So far on Terrace House there have been no openly LGB housemates (I'm setting aside trans issues for the purposes of this discussion). We do know that Makoto has appeared in a gay sex video, but we do not know how he self-identifies. As of the conclusion of Aloha State, there have been 55 cast members on the 180 episodes of the show. The Real World had 252 cast members across its 32 seasons and 33 of those were LGB though a few of those came out after their appearance.
Terrace House seems to be progressive compared to traditional Japanese social values; nevertheless, since an important part of the show is the potential for romance between the housemates, I initially suspected that the show would never be interested in casting any openly LGB housemates. However, Terrace House's production company made the first broadcast live-action drama centered on a lesbian relationship on Japanese TV: Transit Girls. In fact, the director of that series was the director of the Terrace House feature film. Thus, it would seem that the producers are aware of LGB issues and what on-screen representations can mean for that community. And so I'm going to take a look here at what having LGB housemates might mean for the show's potential romance story-lines, and the answer is that it would probably not have much effect one way or another.
This discussion will be a little mathy, but the numbers are pretty simple. With three men and three woman there are nine possible MW pairings (3 men x 3 women). You might initially think that having an entire cast of bisexuals would explode the number of possible pairings, but, in fact, that highly unlikely scenario would not even double the number of possible pairings. Among that number of men and woman there are only three possible MM pairings and three possible WW pairings, and so the total number of pairings in a fully bisexual cast is fifteen.
In fact, if you include cast-mates who are exclusively same-sex oriented, the number of possible pairings gets reduced in general because there are only two other members of the same sex in contrast to three of the other sex. Thus, having one gay or lesbian house mate would reduce the number of potential matches within the house from nine to six since that person would have no one to date within the house.
These numbers are not an argument against LGB representation on the show. Terrace House has functioned perfectly well when the number of potential relationships has been reduced. The original run of the show started with one male housemate who had a girlfriend outside the show and a female idol who could not have a relationship, and so while Tetsuya did try to go out with Rie there were really only four viable potential pairings at the start of show.
I'd like to see LGB representation on the show, but I do not think that doing so would have much effect on the in-house romance story-lines. I do encourage anyone who is interested in these issues to check out Transit Girls which is available with English subtitles at kissasian.ch. That show will give you lots of warm-fuzzies if you support the idea of LGB representation and inclusion and would like to see a Terrace House-like version of it.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Terrace House, a Deeper Dive: Taishi and the Death of Courtly Love
Taishi came to Terrace House with a wooden sword and a heraldic motto: "Shinuhodo No Koi". There's ample evidence that he sees himself in his arc through Aloha State as being on a quest to find a romantic ideal: a love worth dying for. He transforms the show to be the setting for his quest, and the show is willing to follow because it's all about the points of view that housemates have about romance. However, Taishi's idea of love is a one-sided corruption of an ideal of courtly love which is patriarchal and ill-suited to a meeting of equals to begin with.
The ideal of a knight and his lady in the West arose as reaction to severe restrictions on marriage particularly among the nobility of Europe. Marriages were arranged and purely transactions intended to increase the status and power of families and clans. Of course, extra-marital affairs flourished, and were policed by society and the Church. But alongside those traditional family values the troubadours began to sing of a revolutionary new kind of love: one that required no physical consummation and acknowledged an individual agency for both men and women that had been previously forbidden by the culture.
The romantic love of the troubadours was one of selfless service of a knight to his lady. Through the formal process of winning a lady's heart both the knight and lady were able exert choice and control of their emotional lives that they were not available in their familial lives. The knight would perform deeds of valor to win tokens and boons of affection from a women with whom he could not otherwise interact. As a result, even in the romances of that period the emotional interactions were over-examined and overblown.
Taishi is not seeking that kind of love, really, though he might see himself as doing so. Note well that he seeks to find that love worth dying for instead being or becoming a love worth dying for. He is looking outside himself for a transformation that has to occur within himself. Robert Bly (in his book Iron John) calls the ideal that Taishi seeks "the golden-haired one" - it is a projection of the ideal feminine attributes within the man onto the perceived persona of another. There is nothing inherently wrong with that projection: it's a stage of development that almost all men must go through as they learn to have mature relationships with the real human woman in their lives (and, of course, most women go through a similar process in their relationships to men).
And so Taishi's approach is a corruption of courtly love in that he does not sacrifice his interests for the sake of a lady. Instead, he tests each woman to see how well his projections fit his ideals, and when they do not he moves on to the next woman. He often creates wonderful romantic settings for the tests, but it's ultimately never about that warm, living human being (even Anna!) he's taking out. Instead, it's all about whether he can fall for this person with only the barest acknowledgement that they might want to fall for him or that it might matter if they do (Laruen and again Anna).
Courtly love is, ultimately patriarchal. In the world of courtly love, men get to act and women get to react. It is not a meeting of equals opening outward to greater complexity and nestling inward to greater intimacy as equals. Taishi seeks to perfect the way he acts (holding doors and seating his dates) so that his dates might react in ways that match the feminine ideals that are inside himself. I'm not saying that his objectification of the women he takes out would prevent him from getting to know them as people, but it certainly would make doing so much more difficult.
The ideal of a knight and his lady in the West arose as reaction to severe restrictions on marriage particularly among the nobility of Europe. Marriages were arranged and purely transactions intended to increase the status and power of families and clans. Of course, extra-marital affairs flourished, and were policed by society and the Church. But alongside those traditional family values the troubadours began to sing of a revolutionary new kind of love: one that required no physical consummation and acknowledged an individual agency for both men and women that had been previously forbidden by the culture.
The romantic love of the troubadours was one of selfless service of a knight to his lady. Through the formal process of winning a lady's heart both the knight and lady were able exert choice and control of their emotional lives that they were not available in their familial lives. The knight would perform deeds of valor to win tokens and boons of affection from a women with whom he could not otherwise interact. As a result, even in the romances of that period the emotional interactions were over-examined and overblown.
Taishi is not seeking that kind of love, really, though he might see himself as doing so. Note well that he seeks to find that love worth dying for instead being or becoming a love worth dying for. He is looking outside himself for a transformation that has to occur within himself. Robert Bly (in his book Iron John) calls the ideal that Taishi seeks "the golden-haired one" - it is a projection of the ideal feminine attributes within the man onto the perceived persona of another. There is nothing inherently wrong with that projection: it's a stage of development that almost all men must go through as they learn to have mature relationships with the real human woman in their lives (and, of course, most women go through a similar process in their relationships to men).
And so Taishi's approach is a corruption of courtly love in that he does not sacrifice his interests for the sake of a lady. Instead, he tests each woman to see how well his projections fit his ideals, and when they do not he moves on to the next woman. He often creates wonderful romantic settings for the tests, but it's ultimately never about that warm, living human being (even Anna!) he's taking out. Instead, it's all about whether he can fall for this person with only the barest acknowledgement that they might want to fall for him or that it might matter if they do (Laruen and again Anna).
Courtly love is, ultimately patriarchal. In the world of courtly love, men get to act and women get to react. It is not a meeting of equals opening outward to greater complexity and nestling inward to greater intimacy as equals. Taishi seeks to perfect the way he acts (holding doors and seating his dates) so that his dates might react in ways that match the feminine ideals that are inside himself. I'm not saying that his objectification of the women he takes out would prevent him from getting to know them as people, but it certainly would make doing so much more difficult.
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Terrace House, a Deeper Dive: Group Living
Shared houses have been a common setting of reality TV in the US since the The Real World, and, perhaps, the creators of Terrace House were looking to the West as they started this series back in 2012. However, shared houses are not necessarily a common form of housing in general in Japan. In fact, Hansan and Arisa were interviewed for a short YouTube documentary about shared living after the show and Part 1 was thoughtfully translated by someone on reddit (the user name has since been deleted - I'd love to give them credit). And it's fairly clear from that interview and the tone of show that the produces would like to promote the idea that shared houses can be a stylish and enjoyable way of living which should become more popular in Japan.
As Hansan and Arisa say on the topic in this documentary:
I lived in shared houses in college through grad-school. This was my Terrace House:
It was a seven person house in Palo Alto. Three of us were in grad-school and the rest were twenty-somethings working in the early parts of their careers. Importantly, we all agreed to share the cooking which, I believe, is truly key to a quality shared house. We'd each take a night, and prepare the meal, and everyone had their own approach. Jim would go to a store and just pick whatever ingredients that struck him that day. He was a decent cook, and I never had a bad meal from him, but, apparently, a year or two before he tried to make a casserole with bananas and eggplant that was so bad that everyone immediately got up from the table and started making sandwiches. Susan said it was like eating snot.
Terrace House does not tend to organize itself to the same extent. We do see them sharing meals, and most cooking tends to be done by the women though the men do get brought into process over time. Both Uchi and Taishi seem to be fairly comfortable contributing in the kitchen, to be fair. But except for special occasions, there do not appear to regular shared meals in any permutations of the house. My impression is that Hana on B&GND may have cooked quite a bit more than most housemates - she seemed to enjoy it and was excellent at it.
The other constant issue that group houses have to address is keeping the house clean. I suspect that with all the white carpeting in the houses, that the show does provide some house keeping. But it's also clear in AS that the cast are in charge of their bathrooms, and in BxGND there is at least one house meeting around taking out the trash. The younger members of the house may have never had to deal with cleaning, and so, like all shared house, there has been some conflict around the general level of cleanliness.
The one real disadvantage that the members of Terrace House have in comparison to people living in similar situations in, shall we say, the real world is that they have no control over who gets to join the house. At my favorite house finding new housemates was a consensus process and everyone had to agree to a new housemate. In fact, if you planned to veto a member during an interview, you were to say, "I'm thirsty: can I get you some water" which was a signal to the rest of the members to wrap up the interview. Terrace House members know that they're likely to get someone attractive as a new housemate, but that's about it which much surely add some additional stress on top of the expectations for romantic story lines.
The various called house meetings on the show are very true to what happens in real life. Situations arise and need to be resolved (and almost no one gets to have a Hansan to artfully mediate disputes). Such meetings can be uncomfortable, but often they also pull people closer as group.
Terrace House is, to some extent, style-porn for shared living. The show is aspirational, and presents a cool way of life that some people may not realize is a possibility. Shared living can be occasionally contentious, but it also can be hugely rewarding. I like that one of the secret agendas of the show is bringing the advantages of shared houses to the attention of a wider audience.
And, indeed, there is some indication that the show has sparked a trend towards shared houses in Japan. See, for instance, this article from a month ago in which a journalist tries living in one.H: It seems sharehouses used to be for foreigners who moved here for work to live together. It started as so-called ‘foreigner houses’. It was not stylish at all, it was just chosen because it was cheap. But now I believe it has this designer-thingy going on. Because it is stylish, people opts for a sharehouse, not just because it is cheap.A: Because people can’t live by themselves, but they can live in a stylish sharehouse.H: I thing their popularity will only expand. Now people assume it is just for people who would live alone, but it can form new families and provide interaction between different generations living together.
I lived in shared houses in college through grad-school. This was my Terrace House:
It was a seven person house in Palo Alto. Three of us were in grad-school and the rest were twenty-somethings working in the early parts of their careers. Importantly, we all agreed to share the cooking which, I believe, is truly key to a quality shared house. We'd each take a night, and prepare the meal, and everyone had their own approach. Jim would go to a store and just pick whatever ingredients that struck him that day. He was a decent cook, and I never had a bad meal from him, but, apparently, a year or two before he tried to make a casserole with bananas and eggplant that was so bad that everyone immediately got up from the table and started making sandwiches. Susan said it was like eating snot.
Terrace House does not tend to organize itself to the same extent. We do see them sharing meals, and most cooking tends to be done by the women though the men do get brought into process over time. Both Uchi and Taishi seem to be fairly comfortable contributing in the kitchen, to be fair. But except for special occasions, there do not appear to regular shared meals in any permutations of the house. My impression is that Hana on B&GND may have cooked quite a bit more than most housemates - she seemed to enjoy it and was excellent at it.
The other constant issue that group houses have to address is keeping the house clean. I suspect that with all the white carpeting in the houses, that the show does provide some house keeping. But it's also clear in AS that the cast are in charge of their bathrooms, and in BxGND there is at least one house meeting around taking out the trash. The younger members of the house may have never had to deal with cleaning, and so, like all shared house, there has been some conflict around the general level of cleanliness.
The one real disadvantage that the members of Terrace House have in comparison to people living in similar situations in, shall we say, the real world is that they have no control over who gets to join the house. At my favorite house finding new housemates was a consensus process and everyone had to agree to a new housemate. In fact, if you planned to veto a member during an interview, you were to say, "I'm thirsty: can I get you some water" which was a signal to the rest of the members to wrap up the interview. Terrace House members know that they're likely to get someone attractive as a new housemate, but that's about it which much surely add some additional stress on top of the expectations for romantic story lines.
The various called house meetings on the show are very true to what happens in real life. Situations arise and need to be resolved (and almost no one gets to have a Hansan to artfully mediate disputes). Such meetings can be uncomfortable, but often they also pull people closer as group.
Terrace House is, to some extent, style-porn for shared living. The show is aspirational, and presents a cool way of life that some people may not realize is a possibility. Shared living can be occasionally contentious, but it also can be hugely rewarding. I like that one of the secret agendas of the show is bringing the advantages of shared houses to the attention of a wider audience.
Friday, October 13, 2017
Terrace House, A Deeper Dive: Uchi v Taishi
There was a pivotal moment for me in Episode 15 of Boys and Girls In the City: the panel reacts to Uchi and Minori's new relationship by mentioning that they are the fourth couple in the show's history. Yes, that's right: 114 weekly episodes had led to four couples at that point. Doesn't Bachelor in Paradise have like four hook-ups per episode? (I've never seen an episode of Bachelor in Paradise.) Is there any wonder that Japan has the third lowest birth rate in the world? One of the theses implicitly supported by the show is that courtship should be easier and more casual in Japanese culture, and part of that support is seen in the framing and reaction to Uchi's and Taishi's strategy "of ask them all out".
There are a lot of patriarchal rules around dating in this show (and, presumably, current Japanese culture in general), and many of those rules are similar to the rules in the West not too long ago. Terrace House, in this respect, sometimes feels a bit like a dire dating etiquette educational film from the Forties or Fifties in the US. Only guys can initiate dates. Women are encouraged to reveal any interest indirectly through food. Men are expected to act swiftly and decisively when they've identified the sole woman who has sparked their interest by asking the object of their affection out on successively more romantic dates. Women must demure, at least initially, even if they are interested. Feelings must only be intimated at rather than spoken from both sides. I'm sure those of you with higher EQs than I can add deeper rules to the list where successive layers of potential hurt are anticipated and protected.
It's no wonder that Tokui's reaction to B&GND was to host a softcore parody of Terrace House called Pero Pero House ("Happy House") as part of an ongoing series of comedy specials for an Adult satellite channel. The joke. from what I can tell, of the first one, for instance, is that one of the girls gives head one at a time to all of the guys while in an adjacent room the remaining housemates are doing the usual "What's your type?" initial maneuvering.
And so it is interesting when Uchi declares his week, and Taishi declares that he is going to keep trying to find his "love worth dying for" even when he is mocked as a guilty samurai and later dressed down by Cheri for not being clear to all the girls he's asked out. They are breaking some of the rules of social etiquette and doing seems to facilitate the process more directly even if it's a bit self serving. To their credit, they both seem interested in tailoring the dates to the individual women.
The larger issue that all these kerfuffles hide is the almost complete lack of agency (at least, in terms of their romantic life) that is granted to the women on the show. The women do occasionally ask out the men on the show, but it's much rarer. Minori's writing "coward" is probably the strongest act of self-determination in these matters that we see on the show until Cheri pops in from an American reality show and asks out Eric directly (which I found refreshing).
There is also an apparently patriarchal bias in the casting of the romantically unavailable housemates. It's hard to argue a trend from four instances, but, thus far, the two unavailable males I've seen (Shoto in B&GND and Hansan in B&GITC) have girlfriends and the two unavailable females (Rie in B&GND and Riko in B&GITC) have jobs which contractually preclude them from forming a sexual relationship. There's no real equivalent for men in Japanese culture as far as I know (Maybe a Buddhist priest? Are there hot young Zen masters?), but why not cast a young woman with a current boyfriend?
Terrace House as a franchise seems to support the idea that dating should be easier in Japanese culture. Certainly, doing so publicly on a television show that can be watched by your fellow housemates must only make dating more difficult. While I liked Aloha State, I'm fairly sure that a physical move to the West and towards more Western Reality TV tropes is not the right solution for this show. What we really need is a female version of Uchi and Taishi in the next cast: a Wonder Woman to Uchi and Taishi's Batman and Superman. (Or is that what Seina became? Those of us waiting for the fansubs will see eventually, I suppose.)
There are a lot of patriarchal rules around dating in this show (and, presumably, current Japanese culture in general), and many of those rules are similar to the rules in the West not too long ago. Terrace House, in this respect, sometimes feels a bit like a dire dating etiquette educational film from the Forties or Fifties in the US. Only guys can initiate dates. Women are encouraged to reveal any interest indirectly through food. Men are expected to act swiftly and decisively when they've identified the sole woman who has sparked their interest by asking the object of their affection out on successively more romantic dates. Women must demure, at least initially, even if they are interested. Feelings must only be intimated at rather than spoken from both sides. I'm sure those of you with higher EQs than I can add deeper rules to the list where successive layers of potential hurt are anticipated and protected.
It's no wonder that Tokui's reaction to B&GND was to host a softcore parody of Terrace House called Pero Pero House ("Happy House") as part of an ongoing series of comedy specials for an Adult satellite channel. The joke. from what I can tell, of the first one, for instance, is that one of the girls gives head one at a time to all of the guys while in an adjacent room the remaining housemates are doing the usual "What's your type?" initial maneuvering.
And so it is interesting when Uchi declares his week, and Taishi declares that he is going to keep trying to find his "love worth dying for" even when he is mocked as a guilty samurai and later dressed down by Cheri for not being clear to all the girls he's asked out. They are breaking some of the rules of social etiquette and doing seems to facilitate the process more directly even if it's a bit self serving. To their credit, they both seem interested in tailoring the dates to the individual women.
The larger issue that all these kerfuffles hide is the almost complete lack of agency (at least, in terms of their romantic life) that is granted to the women on the show. The women do occasionally ask out the men on the show, but it's much rarer. Minori's writing "coward" is probably the strongest act of self-determination in these matters that we see on the show until Cheri pops in from an American reality show and asks out Eric directly (which I found refreshing).
There is also an apparently patriarchal bias in the casting of the romantically unavailable housemates. It's hard to argue a trend from four instances, but, thus far, the two unavailable males I've seen (Shoto in B&GND and Hansan in B&GITC) have girlfriends and the two unavailable females (Rie in B&GND and Riko in B&GITC) have jobs which contractually preclude them from forming a sexual relationship. There's no real equivalent for men in Japanese culture as far as I know (Maybe a Buddhist priest? Are there hot young Zen masters?), but why not cast a young woman with a current boyfriend?
Terrace House as a franchise seems to support the idea that dating should be easier in Japanese culture. Certainly, doing so publicly on a television show that can be watched by your fellow housemates must only make dating more difficult. While I liked Aloha State, I'm fairly sure that a physical move to the West and towards more Western Reality TV tropes is not the right solution for this show. What we really need is a female version of Uchi and Taishi in the next cast: a Wonder Woman to Uchi and Taishi's Batman and Superman. (Or is that what Seina became? Those of us waiting for the fansubs will see eventually, I suppose.)
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Terrace House, A Deeper Dive: The Dark Side
So, this week the news spread that Makoto had done a porn scene. That fact is tawdry and sad. As reasonable consumers of reality TV and of this mostly wholesome show in particular, we mostly wish the cast members well. Part of our engagement in Terrace House is seeing these people succeed, not only in the relationships they explore and create while on the show but also in their lives outside the show. We all cheer when Guy wins the tournament in Bali. But the news about Makoto is not the only touch of scandal the show and its cast has experienced. Reality TV has its dark side and part of that arises from how these shows are structured and created.
Thanks to Google Translate, it's not hard to take a look at the news stories that have focused on the show in Japan where it's far more popular (simply copy and paste テラスハウス into your browser.) Late in the original run (BGND) a producer was accused of sexually harassing one of the house members. There has been no evidence before or after the accusation that such harassment occurred. A similar rumor surfaced in the first run that cast members have been offered significant amounts of money for love-confessions and kisses on screen.
Producer manipulation is an inevitable part of any reality TV show. I am fairly sure that the house members are being paid to be on the show. It is likely that some of that payment only comes after the episodes are released: such an approach is a time-tested and effective way to enforce the kinds of NDAs which are necessary to prevent spoilers and maintain interest in the show.
However, it's highly unlikely that cast members are being paid for particular story lines. The housemates know that the producers want stories, and they know that their screen-time will depend on being able to provide story lines. Because the show has no confessionals, I suspect that the housemates interact far less with the production staff than other similar shows.
However, it is clear that no dates, scenes or group events at private venues occur without alerting the production staff ahead of time since releases must be signed (at least in the US) for everyone who appears on screen. Most small businesses are happy to accommodate the show since the advertising is more than enough to compensate for clearing parts of the venue for an hour or two. I do pity the production assistant that had to reach out to all the restaurants that Yusuke made reservations for in the hopes that Lauren would go the dinner with him after the movie.
I do think that other than the location management, the production staff is fairly hands off. They almost certainly arrange the various previous member cameos that happen, but I doubt that they are meeting with the house members frequently and suggesting things to do or say. I suspect that the housemates spend far more time with the tech who is putting on and taking off their mics as they enter and leave the house and replacing batteries as necessary.
I do think it is likely that there is some mild pressure from the production in some situations for some house members to leave the show. I do think any couples which form are expected to leave reasonably quickly to make room for more stories.
Another dark side of the show has been its relationship to Japanese Idol culture. Terrace House has had idols on the show at least twice. I can see why they did so in the first run. It was a way to increase the cachet of the cast as whole by including a successful member of AKB48 in the house. However, idols are contractually forbidden to date in the Japanese idol industry. That fact is hugely sexist and problematic. It also places pressures on the young women in that position who appear on this show that no other housemates have had to face. Rie handled those pressures like a pro. Riko did not, and I actually sympathize with both Hayato and Riko in that situation. The show's choosing to cast any idol is problematic when so much of the focus of the show is on developing romantic relationships. I think the show is hoping for a line where an idol will sacrifice her career for the sake of love which is some particularly foul patriarchal bullshit right there.
It's easy to dismiss the idol issue as something that's only a part of current Japanese culture. However, it was not that long ago in US culture when Brittany Spears' loss of virginity was similarly suppressed. Just because we have not formalized the idol creation process in the same way as Japan does not mean that it is easy for young female pop stars in the US to navigate similar sexist marketing issues.
The surface of Terrace House is one of clean architectural lines, stylish clothing and food porn. Always remember, however, that it is a show, and despite the mantra of "no script at all" there are dark currents under that surface.
Thanks to Google Translate, it's not hard to take a look at the news stories that have focused on the show in Japan where it's far more popular (simply copy and paste テラスハウス into your browser.) Late in the original run (BGND) a producer was accused of sexually harassing one of the house members. There has been no evidence before or after the accusation that such harassment occurred. A similar rumor surfaced in the first run that cast members have been offered significant amounts of money for love-confessions and kisses on screen.
Producer manipulation is an inevitable part of any reality TV show. I am fairly sure that the house members are being paid to be on the show. It is likely that some of that payment only comes after the episodes are released: such an approach is a time-tested and effective way to enforce the kinds of NDAs which are necessary to prevent spoilers and maintain interest in the show.
However, it's highly unlikely that cast members are being paid for particular story lines. The housemates know that the producers want stories, and they know that their screen-time will depend on being able to provide story lines. Because the show has no confessionals, I suspect that the housemates interact far less with the production staff than other similar shows.
However, it is clear that no dates, scenes or group events at private venues occur without alerting the production staff ahead of time since releases must be signed (at least in the US) for everyone who appears on screen. Most small businesses are happy to accommodate the show since the advertising is more than enough to compensate for clearing parts of the venue for an hour or two. I do pity the production assistant that had to reach out to all the restaurants that Yusuke made reservations for in the hopes that Lauren would go the dinner with him after the movie.
I do think that other than the location management, the production staff is fairly hands off. They almost certainly arrange the various previous member cameos that happen, but I doubt that they are meeting with the house members frequently and suggesting things to do or say. I suspect that the housemates spend far more time with the tech who is putting on and taking off their mics as they enter and leave the house and replacing batteries as necessary.
I do think it is likely that there is some mild pressure from the production in some situations for some house members to leave the show. I do think any couples which form are expected to leave reasonably quickly to make room for more stories.
Another dark side of the show has been its relationship to Japanese Idol culture. Terrace House has had idols on the show at least twice. I can see why they did so in the first run. It was a way to increase the cachet of the cast as whole by including a successful member of AKB48 in the house. However, idols are contractually forbidden to date in the Japanese idol industry. That fact is hugely sexist and problematic. It also places pressures on the young women in that position who appear on this show that no other housemates have had to face. Rie handled those pressures like a pro. Riko did not, and I actually sympathize with both Hayato and Riko in that situation. The show's choosing to cast any idol is problematic when so much of the focus of the show is on developing romantic relationships. I think the show is hoping for a line where an idol will sacrifice her career for the sake of love which is some particularly foul patriarchal bullshit right there.
It's easy to dismiss the idol issue as something that's only a part of current Japanese culture. However, it was not that long ago in US culture when Brittany Spears' loss of virginity was similarly suppressed. Just because we have not formalized the idol creation process in the same way as Japan does not mean that it is easy for young female pop stars in the US to navigate similar sexist marketing issues.
The surface of Terrace House is one of clean architectural lines, stylish clothing and food porn. Always remember, however, that it is a show, and despite the mantra of "no script at all" there are dark currents under that surface.
Saturday, October 07, 2017
Terrace House, a Deeper Dive: Romance and Beyond
I like the fact that Terrace House is not entirely about romance. I know that much of the narrative drive and fan interest in the show derives from the inevitable romantic arcs. But what makes Terrace House great is the fact that it is not a crass hook-up show built solely to generate conflict and drama through the complications of heteronormative sex. The show is relentlessly heteronormative and cisgendered, but what makes it interesting is that the tone of the show conveys an implicit critique of Japanese dating norms. And part of that critique is revealed through the casting of the house members.
In Western reality TV and in the US in particular, cast members are often selected for their potential to generate conflict and drama. I blame MTV's selection of Puck back in Real World Season 3 in 1994. We see the trope of the reality TV star who is "not here to make friends" through to the most recent incarnation of The Bachelorette.
The cast of Terrace House is not selected for their potential to create conflict (though not always their abilities to make friends, Tap). A few have created conflict and have been given a heel-edit, but, as far as I can tell, the members are chosen for their physical attractiveness and their potential to expand their personal brand-awareness and collaterally the brand-awareness of the Terrace House franchise. That's why we have seen so many models, artists and athletes.
It's also why the show has had so many hafu members. Half-Japanese people are disproportionately over-represented in the cast of the Netflix seasons of the show and in Japanese media in general. Certainly, part of that impetus towards more diverse casting is Netflix' desire to see the show succeed outside of Japan. But I think the show is, in part, a reaction to the fact that Japan has an extremely low birth rate and an extremely homogeneous population. The show is looking outward from Japan and seeks to expand what is acceptable and normal for dating relationships.
Of course, there is some danger of objectification, exoticism and even fetishism in this approach. But the glacial pacing of the dating on this show does let us get to know these characters as people first well before the extreme salaciousness of that first holding of hands. The panel also helps to lampshade and critique the dating norms of Japanese culture with Yama often representing the traditional, patriarchal viewpoints and having those viewpoints roundly dismissed by the rest of the panel. I do not think that the show particularly admires or desires Western hook-up culture as a model, but you do not include a former host of Handjob Karaoke on the panel (Tokui, if you did not know) without at least some impulse towards a more open and sex-positive approach to dating. The Japanese Room is hidden until the moment of romantic commitment, but then it's astonishingly available, accepted and even celebrated.
Terrace House undoubtedly desires and encourages successful romances for its cast members. Every nuance of every date is teased apart and deconstructed by the panel. It's clearly one focus of the show. However, always remember that there have been a few cast member in committed relationships outside the show since its first incarnation in Japan, and, of course, Hansan is almost universally well-regarded despite the fact he was in such a relationship. Terrace House is a dating show, but it's so much more than that, and I intend to explore those aspects of the show more deeply in future posts.
In Western reality TV and in the US in particular, cast members are often selected for their potential to generate conflict and drama. I blame MTV's selection of Puck back in Real World Season 3 in 1994. We see the trope of the reality TV star who is "not here to make friends" through to the most recent incarnation of The Bachelorette.
The cast of Terrace House is not selected for their potential to create conflict (though not always their abilities to make friends, Tap). A few have created conflict and have been given a heel-edit, but, as far as I can tell, the members are chosen for their physical attractiveness and their potential to expand their personal brand-awareness and collaterally the brand-awareness of the Terrace House franchise. That's why we have seen so many models, artists and athletes.
It's also why the show has had so many hafu members. Half-Japanese people are disproportionately over-represented in the cast of the Netflix seasons of the show and in Japanese media in general. Certainly, part of that impetus towards more diverse casting is Netflix' desire to see the show succeed outside of Japan. But I think the show is, in part, a reaction to the fact that Japan has an extremely low birth rate and an extremely homogeneous population. The show is looking outward from Japan and seeks to expand what is acceptable and normal for dating relationships.
Of course, there is some danger of objectification, exoticism and even fetishism in this approach. But the glacial pacing of the dating on this show does let us get to know these characters as people first well before the extreme salaciousness of that first holding of hands. The panel also helps to lampshade and critique the dating norms of Japanese culture with Yama often representing the traditional, patriarchal viewpoints and having those viewpoints roundly dismissed by the rest of the panel. I do not think that the show particularly admires or desires Western hook-up culture as a model, but you do not include a former host of Handjob Karaoke on the panel (Tokui, if you did not know) without at least some impulse towards a more open and sex-positive approach to dating. The Japanese Room is hidden until the moment of romantic commitment, but then it's astonishingly available, accepted and even celebrated.
Terrace House undoubtedly desires and encourages successful romances for its cast members. Every nuance of every date is teased apart and deconstructed by the panel. It's clearly one focus of the show. However, always remember that there have been a few cast member in committed relationships outside the show since its first incarnation in Japan, and, of course, Hansan is almost universally well-regarded despite the fact he was in such a relationship. Terrace House is a dating show, but it's so much more than that, and I intend to explore those aspects of the show more deeply in future posts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)