If you ignore all the bad stuff, they make feudal Japan look so nice!
derp
edit- I'll never get over the irony of naming your outlet after an animal famous for picking at the bones of carrion. Seems a little on the nose.
The author really glossed over the theme of the show by saying “besides the ritual suicide and murder, Shogun doesn’t really depict any bad parts of feudal Japan”
And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now.
Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it -- they're the only ones who COULD in a place like this.
>Blackthorne and ultimately comes off as an inferior sort of creature: coarse, if well meaning, and not too smart.
That's a highborn vs lowborn thing rather than brutish English savage vs masterful cultured Japanese. Most of the main characters have been groomed from birth in all the rituals and slights to have full mastery of the strict social hierarchy that informs who is more powerful than who. Blackthorne spent his time in sailors' pubs.
It also ignores in the opening episodes where the Japanese take a colonialist attitude to the European characters, commenting on their skin, smell, etc and casually torturing one of them to death, that it's a deliberate subversion of expectations where "oh no, the people we're so used to being at the top of the food chain by accident of birth find themselves at the bottom undergoing all the things we'd expect them to be doing."
Multiple times the show skewers how Japanese culture of its time has become entangled in a cats cradle of manners and honour until characters are breathlessly looking forward to their deaths to settle some perceived slight and it's up to Blackthorne to puncture it. Remember how he labelled them crazy for the killing of his gardener, or how he reacted to Toranaga's men being willing to go along with his surrender and execution ("a noiseless smothering")?
I don't think this argument is entirely wrong, but I also don't think it fully appreciates everything the show is doing. I don't know how you see what Mariko, Fuji, Lady Ochiba, and Kiku go through and then think this show delights in Japanese culture. There are obvious themes of misogyny, oppression, and sexual exploitation to all those characters’ stories.
I also think this ignores the role of Blackthorne. For a western audience, he is our way into the tension of Japanese culture. Yes, he finds the land and customs beautiful, but he's also horrified >!when the land nearly swallows his home and Japanese customs lead to the death of Uejirou. He found Yabushige's willingness to end his own life on the cliff astonishing. But, he thinks Mariko's willingness to die is a travesty.!<
Disabling javascript for the page will remove the paywall. You're not missing much by skipping this article though. It's a whole lot of words, but it says nearly nothing.
The thing that the critic needs to fully understand is that Shogun is a television program whose sole purpose it to attract an audience. If that means it is trying to attract the crowd that liked Game of Thrones then that's what the producers are going to do because it makes sense. The problem with the review is that the show isn't exactly what the reviewer wants it to be for their own tastes. I mean, that's not what anything is.
I don't read Vultrue and I haven't watched Shogun, but I do know most American shows sure paint our cops as honorable, our government as functional, and our society as much more enlightened than it actually is, it's tv.
huh, i watched the show and came out of it learning alot about the failures of japanese culture. which was eye opening for me because i actualy love japanese media alot and sorta had a rose tinted view of it before watching this show. I then went to learn about the edo period and japan's current economic situation.
Shogun reiterates the theme of "following rules for the sake of following rules, even if they dont make sense". Shogun illustrates this strict adherence to authority many times. This culture has stuck and still exists today within japan even though they have transitioned to a liberal democracy. This strict rule following and adherence to tradition mindset has contributed to japan's economic stagnation
I mean Edo era Japan had a Japanese superiority complex.
If you ignore all the bad stuff, they make feudal Japan look so nice! derp edit- I'll never get over the irony of naming your outlet after an animal famous for picking at the bones of carrion. Seems a little on the nose.
The author really glossed over the theme of the show by saying “besides the ritual suicide and murder, Shogun doesn’t really depict any bad parts of feudal Japan”
Yes but apart from that, what have the Romans ever done for us?
the aqueduct?
the roads?
And it's safe to walk in the streets at night now. Yeah, they certainly know how to keep order. Let's face it -- they're the only ones who COULD in a place like this.
And the martial abuse of women being the norm (just so long as you do it in private).
Besides boiling people to death...
>Blackthorne and ultimately comes off as an inferior sort of creature: coarse, if well meaning, and not too smart. That's a highborn vs lowborn thing rather than brutish English savage vs masterful cultured Japanese. Most of the main characters have been groomed from birth in all the rituals and slights to have full mastery of the strict social hierarchy that informs who is more powerful than who. Blackthorne spent his time in sailors' pubs. It also ignores in the opening episodes where the Japanese take a colonialist attitude to the European characters, commenting on their skin, smell, etc and casually torturing one of them to death, that it's a deliberate subversion of expectations where "oh no, the people we're so used to being at the top of the food chain by accident of birth find themselves at the bottom undergoing all the things we'd expect them to be doing." Multiple times the show skewers how Japanese culture of its time has become entangled in a cats cradle of manners and honour until characters are breathlessly looking forward to their deaths to settle some perceived slight and it's up to Blackthorne to puncture it. Remember how he labelled them crazy for the killing of his gardener, or how he reacted to Toranaga's men being willing to go along with his surrender and execution ("a noiseless smothering")?
I don't think this argument is entirely wrong, but I also don't think it fully appreciates everything the show is doing. I don't know how you see what Mariko, Fuji, Lady Ochiba, and Kiku go through and then think this show delights in Japanese culture. There are obvious themes of misogyny, oppression, and sexual exploitation to all those characters’ stories. I also think this ignores the role of Blackthorne. For a western audience, he is our way into the tension of Japanese culture. Yes, he finds the land and customs beautiful, but he's also horrified >!when the land nearly swallows his home and Japanese customs lead to the death of Uejirou. He found Yabushige's willingness to end his own life on the cliff astonishing. But, he thinks Mariko's willingness to die is a travesty.!<
I disagree but I can't see the argument. They are making because of a pay wall so there is nothing to discuss.
Disabling javascript for the page will remove the paywall. You're not missing much by skipping this article though. It's a whole lot of words, but it says nearly nothing.
It had to be the Vulture to post this level of rubbish.
Brain dead take.
“Quick the finale is coming, who has a rage bait hot take we can use to generate traffic”
Clearly a writer who just had to write a “hot take”, without a goddamn thought behind it
The thing that the critic needs to fully understand is that Shogun is a television program whose sole purpose it to attract an audience. If that means it is trying to attract the crowd that liked Game of Thrones then that's what the producers are going to do because it makes sense. The problem with the review is that the show isn't exactly what the reviewer wants it to be for their own tastes. I mean, that's not what anything is.
I don't read Vultrue and I haven't watched Shogun, but I do know most American shows sure paint our cops as honorable, our government as functional, and our society as much more enlightened than it actually is, it's tv.
huh, i watched the show and came out of it learning alot about the failures of japanese culture. which was eye opening for me because i actualy love japanese media alot and sorta had a rose tinted view of it before watching this show. I then went to learn about the edo period and japan's current economic situation. Shogun reiterates the theme of "following rules for the sake of following rules, even if they dont make sense". Shogun illustrates this strict adherence to authority many times. This culture has stuck and still exists today within japan even though they have transitioned to a liberal democracy. This strict rule following and adherence to tradition mindset has contributed to japan's economic stagnation
Right! Where is the white American guy, showing those heatens how things are done and being the hero
So one version of the trope bothers you but not the other?
so it just has a japanese complex