Raise
Your Arms and Twist! Documentary of NMB48: Directed by Atsushi Funahashi. Produced by Documentary Japan. Running
Time: 121 minutes.
Rating:
3/4
Amongst
the many bits of Japanese culture that come across to a Westerner as
particularly strange, few are as befuddling to someone like myself as the
obsession with Japanese female pop idols and the supergroups they form. Known mostly for relentlessly upbeat,
schmaltzy songs with utterly nonsense lyrics, the contradictions and
exploitations within this particular cultural industry have been debated in
Japan for some time, but are still largely invisible to anyone not particularly
interested in Japanese culture. For such
people, Raise Your Arms and Twist!
provides an intriguing glimpse into a world I, and many others, neither know
nor comprehend.
From
what I gather, there are a number of these supergroups based in the city in
which they were formed. This film
focuses on one in particular, NMB48, based in Osaka (the “48” refers to the
number of girls officially part of the group).
We are taken behind the scenes to see the relentless work routines of
the girls who form this group, most of whom are still just teenagers when they
join. We learn how the group was formed,
that it has something of an underdog status compared to more established acts
like AKB48 or HKT48, and we follow the routines of some of the head
singers/dancers in the group, each one with their particular goals, desires,
and reasons for becoming an idol in the first place.
And
boy, are these routines exhausting.
There are near-daily live shows in smaller groups for select fans, unending
rehearsals for the next performance, preparations for the major singles and
music videos, conventions, and more, on top of their normal studies, since
nearly all of them are still in school.
Much like the manga industry, it’s a massive factory system meant to
churn out hits and produce silly amounts of cash, and people caught up in it
are easily consumed by it.
This
is every bit as true for the fans as it is for the idols themselves. The biggest demographic for this particular
type of pop idol are middle-aged, single men.
From a purely financial point, it makes sense to market to them- they
have the means to buy CD after CD and pay premium prices for daily live
shows. They also have the time and cash
to afford to come to handshake events, one of the oddest things I’ve ever heard
of, where they literally get 30 seconds to shake their favorite idol’s hand
until security steps in and forces them away (and they WILL force you away if
you dally). Following some of the more
passionate fans and learning about them in parallel to the idols is funny,
tragic, and a bit unnerving, all at once.
Arguably
the biggest problem within the industry this creates is the secularization and
objectification of these girls, which influences their lives in insane
ways. One such way rears its head in a
scene where an older dancer, upset at having been stuck in the back for years,
is finally presenting by the manager with the real reason they’ve been holding
her back. It’s one of the most
irritatingly unfair, teeth-gnashing moments I’ve experienced in the theater
this year so far.
Although
the director of the film insisted he tried to maintain objectivity in
presenting this subject matter, his distaste for the entire industry is clear
throughout the film. And yet, even with
all the cinematic cards stacked against it, I still found myself drawn to it
all more than I ever thought possible. It
is, on the one hand, horrifying to see how these girls are exploited,
objectified, and used to turn a massive corporate profit. But on the other hand, when you see the sheer
energy, scale, and effort that go into every performance, I also found myself
being able to understand why people can get into this. It is impressive to see their shows. Their energy is infectious if you’re in the
right mindset. As much as I could never
envision supporting this sort of thing, I also found myself growing more and
more emotionally invested in the stories of the individual girls interviewed,
wanting to know more about what happened to them and where they are now.
There
are not much in the way of new revelations for anyone already familiar with the
broad strokes of the pop idol industry and its many demons, and some efforts at
philosophical and artistic reflection on the film’s part often don’t jive with
the rest of the movie, but this is still a fascinating and earnest work that
leaves all its cards on the table, and allowed me to feel I’d gained a bit more
insight into a place strange to my mind.
Which is, in the end, the whole purpose of documentary filmmaking.
-Noah Franc
No comments:
Post a Comment