulboyne]

That's "Darling" not Darrin.

It's really not racist. The foreigner is Tony Lazlo and the books are drawn and written by his wife. They have both become quite well-known on the back of their success.

[Bucky]

You may need to point your reaction toward an American and his Japanese wife who are the source for "Darrin"

It seems that Tony Laszlo and his wife Saori Oguri started the comic:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3

Debito seems to take Laszlo to task some too

http://www.debito.org/?p=566

[Takechanpoo]

[Midwinter]

Debito seems to take Laszlo to task some too

http://www.debito.org/?p=566

Oh come on, he'll take anything to task

[FG Lurker]

How would the Japanese like it, if North American or European trains showed animation of stupid buck-toothed Japanese men with small penises? No wait, that would be illegally there, since unlike Japan, those countries have actually anti-discrimination laws which they enforce.

I guess it would be too much to ask for you to engage your brain before climbing up on your high horse and preaching? Yeah, I thought so.

You have little understanding of most of what you see and you seem determined to view Japan in a bad light. You are showing your own bias and quite likely anti-Japanese racism by assuming the worst about much of what you encounter here.

[james]

"Darrin the Gaijin" (ダ]

"my darling (ie: husband) is a foreigner" would be a more accurate translation. suggest you learn japanese before jumping to conclusions.

[Visitor K]

How would the Japanese like it, if North American or European trains showed animation of stupid buck-toothed Japanese men with small penises? No wait, that would be illegally there, since unlike Japan, those countries have actually anti-discrimination laws which they enforce.

and we all know how well anti-discrimination laws always work and never create more problems, right? forcing people to be accepting of differences is one sure way to get people pissed off.
also, have you never seen an 80s movie? those things always have some stereotypical asian in them. sure it was 30 years ago.. but that just shows yet again how far behind the times japan is.

[alicia454]

That's "Darling" not Darrin.

Are you sure, since the Japanese title in kana is: "ダ]It's really not racist. The foreigner is Tony Lazlo and the books are drawn and written by his wife. They have both become quite well-known on the back of their success.[/QUOTE]
Even if the books are not racist, having actually seen the videos on the trains many times, I can assure you that the animation is very racist. Darrin or Tony Lazlo is depicted as a stupid foreigner causing lots of trouble. I get the impression that these videos are intended to be warnings for Japanese women not to involve themselves with foreign men, since they are all troublesome and stupid compared to Japanese men. I am deeply insulted when I see those videos.

You may need to point your reaction toward an American and his Japanese wife who are the source for "Darrin". It seems that Tony Laszlo and his wife Saori Oguri started the comic: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3. Debito seems to take Laszlo to task some too http://www.debito.org/?p=566

Having never read the books, I can't say if there are racist or not. But again let me empathize that having seen the videos on the train many times, I strongly consider these videos, which are based on the books, to be very racist! Maybe the animators took liberties with the material in the book, and even took things out of context, in order to portray the foreign character in the worse possible light. But as it stands now, the videos should be pulled off the trains.

and we all know how well anti-discrimination laws always work and never create more problems, right? forcing people to be accepting of differences is one sure way to get people pissed off. Also, have you never seen an 80s movie? those things always have some stereotypical asian in them. sure it was 30 years ago.. but that just shows yet again how far behind the times japan is.

Maybe so, but I have not seen any animation made in that last 40 years in which blacks were portrayed in blackface "Sambo" or Japanese as very ugly and short with big overbite buck teeth and squinty eyes. I think that the vast majority of Japanese would get offended by that type of portrayal, and rightly so.

[Mulboyne]

Correct me if I'm wrong

You're wrong. Check the link to the earlier thread.

You've misinterpreted what you've seen and I'm afraid you are jumping to the wrong conclusions.

Far from being "warnings for Japanese women not to involve themselves with foreign men" most female readers of the books have come away with the impression that foreigners like Tony make good husbands. The cultural confusions are depicted affectionately. You can't automatically accuse people of being racist because they happen to notice that foreigners do some things differently.

[havill]

[quote="alicia454"]Are you sure, since the Japanese title in kana is: "ダ]

First of all, get a dictionary and look up the word ダーリン (dārin; "Darling") or just search for the word on the Web for common usage rather than ignorantly challenging other people.

Secondly, the "Darling" series was a bestseller in Japan, and thus most Japanese instantly recognize the character in the video. They know that it's not a generalization (generalizations and stereotypical characterizations of foreigners are blond haired, blue eyed, with a big nose) but rather his wife's caricature of him. "Dārin" is the anti-stereotype: fluent in Japanese, a polyglot, a successful journalist and activist (debatable amongst the NJ community, but that's a different thread), and a long term resident and happily married family man.

You are not the target audience of the ad. Japanese are. And most understand who the character is because the series was a bestseller. Not to mention that Tony Lazlo, who is being portrayed by the manga character, has been interviewed by many Japanese magazines and newspapers and has had his real life face in the press many times — so some people even know what the character looks like in real life.

The premise of both the book series and the ads is that despite his linguistic brilliance and his successful career and good marriage, he encounters day-to-day befuddlements and problems that Japanese can relate to. No one believes that the "Dārin" character is a racist stereotype (because he's not blond/blue-eyed/big-nose) nor is he portrayed as a buffoon (he's a language and history expert, but even he has troubles just like everybody else)

Next time, research the source material in more depth before expressing your opinion.

[Visitor K]

gee. im glad you arent racist like those horribly closed-minded japanese!! instead of calling things that you dont understand (and clearly you dont understand this subject) racist, why not try to understand it and have a laugh at yourself?
down here in mexico there are all sorts of comics and caricatures that americans would see as racist. take this story about a comicbook character, memin penguin, with obvious african features, which was going to be published in the united states, but people are fighting to have it banned.. the problem is that people dont even speak enough spanish to understand the comic and dont understand the cultural references to latin american people (for some reason people are still surprised when they here that there is a large african population in latin america).

[nottu]

gee. im glad you arent racist like those horribly closed-minded japanese!! instead of calling things that you dont understand (and clearly you dont understand this subject) racist, why not try to understand it and have a laugh at yourself?
down here in mexico there are all sorts of comics and caricatures that americans would see as racist. take this story about a comicbook character, memin penguin, with obvious african features, which was going to be published in the united states, but people are fighting to have it banned.. the problem is that people dont even speak enough spanish to understand the comic and dont understand the cultural references to latin american people (for some reason people are still surprised when they here that there is a large african population in latin america).

The whole cultural thing, the whole "racist" thing - its totally American- and so full of shit. Americans are so full of themselves, and so full of shit - just get off an airlplane in LA or Atlanta and look around yourself - you're ready to get back on and go back to wherever the hell you came from.

[Dragonette]

...a comicbook character, memin penguin, with obvious african features, which was going to be published in the united states, but people are fighting to have it banned.. the problem is that people dont even speak enough spanish to understand the comic and dont understand the cultural references to latin american people ...

One of the many many things that annoy me about the PC thing is that it doesn't recognize or allow for caricaturing. That seems to offend mainly people who somehow feel that their own ethnicity/group is somehow inferior.

When I was a wee little thing, to me Aunt Jemima was a motherly woman who was a great cook. Little Black Sambo was a clever resourceful kid. it gave me (and my black playmates) that message. Memin penguin seems to be sending the same positive message. That, to me is what counts. He's not a georgeous kid, so maybe it could make some not-so-georgeous poor black kids feel better about themselves. Or do they honestly think that 50-cent is a better role-model?

[nottu]

One of the many many things that annoy me about the PC thing is that it doesn't recognize or allow for caricaturing. That seems to offend mainly people who somehow feel that their own ethnicity/group is somehow inferior.

When I was a wee little thing, to me Aunt Jemima was a motherly woman who was a great cook. Little Black Sambo was a clever resourceful kid. it gave me (and my black playmates) that message. Memin penguin seems to be sending the same positive message. That, to me is what counts. He's not a georgeous kid, so maybe it could make some not-so-georgeous poor black kids feel better about themselves. Or do they honestly think that 50-cent is a better role-model?

Fuck em all and you're free.

[kurohinge1]

. . . Next time, research the source material in more depth before expressing your opinion.

Whoah - that would be setting a dangerous precedent on FG!

Let's not go overboard.

[FG Lurker]

You can't automatically accuse people of being racist because they happen to notice that foreigners do some things differently.

Sure you can Mulboyne! You just need to view the country/society in question through shit-coated glasses and have a general racist slant of your own. Alicia seems very good at it.

[Iraira]

I'm upset about racism, too. I was denied membership with the local uyouku chapter most likely because I'm a cracker....more specifically a matzo. I even wore my best Klan suit to the interview....

[nottu]

I'm upset about racism, too. I was denied membership with the local uyouku chapter most likely because I'm a cracker....more specifically a matzo. I even wore my best Klan suit to the interview....

You can can hang with me - can you say "Fuck em all" - fuck all of them

[Greji]

I even wore my best Klan suit to the interview....

Maybe your fly was open ???

[Iraira]

Maybe your fly was open ???

It was. I thought that was a part of the "secret uyoku handshake" thing.

[nottu]

Sure you can Mulboyne! You just need to view the country/society in question through shit-coated glasses and have a general racist slant of your own. Alicia seems very good at it.

That's Ameriacan, my friend, and I do my myfrend.

[Greji]

T and I do my myfrend.

Have shit colored glasses???

I'm an 'Merican, do I have to buy a pair too?

[nottu]

Have shit colored glasses???

I'm an 'Merican, do I have to buy a pair too?

I wear both pair all the time - fuck em all

[FG Lurker]

That's Ameriacan, my friend, and I do my myfrend.

There has certainly been no shortage of racism in the US over its history but I don't think it is a US-specific (or even a US-dominated) problem.

There are definitely racists in Japan -- Ishihara for example.

Without digging too deeply I suspect one could find racists in many (most? all?) countries.

[Kuang_Grade]

women not to involve themselves with foreign men, since they are all troublesome and stupid compared to Japanese men.

Gosh, I hope they never watch a US sitcom, since western men in those are almost universally troublesome and stupid compared to everyone else.

[nottu]

There has certainly been no shortage of racism in the US over its history but I don't think it is a US-specific (or even a US-dominated) problem.

There are definitely racists in Japan -- Ishihara for example.

Without digging too deeply I suspect one could find racists in many (most? all?) countries.

Actually, racism as some sort of a problem is largley a US type of an event- quite naturally not a problem in other culturall contexts. Just so no Western mf doesn't get too bent out of shape - I'm not making a judgement - just telling it like it is - end of story. Anti-racists have a story to tell, an axe to grind -but its not the only story - and the only axe to grind - unless, of course, you buy into your US high school American History lessons.

[Torimaro]

racism as some sort of a problem is largley a US type of an event- quite naturally not a problem in other culturall contexts.

yeah. racism in south africa? no problem. racism down unda? no problem. racism in Rwanda? no problem.

[Iraira]

Let's just clarify something, nottu..

By your above statements, do you mean...
1) America invented racism or just perfected it?
2) America just became hypersensitized/hyposensitized to what constitutes racism?

If you claim 1)...uhhh...good luck with that. Racism is far older than 232 years, 11 days.

Clearly, in more mono-cultural societies, the gaijin stand out and are going to be perceived differently. Nothing is really wrong with that per se, until you begin using the "all of them" label.

[alicia454]

We are clearing straying of topic. There seems to be a general consensus that the books are not racist. Fine, I concede that point.

But has anyone else seen the videos on the JR trains? Regardless of the books, the videos clearly appear to be racist to me. As I mentioned before, perhaps the animators took some liberties or portrayed things out of context from the original stories in the books. (Maybe due to the fact that the video segments are very short, so a lot of contextual material from the books had to be cut out.) I would appreciate hearing opinions from others who have actually watched those videos on the trains before expressing their judgements on it.

I also concede that I was wrong about the title. "ダーリン" does appear to be the katakana for "darling" even though the trailing "g" or "グ" is missing. This seems to be an exception, in the same way that "トイレ" is the katakana for "toilet" even though the trailing "t" or "ト" is missing. You are all correct, I do need to learn more Japanese. But at least I am trying, and I do hope to get better.

PS. Note that even if you think that I am wrong or that you disagree with me, please do not attack me or the other members in this forum personally. I am willing to admit when I am proven wrong, and I do not attack others personally, so I expect the same courtesy.