3 ms·

Logan Paul and the internet need to stop treating Japan as clickbait

9 points by ShubhamBadal 9y ago

supreme_sublime 9y ago
>A country with a rich and complicated history > Search Google or YouTube for “weird Japan,” and you’ll find a goldmine of terrible content stereotyping Japan as the sum of its most bizarre media and traditions — a metric that would reflect poorly on any country — and treating the idiosyncrasies of its oddest subcultures as quirky national characteristics. Yes, if you search for "weird Japan", instead of, I don't know... "Japan history" you'll find different videos. Same thing if you take a bit of a stereotype about Americans. Search "Crazy America" and you'll get a ton of videos about that too. Is that an awful stereotype that cannot allow us to appreciate the history and culture of the United States? > The internet has often repackaged the complexity of Japanese culture as a series of bizarre, cartoonish memes, but it is particularly sad to see the deaths of Japanese people treated as macabre entertainment. The internet has also done the same thing with American culture. "Muh freedom", calling Americans "burgers", etc is all over the internet. The simple truth of the matter is, Japanese culture is pretty different to American culture. People like things that are different about the cultures, why would they care about the things that are the same? >My connection to this story is personal as well. I could have guessed that after the first paragraph. All that said, I'm not trying to defend Logan Paul specifically, I really don't like that guy and find him to be a talentless moron. I just think this whole "The internet is only reductionist towards MY culture!" thing I see constantly to be ridiculous. Let people have their jokes, let them have their entertainment. What I find the most annoying is the brazen lack of respect that Logan showed in his videos. His antics wouldn't be acceptable in the United States, so it frustrates me because now there are people in Japan who think that is how Americans act. The difference is, I don't blame them for thinking that if that's their only interaction with an American. The Japanese are notorious for loving to see their culture spread to other places. If all Americans know about Japanese culture is Kimonos, tentacle porn, anime, ninjas and samurai; I'd be willing to bet the majority of Japanese people would be happy they even knew that much. To expect people in one country to know everything about another country without ever even visiting, or living there, is asinine. Foreign people only knowing certain things is completely expected.

9 points by ShubhamBadal 9y ago

>A country with a rich and complicated history > Search Google or YouTube for “weird Japan,” and you’ll find a goldmine of terrible content stereotyping Japan as the sum of its most bizarre media and traditions — a metric that would reflect poorly on any country — and treating the idiosyncrasies of its oddest subcultures as quirky national characteristics. Yes, if you search for "weird Japan", instead of, I don't know... "Japan history" you'll find different videos. Same thing if you take a bit of a stereotype about Americans. Search "Crazy America" and you'll get a ton of videos about that too. Is that an awful stereotype that cannot allow us to appreciate the history and culture of the United States? > The internet has often repackaged the complexity of Japanese culture as a series of bizarre, cartoonish memes, but it is particularly sad to see the deaths of Japanese people treated as macabre entertainment. The internet has also done the same thing with American culture. "Muh freedom", calling Americans "burgers", etc is all over the internet. The simple truth of the matter is, Japanese culture is pretty different to American culture. People like things that are different about the cultures, why would they care about the things that are the same? >My connection to this story is personal as well. I could have guessed that after the first paragraph. All that said, I'm not trying to defend Logan Paul specifically, I really don't like that guy and find him to be a talentless moron. I just think this whole "The internet is only reductionist towards MY culture!" thing I see constantly to be ridiculous. Let people have their jokes, let them have their entertainment. What I find the most annoying is the brazen lack of respect that Logan showed in his videos. His antics wouldn't be acceptable in the United States, so it frustrates me because now there are people in Japan who think that is how Americans act. The difference is, I don't blame them for thinking that if that's their only interaction with an American. The Japanese are notorious for loving to see their culture spread to other places. If all Americans know about Japanese culture is Kimonos, tentacle porn, anime, ninjas and samurai; I'd be willing to bet the majority of Japanese people would be happy they even knew that much. To expect people in one country to know everything about another country without ever even visiting, or living there, is asinine. Foreign people only knowing certain things is completely expected.