But,? ?it has to be said,? ?there are some here who would think? ‘?parody?’ ?too kind a word to apply to a game which revels in slamming together xenophobic clichés? – ?from George Takei’s difficulty with the letters? ‘?r?’ ?and? ‘?l?’ ?to the use of kamikaze tactics.?
They’ll be missing the fact that the Russians are vodka-sozzled carousers with an army of bears,? ?helmed by Tim Curry? – ?a man best known for donning fishnet stockings and doing the Time Warp.? ?They’ll be missing the American’s NFL-flavoured can-do yankee moxie,? ?and the Brits?’ ?tally-ho-ing,? ?tea obsession and stiff upper lip.?
Red Alert? ?may clearly be a satire of absurd national stereotype,? ?rather than an? ?endorsement of it but,? ?nonetheless,? ?the second you make any kind of generalised statement about the Japanese,? ?it’s an invitation to misunderstanding.? ?I suppose I’ve? made one just there.?
Otaku culture is pretty resilient to this sort of? ?thing.? ?Red Alert will hopefully be seen for the comedy it is? – ?a ridiculous exaggeration of how foreigners see? ?Japan.? ?We’ve seen many such depictions over the years? – ?some ironic,? ?some ignorant? – ?but otaku,? ?like so many sub-? ?or counter-cultures,? ?are usually able to see the funny side.
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Outside of otaku circles,? ?however,? ?there isn’t as strong a sense of how the world sees us.? ?So when Quentin Tarantino pays wry homage to a tiny facet of Japanese iconography in Kill Bill Vol? ?1,? ?in the form of schoolgirl assassins or masked samurai,? ?it surprises and concerns that this may be writ large as the things that the Japanese? fundamentally represent to others.?
But ninjas and giant robots are certainly an upgrade on previous Japanese stereotypes.? ?Take a? ?look at the way the Japanese were depicted during and after World War II? – ?shown as wearing small,? ?round glasses and having big ivory front teeth,? ?almost like rabbits.?
These Japanese are barely even humans? – ?inscrutable animals only capable of cruelty or cowardice.? ?Even latter-day depictions of that period find it difficult to escape this lazy representation.? ?Clint Eastwood may recently have attempted to bring the? ?Japanese story to a? ?western audience with Letters From Iwo Jima,? ?but the trailers for Call Of Duty:? ?World At War once again gloss the Japanese as an unknowable? ?vengeful force? – ?ciphers that scream? ‘?banzai?!’ ?before plunging at you with a bayonet.
In the? ’?70s,? ?the Japanese became hordes of tourists,? ?buck teeth and glasses still in evidence,? ?but now wielding cameras instead of guns.? ?The? ’?80s heralded a new image again,? ?born from the economic bubble? ?Japan enjoyed at that time,? ?but still unfavourable? – ?avaricious,? ?ruthless businessmen conquering the world economy.?
The reputation for manga,? ?robots and strange uses of USB cables that otaku culture has proliferated seems a blessing by contrast.? ?But as absurd a caricature of? ?Japan as Red Alert presents,? ?and as even-handed as it may be in its wit? (?this is,? ?after all,? ?a universe in which the? ?US president’s campaign slogan is? ‘?Screw? ’?em all?’)?,? ?there are still those who will take offence.?
Surprisingly,? ?the main source of fury has been? ?outside of? ?Japan? – ?some of our neighbours in? ?Korea,? ?having been under Japanese occupation for the first half of the? ?20th century,? ?seem to feel that the resurrection of a Japanese Imperial Army is no laughing matter,? ?even if it is one featuring a two-storey-high samurai-robot that shoots lasers from its eyes.?
It’s a kind of anger that doesn’t seem to know which direction it’s heading? – ?can they really blame the Japanese when a game developed outside of? ?Japan opens old? ?wounds??
All the same,? ?it’s something I feel conflicted over.? ?While we in? ?Japan have learnt to laugh at ourselves,? ?and don’t mind it too much when people laugh along too,? ?we aren’t the only ones that such levity will offend.?
Similarly,? ?there is a sense in which that cartoon of the toothy,? ?vicious Japanese soldier diminishes the terrible reality of the whole of the Pacific war.? ?In? ?Japan we might be able to chuckle at such silliness but,? ?inevitably,? ?some people won’t find? ?Japan quite as funny as we do ourselves.