Have Japanese and American netizens been choked up?, A picture of "Barbie" by netizens | Japan | Japan and the United States

"Japan should first think about why it was dropped with an atomic bomb."

Author: Liu Xiao

This summer, Barbie became a global sensation. At present, Barbie's global box office has exceeded 850 million US dollars and is about to enter the "billion dollar club". This has also made director Greta Geweig the world's highest grossing female director in film history.

However, just as "Barbie" was making great strides, the Japanese market caught fire, and Japanese netizens collectively boycotted "Barbie". One Japanese netizen wrote, "I no longer love American dads."

Which nerve did Barbie poke in Japan?

A hilarious "explosive head" joke

Japan is considered a backyard movie market by Hollywood, but when the promotional video for Barbie was first released, it became a laughing stock on the internet due to its strong plastic feel and childish theme. Some cinemas even place Barbie in the children's film area due to lack of understanding of its content.

In order to attract female audiences, the film company began to "go crazy" in the hope of winning attention through a biased promotion method, even using only Barbie powder to fill the movie posters. Barbie powder refers to highly saturated fluorescent powder or rose red color, named after the classic lip color of Barbie dolls, which is rose red.

·A refreshing Barbie poster.

If this step is considered normal operation, then the following operations are a bit too imaginative.

Warner Bros. 'Barbie and Universal Pictures' Oppenheimer have both chosen to be released on July 21st. The two films are not competitors, and the target audience hardly overlaps. Barbie tells the story of a doll who lives in the Kingdom of Barbie and is expelled due to being "imperfect", embarking on an adventure in the real world. Oppenheimer is a World War II biographical film that tells the story of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb in the United States, who led the creation of the world's first atomic bomb.

Due to the sensitivity of the film topic, Japan has not yet announced the introduction time of "Oppenheimer". There have also been some boycotts of "Oppenheimer" on the Japanese internet, but after all, "Oppenheimer" is well produced and can objectively describe historical facts, and the Japanese side has not publicly boycotted it.

On the other hand, the producers of the two films unintentionally inserted willows and accidentally released them on the same day, arousing the curiosity of the audience. On the eve of its release, AMC, the world's largest chain cinema, announced that over 40000 members had purchased tickets for two films on the same day online. As expected, the box office of the two films spiraled upwards after their release, and they were unstoppable.

At the same time, in addition to Japan, netizens on overseas social media platforms are constantly discussing the two movies "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer", and have created the compound word "Barbie", which has quickly become a hot topic on the internet.

Since it is not a competitor, the film company sensed the business opportunity and boldly promoted the two films that were originally out of reach. They personally hyped up "Barbie Hammer" and, like kindergarten teachers, continuously encouraged netizens to create secondary works.

A US netizen placed a mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb explosion on Barbie's head, and Barbie's official likes and comments: "You must be a hairstylist!" Another netizen placed Barbie and Oppenheimer in a picture, Barbie happily sitting on Oppenheimer's shoulder, with the scene of the atomic bomb explosion behind him. Barbie's official message: "This will definitely be an unforgettable summer."

·"The official crackdown is the most deadly."

However, to paraphrase a Chinese internet slang: "The official crackdown is the most deadly."

A sensitive nerve in Japanese society has been pricked.

For a while, the official Japanese account of "Barbie" was flooded with posts on the Japanese website, including photos of civilian Hiroshima atomic bomb explosions, and comments continued one after another, saying, "Don't release it." "I am extremely disappointed with American movies."

Due to the massive boycott, Barbie's crisis PR was out of control and had to issue a statement on July 31st, stating that "Barbie Hammer" was not part of Warner headquarters' official promotional activities and that the actions of the official account were "not well considered", requesting Warner headquarters to provide a "proper response".

To save the box office, on August 1st, Warner Bros., the producer of "Barbie", urgently issued an official statement, apologizing to Japanese audiences for the inappropriate promotion method.

·Takahata Takahata and Greta Geweig participated in the Japanese premiere of Barbie.

On August 2nd, the main voice actor of the Japanese version of "Barbie", Takahata Shoki, released a lengthy online article before attending the Japanese premiere of "Barbie", expressing "anger" at the official hype of "Barbie Heim". However, after releasing the article, she still "bravely" participated in the premiere. A Japanese netizen commented, "It's really clever to quickly get rid of relationships."

The US Ambassador to Japan, Ram Emanuel, praised "Barbie" on social media: "Barbie is the representative of all women, and all women are Barbie." Because she did not mention the controversy surrounding "Barbie", she was angrily referred to as "that Ram" by Japanese media.

Nevertheless, Barbie Hammer could no longer stop the car.

Japanese netizens have launched a wave of "counterattacks", uncovering all the scars in American history, all starting with "what do you think?".

A parody of the "9/11 incident" post has gone viral on the Japanese internet: in the picture, on the black smoke billowing Twin Towers of New York, the words "Barbie" are prominently displayed, and the caption reads: "What do you think of this picture?"

·Japanese netizens combined Barbie with the 9/11 incident.

On the other side of the ocean, American netizens kept roast: "I don't think the Japanese seem to understand American humor."

The "Lion Woman" Behind Barbie

Regarding the rebound in Japan, the upcoming 40th birthday director of "Barbie", Greta Geweig, remained silent.

On August 4, 1983, Greta Geweig was born in Sacramento, California, USA. She is an actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. According to her recollection, at the age of 5, she was taken by her parents to watch a play, which sparked a strong interest in screenwriting and acting. She also dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer, but had to give up due to physical discomfort.

After graduating from Barnard College in New York, Geweig did not hesitate and devoted himself to the film industry. However, despite her ordinary background, she was unable to enter the Hollywood fame and fortune market, and her dream of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter had to be put on hold. She had to devote herself to independent film production.

·Greta Gueweg.

Due to his meager income, Ge Weige could only work while filming. Although she has good looks, she is unwilling to pursue a commercial film route and insists on producing independent films with meager returns.

After 2000, the independent film movement called "Whisper Core" emerged in the United States, providing a new creative stage for young filmmakers who lack money, background, and resources. "Whispering Core" advocates improvisation, with a natural style, simple filming equipment, rough editing, and blurry visuals.

Moreover, this art is unique and does not cater to the public. At that time, Ge Weige was the core figure in promoting the "Whisper Core". Born in August, she is known as the uncompromising "lion woman" for her swift and decisive actions.

Due to its unique style, "Whisper Core" movies have gradually entered the mainstream view. In 2006, at the age of 23, Ge Weige rose to fame in his starring and screenwriting role in "The Stairs of Love". In 2010, Ge Weige appeared in independent producer Noah Baumbach's "Greenberg", and the success of this commercial film officially entered the Hollywood film industry. At the same time, she also became acquainted with Noah Baumbach for this film. With Baum Bach's support, Ge Weige finally stopped worrying about his livelihood and focused on independent film production.

·"Francis Ha" starring Ge Weige.

In 2012, "Frances Ha" written and starring by Ge Weige became one of the outstanding representative works of "Whisper Core", earning her the title of "Queen of Whisper Core Films". In the same year, she also starred in Woody Allen's "Love in Rome". In Hollywood, there is a rumor that actresses who have worked with Woody Allen will never be unpopular in the future.

This also means that Ge Weige gradually gave up the self that didn't please the audience back then and was "recruited" by Hollywood.

Ge Weige began to showcase his skills in Hollywood. In 2017, she independently directed the female themed film "Miss Bird" for the first time, achieving both good reviews and box office success, and was nominated for Best Picture at the 90th Academy Awards. This also laid the foundation for her reputation as the director of Barbie today.

For many years, Ge Weige has never given up on female themes. She excels in telling about female friendships, tense family relationships, and romantic breakups, which are also presented in a different way in Barbie.

·Ge Weige, who was communicating with the lead actor on set.

Some comments indicate that "Barbie" is very different from previous Gweig films. Ge Weige crammed various women's topics into this movie, which happened to hit the hot topic, so it went viral.

·Ge Weige and the cast members of Barbie.

·Barbie has sparked a fan fashion trend abroad.

Due to the hot release of "Barbie", fans have also developed a trend of "fan style" fashion. Someone commented, "Fans seem to have only seen Barbie fans and forgotten the social reality that Barbie criticized."

However, regardless of the artistic achievement of this film, Japanese netizens with a "victim complex" in their minds can no longer care about anything else.

Barbie Pink and Death Black

Compared to Barbie fans in the eyes of movie fans around the world, Japanese netizens see Death Black.

In order to resist the Barbie Hammer meme, many Japanese netizens posted clips from the 1983 animated film "Barefoot Boy" online. "Barefoot Boy" is adapted from the manga of the same name and truthfully reflects the situation before and after the US military dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945.

·The animated movie "Barefoot Boy" depicts the moment when the US military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Author Kiji Nakazawa was a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion. At the time, he was less than 700 meters away from the center of the atomic bomb explosion, but miraculously survived. In 1973, due to concerns that the increasingly wealthy Japanese would gradually forget the painful lessons brought about by war, Kiji Nakazawa created a semi autobiographical manga called "Barefoot Boy", depicting a "Barefoot Boy" named Ayuan who lost his father and siblings in an atomic bomb explosion.

It is worth mentioning that "Barefoot Boy" did not avoid history, objectively portrayed the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers in Asia, and strongly accused Emperor Hirohito of launching an aggressive war, which was translated into about 20 languages.

However, after Abe took office, he constantly demanded amendments to the Peace Constitution, gradually exposing Japan's ambition to expand outward, and suppressing anti war and reflective thoughts. In 2013, the Songjiang City Education Commission in Japan claimed that the comic images were too extreme and requested that "Barefoot Boy" be taken down.

Susan Napper, a renowned American scholar in Japanese culture and animation, found that "in Japan, there are countless literary works that reflect the 'victim's history'." "They all show obvious anti war tendencies, but there is little discussion of guilt and responsibility."

Zhao Zhengyuan, a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo and associate professor at the School of Humanities at Southeast University, further elaborated on this. He told Global Times that this "victim complex" has now become a common mentality in Japanese society, which has made the Japanese people deeply aware of the terrifying and inhumane nature of war and played a certain anti war role in the Japanese people. However, "this has also led to a culture of shirking war responsibility in the entire Japanese society. From the perspective of the US military not using atomic bombs and Japan's tactical mistakes in the Pacific War, the reasons for the defeat are analyzed. This kind of lucky mentality is that Japanese society cannot recognize that foreign aggression is the fundamental reason for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Zhao Zhengyuan sighed and said, "The Japanese keep asking when they will apologize, but they have never made a true apology. After World War II, a large number of historical studies have shown that the Japanese people who were in the midst of militaristic fervor were not only victims of war, but also indirect participants and supporters of foreign aggression."

Nowadays, in the eyes of many Japanese netizens who have started the "victim mode", "Barbie" is already a movie that they cannot watch, and the British Prime Minister is no exception.

On July 23rd, British Prime Minister Sunak took his whole family to the cinema to watch "Barbie". He posted a photo on Twitter, holding four movie tickets and his wife and daughter wearing pink clothes. Sunak wrote, "There will only be one result for a family vote, of course, let's watch 'Barbie' first."

·On July 23rd, British Prime Minister Richie Sunak watched "Barbie" with his whole family.

Sunak didn't forget to add an entry tag "# Barbie Hammer". This time, Japanese netizens pointed their fire at Sunak again. One Japanese netizen wrote, "Britain has disappointed me too much." "Western society is all about virtue."

·Barbie stills.

A netizen reminded, "Japan should first think about why it was dropped with an atomic bomb."