Posts Tagged giggle

There are many examples — and satires — of the East’s penchant for gender bending in various forms of entertainment media. For instance, these two videogame characters are supposed to be male.

The ancient race of Magypsies in Mother 3.

A subset of this phenomenon seems to be Japan’s jovial fascination with homosexuality (at least when contrasted against pop-culture trends in the West). More specifically, it appears to be a general kind of giddy amusement brought on by extreme and often exagerrated imagary of gay men.

Now you should take that statement with a grain of salt. I am not Japanese, nor have I ever lived in or visited the country. This is just a loose perception stemming from internet sources, second and third hand opinions, and videogame exhibits such as these:

While some of the above games were quite niche, others, like “Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland” (actual title), were published by family friendly companies and became mainstream hits. The response to these games wasn’t an outrage or a rallying call, or even apathy. Instead, it seemed like something else entirely: a collective giggle.

Now on the surface that doesn’t seem so bad. These ridiculously over-the-top portrayals can be amusing, but when they all follow the same pattern, they also risk becoming misrepresented as the status quo. And in this case, isn’t the majority of gay-related subject matter distilled into a cheery “Oh, you silly, adorable people!” pat on the head?

Considering Japan’s somewhat schizophrenic history with homosexuality, this strikes me as particularly odd. Anyone care to enlighten me on the root and cause(s) of this trend?