catapult magazine

I just had the most fun I’ve had on TV since Sesame Street. Has anyone else seen the new show, Banzai, on Fox? It’s television as a toy. I nearly choked on my dinner laughing as I watched two blind ladies trying to hit eachother with bumper cars in less than 40 seconds. I also enjoyed the baby race and the Russian Roulet game played with de-springed umbrellas (the “Don’t Try This At Home” warning was funny in a different way than usual). And the commentary is hilarious. This show is a real joy.

In comparing Banzai with a minstrel show, a few key differences stand out.

First, minstrel shows saw white actors (no blacks allowed in the beginning) dressing up in blackface. These actors had one purpose: to scathingly mock black culture and to portray blacks as lazy, theiving, naive buffoons who danced their days away.

Banzai has a mix of races, with Asians portraying themselves. The PURPOSE of the show did not seem, to me, to mock Japanese culture or to suggest negative stereotypes about a group of people. The author of the article jonner quoted was offended by the fact that each game allows time to “place your bets”, suggesting that Japanese people gamble all the time. The thought didn’t even cross my mind—I thought the betting part might be trying to convince frat boy-types to play drinking games during the show. I saw the purpose of the show as playing fun, delightful games with people that (unlike other reality shows) weren’t malicious or sleazy.

The second difference, in my opionion, is the cultural context. The black/white situation and the Asian/white situation is a different thing. (I want to qualify myself: I’m not trying to downplay the stereotyping or racism that Asians also experience, I’m just trying to note differences.) The history of the black situation, as well as the current problems of poverty, violence, drugs, etc. in the black community are still contributing today to tension, segregation, and mistrust between blacks and whites. I think that on the whole, Asians are in a different situation in America. Of course many new immigrants of all cultures have challanges, but Asians do not have the centuries of stigma as lesser human beings that blacks do and, if anything, are probably stereotyped positively as hard-working and intelligent. ( know, still streotypes.) In my particular profession (classical pianist) Asians are QUITE well represented and are viewed as being the best. There are very few blacks, however.

I wonder if Banzai, if shown in Japan, would be offensive or just a crazy, fast-paced show with a strange host. It’s too bad that it comes in a context of no other Asian-Americans on tv—I think it’s playful and a great idea. I can see, though, how it might be offensive.

But I don’t think it goes nearly as far as a minstrel show—in fact, I think the self-indulgence, laziness, and violence portrayed by much of hip hop today is probably closer and, ultimately, more dangerous.

kristin, I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your post. I just thought I’d add some comments even though I haven’t seen the show either. First of all, I’m sure the show is funny. Cultural differences are usually funny and interesting.

Hm. This is pretty difficult. Asians are the “model minority”. So it’s easy to think that the media doesn’t have to be too sensitive to our race issues because after all, we’re viewed as hard-working and smart. But the fact remains that we’re not usually correctly represented, if represented at all. There are very few movies or TV programs that try to explore the various Asian American cultures (yes, there is more than one kind of Asian/Asian American!), much less different Asian cultures. The Joy Luck Club is the only one that comes to mind. Usually Asian characters are one of the following token characters: the karate-chopping action guy, a dangerous seductress, an evil nemesis, or a nerd.

I’m not saying that those are particularly more dangerous or offensive than other stereotypes. What I am saying is that when you see so little of your demographic represented in popular media (Let me think— Lucy Liu, the lady from ER, Margaret Cho, the guy in that James Bond movie… that’s really all I can think of), you tend to look for some accuracy and seriousness in the little you DO see. Banzai happens to be another disappointment in that area, because once again, it’s just for laughs.

One more point— there is a huge difference between a culture poking fun at itself and another culture poking fun at another culture, regardless of whether it’s mean-spirited or not. It doesn’t matter how Banzai would be received in Japan, because making fun of themselves is their perogative and would be done within a cultural context— one that is not present in America.

I did see this last night for the first time and maybe it was a bad episode, but I didn’t find it that funny. Stuff like the rubber band stretching made me cringe and the over the top yelling of “Banzai” every five minutes got pretty old. Maybe I just don’t get it.

Just trying to resuscitate this thread. (And get rid of the ucky one) Seeing as there are so few representations of other cultures in popular media, I’d like the ramifications of this show discussed more. More, I say! :)

Unfortunately, I did not see the last episode. But what I liked about the episode I saw was that it recontextualized television and pop stars. There was a pull-up contest between people dressed as the former lead singer of Queen. Why him? No reason, he’s just pop culture fodder to be used for a stupid little game that we can play on tv. It’s refreshing because stuff that’s on tv now has too much of a point. I’m particularly frustrated with “new” shows like OC, Skin and most of the reality shows that find a way to attract and tease people with lots of eroticism and sexual content only to show the negative repercussions of such a lifestyle by the end of the show (it’s a great business move) or the comedies that “make a point”. Banzai is the kind of comedy that shows tv can be lots of fun, just like Sesame Street, with games the viewers at home can participate in. Most shows on tv right now seem to suggest that the only way you can have fun on tv is by viewing erotic images (I do not deny that this is pleasurable, in fact that’s why David Lynch’s Twin Peaks was so engaging, but Lynch didn’t tag on a preachy moral lesson) or watching people struggle to get to the top in some reality show obstacle course. Banzai says fun doesn’t have to cost lots of money, doesn’t require breast implants, and leaves pretentious comedy theories at the door.

So, there you have it. I don’t mean to defend the show too strongly. It’s not a brilliant prophetic omen about the future of tv or anything like that. I must say I didn’t think much about the show’s Asian cultural context. I would have found it fun even without that. Just like I find Letterman’s “Will it Float” skits funny—it doesn’t matter if David Letterman is from Indiana or Arkansas.

One thing I think about sometimes: I’m white and I see lots of white people on tv and in ads. In fact, when I see an ad with, say one black kid and three white kids (like an Old Navy ad right now) I automatically think: Oh, look, the agency is trying to make a concession to political correctness. Or when I see an ad with an all black family I think, oh, they’re trying to appeal to the black population—not to me. Sometimes I stop and try to role-reverse in my mind: how would it feel to see mostly people who don’t look like me and have a somewhat different culture than me on billboards, in magazines, on tv, etc.? Where I go to church, the billboards have mostly African-Americans, and ALL the people in the neighborhood are black—I notice and feel conspicuous, and I wonder if that’s how people of other races feel all the time? Or is it just because I’m not used to being a minority? Because I didn’t grow up in a place of mixed races?

I would be interested to know if anyone has any comments or experiences about how they have been affected by living in a culture in which most of the people in ads, on tv, in the media, don’t look like them. And can this be changed without feeling too…patronizing? Without a feeling of: oh, I guess the Hispanic population is growing, so we’d better give them their own versions of cheesy sitcoms (like Luis—bad Puerto Rican jokes coming soon!)?

One of the strangest aspect to growing up part of a minority is that you get really used to it. Whether the attention is negative or positive, you still get attention, period. And it really throws me for a loop when I go to a place where I am part of the majority. Every time I’m in Korea, I really enjoy relaxing into that strange feeling of being invisible. But eventually, I start feeling alone and groundless. When I’m in America, if I feel alienated, I can delude myself that there’s still that Korean community out there that I could fit in. But when I’m in Korea, there’s no denying that I don’t fit in there.

Point? The struggle involved in being a minority is really the same as any other identity-related struggle except that it perhaps has a little more glamor. :)

Really good points, Jo. I know several white folks who live in all-black neighborhoods here in Chicago, and they often talk about how you grow accustomed to it and identify with the community you’re in, even if their white skin stands out when they’re walking on the street. They often don’t feel comfortable in all white suburban areas because they can’t identify with that. One friend of ours who lives in a predominantly black neighborhood gets stopped by concerned African-Americans who ask if she’s lost or if she realizes where she is. She just smiles and says she’s been living in the neighborhood for three years and asks if they’re from the area. Often they’re not. They’re just passing through and are applying certain preconceived notions about who’s supposed to be living where. Having said all this, I’m always amazed and fantastically amused by how true to stereotypes people often are. I don’t deny that we’re all individuals, but we’re also stereotypes a good portion of the time.

And, finally, I did want to mention that I thought Mr. Handshake Man’s handshake with Jennifer Love Hewitt was very amusing on the Banzai show this past Sunday. It was like a minute and a half long and Ms. Hewitt was so generous with her time. She probably would have continued shaking the man’s hand right through the commercial break if Mr. Handshake Man had not run out of questions to ask her. The handshake bit, though limited, seems to be a reversal of the typical Western joke where everyone bows and bows and keeps bowing and doesn’t know when or how to stop bowing when they visit an Asian country. Or maybe it’s just a fun game to see people carry on meaningless handshake motions for an awkward stretch of time.

I can’t believe someone from our group here in Chicago hasn’t mentioned the great film experience we had last weekend! I’ll mention it here because the movie has alot to do with what we’ve been discussing about cultural differences between U.S. and Asian cultures. What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding? Sophia Coppola explores this question in very interesting ways in her follow-up to The Virgin Suicides.

We saw Lost In Translation last week. In the movie, Scarlett Johansson’s character asks Bill Murray’s character why the Japanese get their l’s and r’s mixed up and he says “For yuks.” Almost all of the film’s comedy depends on cultural miscommunication and misunderstandings. A prostitute is sent to Murray’s room and she commands him to “Lip my stocking”. It’s a hilarious and sad scene. If you have an opportunity to see this movie, do it do it do it do it! And then tell me how you think the film illuminates this discussion. Oh, I can’t wait for you to see this movie!!!

I just wanted to second the rave review for Lost in Translation. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! You should go see it. Now.