Looking back over my posts recently, I've talked a lot about my own musings (mostly complaints) but have shied away recently from any Japanese/Anime-related posts. But as I was watching an episode of Azumanga Daioh the other day, it reminded me of - it gave off the same vibes as - two movies which are really the same movie set in different cultures. The first was Kuuchuu Teien, hereafter referred to as "Hanging Garden." The second, likely more familiar to most of you, was American Beauty. What tied all of these together in my mind was the problem with which they dealt, the issue with which they struggled, the solution they were unable to find. Each of these three confronted head-on the meaning of life. Or perhaps more helpfully phrased, finding meaning in life. So I'd like to explore these three works, considering what each adds to the discussion.
Beware. Spoilers follow for all three.
Azumanga Daioh 19
In this episode, Kurosawa Minamo (Nyamo), one of the teachers at the high school asks the big question: what is she doing with her life. Earlier in the series, we've had hints that within the last couple years she had a rather serious boyfriend, but the relationship ended badly, leaving Nyamo single (and providing her colleague Tanizaki Yukari plenty of material for comical blackmail). The episode then begins with Nyamo's mother calling, trying to subtly pressure her into an arranged marriage. Nyamo is hesitant, to which her mother responds that she's not going to be young forever. This gives Nyamo something to think about for the rest of the episode. Her situation is brought into stark contrast later in the episode when she and Yukari go to a restaurant to catch up with one of their old classmates. This classmate is now successfully climbing the corporate ladder and presents herself at all times like a proper businesswoman. In contrast, Nyamo and Yukari seem rather childish, still single with their teaching jobs. Their friend invites a couple of guys to join them for the purpose of setting the teacher pair up with some good matches. We never see the guys, but rather the next time we see the teachers, it's obvious that Yukari made some sort of rude remark that ruined such a set up. And although Nyamo complains to Yukari about it, it's evident that she is not too broken up about the ruined opportunity. By the end of the episode, the feeling seems to be "well, maybe I have to grow up, but not yet." (The plot following the high school girls, specifically Kagura, ends with the same sort of tone.)
And that's the answer which the episode gives to the question of meaning. It's plainly communicated that society expects each of the characters (all girls) to marry, have a family, and be mature adults. This is where meaning is supposed to lie. But none of the characters (teachers included) fit into this stereotype. Instead, each character in their own way rebels against such an idea. (Kagura even comments that she can't see herself in such a life.) But is that okay? Can meaning be found in life apart from the expectations of family and society? Is it just as meaningful to be a single high school P.E. teacher as it is to be a successful businesswoman? The characters don't see value in the status quo, but neither do they see value in rejecting it. And thus, they're stuck and must avoid the question altogether.
American Beauty
If you haven't seen this movie, go do so now. I'm not going to describe the plot, since it's a feature-length film. I really shouldn't have even done so for the Azumanga Daioh episode, but whatever. From now on, I'll assume you've seen this movie (same goes for Hanging Garden).
This movie is about the search for meaning in life for a group of people surrounding the family of the late Lester. Lester finds escape from his dead-end corporate job by extorting his business and living out his fantasies (no matter how childish or lecherous) with the money he gets. Everything he does after his enlightenment is to gratify himself. This is where he derives meaning.
His wife finds escape from her mediocre family in the success of her business and in the affair she's having with her biggest competitor. By day she's a powerful businesswoman who rules over all she sees, and by night she's completely dominated and submissive to "the King." Her meaning is found not in being a strong woman, but in giving that up to be dominated by a strong man.
The daughter finds escape from the social pressures of her sex-crazed cheerleader friend and her pervy father in a real relationship (including sex) with the new boy next door who truly understands her and treats her as beautiful. Her meaning is derived from her boyfriend's value of her.
The other characters are worth mentioning, too: the homophobic ex-military neighbor who fears his own homosexual urges. The sex-crazed attention-starved cheerleader who, despite her kiss-and-tell stories, is still a virgin.
And the new boy next door. Now the boy next door is interesting because the movie presents him as having the only real solution to the question of where to find meaning. He finds meaning in finding beauty in the simplest things of life. A leaf dancing in the wind is beautiful. His naked girlfriend is beautiful (once she drops all facades). His room, in fact, is FILLED with video tapes of things he thought were beautiful. His philosophy is to find beauty before life flutters away. And he is the only one still standing on his own at the end of the film.
Because Lester's self-indulgence leads to his own murder. The wife's affair leaves her abandoned and powerless. The daughter forsakes her family to be with her boyfriend (the one who "gets it"). The homophobe resorts to murder after his homosexual feelings for Lester are rejected. The cheerleader is unable to lose her innocence. Thus, the message of the move - the answer it comes up with to the question of meaning - is that you simply must find beauty in an otherwise brief and meaningless existence.
Hanging Garden
So now imagine American Beauty, but set in Japan with a Japanese family and the struggles for meaning common in Japan. Imagine the family where the father is a weak man who can't get any from his wife and thus resorts to several "s-friends." ("Sex friends" for those of you not familiar with Japanese terminology.) The daughter finds hope in a new mall being built near her house and the prospect of finding the right man to deflower her. She wants to have sex, but can't get any because none of the boys she knows are both strong enough to dominate her and weak enough to allow her to assert any freedom of her own. The son finds meaning in the virtual world, shutting himself off relationally from his family and the real world. Even when his smokin' hot tutor (who is also one of the father's s-friends) takes him to a "love hotel" (just what it sounds like), he's more interested in a room without windows than the sexy woman lying on the bed. The mother finds meaning in the success of her family. As long as her family is the picture of perfection, she has value and meaning as a mother and a housewife - no matter what sort of evil backstabbing plot she has to undertake to make it happen.
In this movie, the grandmother is the one who knows where to find meaning. She finds it in the relationships she has with her family. But even her foundation is shaken when her daughter's family begins to fall apart and when the relationships cannot thrive because of the pretenses which everyone must adopt to get along. When those pretenses are removed, everything blows up. Everyone's basis for meaning is shattered. The father's escapades are exposed. The daughter fails to bag a good man (and the mall development is cancelled). The son is forced to deal with the family's real-world issues. The grandmother's relationships are strained. The mother's family harmony is completely nonexistent.
Oddly enough, the movie ends on a positive note. The mother is "reborn" and begins to see her family not as a trophy for the perfect housewife, but as her family. And the family refocuses and begins to derive its value from their relationships with each other again. And there's hope that harmony will be restored.
But as I watched the end of this movie, in the back of my mind I knew: the problem's not solved. It will all happen again. Nothing has changed from the beginning of the movie. Rather, the equilibrium which existed before the movie started (indicated by the photos of the family having fun together at a theme park when the children were small) has been restored. They are no better off, and more than likely, it would all happen again.
What does this mean?
Each of these is an attempt to explore the question of from where or what meaning in life is derived. Azumanga ended up avoiding the problem. American Beauty promoted finding beauty in a meaningless life. Hanging Garden held on to the family as the basis of meaning. But none of these answers are satisfying. None of these answers will get you through the tough times. At some time or other, each of these answers will fail you.
Each of these pictures are a cry from their creators asking for meaning. They cry out, each in their own cultural context, wanting an answer. And then they present the best they can do. But the best they can do is not good enough. Meaning cannot be derived from anything in this life.
Except for Christ. Only in Christ is your meaning based on something that doesn't change. Only in Christ is your meaning based on something that won't let you down. Only in Christ does the Creator of the Universe Himself say to you, "You are my beloved child. That's all you ever will be. That's all you ever have to be." Only in Christ is your identity based on God's promise rather than man's performance. Only in Christ can one truly find a satisfying meaning to life.
And the implications are pretty clear. The scary thing about these movies is that the characters contained within represent real people. Real people are even now trying to find meaning in all of the places explored in these pictures. And those people need Christ. America needs Christ. Japan needs Christ. So those of us who have Christ need to get our act together. We need to get out there and find these people without meaning. We need to take Christ to those who are perishing. Can't find any of those people? Well, here are three great places to get an idea of what they look like.
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