Tokyo Idols

I saw this film at a doc festival and here's what I took away in my notes....not so pleasant... The film to me was a glimpse and commentary on the Japanese pop idol culture. Alongside the performance aspect is the social engagement side...managed interaction events between the fans (mostly men) and the younger (under 20) girls. This a marketed and controlled industry with the "fans" voting in competitions for the next big thing. Borne out of recession times it gave people something to socially "cling" to. My final note was "one screwed up society". Judge for yourself.

This documentary follows one up-and-coming performer's career as she starts to gain momentum in Tokyo. It focuses on her hardcore fanbase, and how the performer/biggest fans act and react around each other, and their motivations for doing what they do. As someone who views the culture with some distain it did a good job of presenting the fans fairly without holding them up in a cage on display. Some of them do seem to have genuinely innocent intentions and enjoy their lifestyles with this obsession in their lives. The documentary does touch on both the mainstream idols as well as the indie and even preteen idols - an area well known for controversy as to the morality behind it. However, it does not dwell deep into this as the people this documentary focuses on are all technically adults. One area I thought should have been covered was the people who actually make the majority of the profits from idols (i.e. the managers and record labels). Japan has not quite caught up yet (yes a massive generalisation) with gender balance and rights, which the film does touch on. In fact, many of the subjects of the film are aware of the outside view on the culture, and the cultural progression that this subculture seems to be working against. I'd recommend this documentary to anyone mildly curious about the mindset behind an idol's followers, or someone unaware of the idol/otaku subcultures.

Girl bands and their pop music permeate every moment of Japanese life. Following an aspiring pop singer (Rio) and her fans, Tokyo Idols explores a cultural phenomenon driven by an obsession with young female sexuality, and the growing disconnect between men and women in hyper-modern societies.

To the western world, Japanese culture is quite a mystery, especially the sexual aspects. This is a country that sells used underwear in vending machines and makes animated pornography featuring squids. Even the school "sailor" uniforms have become highly fetishized (though, in fairness, so have Catholic skirts in America).

"Tokyo Idols" does not explore a topic that is explicitly sexual, but does seem to have that aspect lurking just below the surface. Die-hard fans of grown men called "otaku" practice what they call a religion of following young women around as they sing and dance. One man, a transportation worker, comes across as especially creepy, paying $2,000 each month to follow a teenager he admits he is romantically interested in.

Critics of the otaku say Japanese men "worship virginity" and "fear strong women"; but, again to be fair, this is not all that different from American pop stars and beauty pageants. The film is fascinating in how it covers so many angles of what could be a simple topic: the path to success for young women, whether the fans are creeps or father figures, and just the sheer abundance of idols (10,000) in Tokyo alone! "Tokyo Idols" screens July 26, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. For those who love cultural documentaries, this is a must-see. Japan is a strange place, and this film only adds to the mystery.

Tokyo Idols was showed at the Sundance Film Festival before gaining a wider audience and the director and creator of the documentary has experienced a strong and skillful beginning to hopefully a successful career. I had the opportunity to speak with her after the showing and found her perspective insightful and her courage to expose an interesting aspect of Japanese culture refreshing.

Having lived in Japan for a few years, the subject matter explored in this documentary felt extremely genuine and honest. The film delves into 'Idols" in Japan while introducing fans of the concept and the heavy influence this culture has had on the Japanese people. Furthermore, the content speaks volumes to the impact this can have for individuals and society and also what it could mean for the future of the growing divide between people.

This documentary also had the nerve to not only unravel the negative and disturbing ideas the "Idol" culture entails, but also some positive things that come to those entangled with these popular super stars. When looking at the narrative structure as a whole, the arch is cohesive and fulfilling. At times it's difficult to determine who is who since some of the cuts aren't as smooth as they could be. However, this is a minor flaw that feels insignificant when questions are eventually resolved.

The work is bound to grow in controversy when showings hit Japan since controversy has already been cultivating here in the United States. Despite the lash the creator(s) will receive regarding this highly accepted and touchy subject, Tokyo Idols is a valuable and important piece that should be shared for those who love or hate this Idol culture.

Anyone who is interested in this culture and learning more, this documentary is a fascinating portrait of a culture that feels different than ours. Even for those not interested, this feels like an important documentary that everyone should get around to seeing it. Personally, this hit several emotional chords that feel relatable since I lived there but it's definitely not exclusive to people who have lived there. Anyone can find this fascinating and that's why this documentary is highly recommended.

This documentary casts a balanced eye over a very strange phenomenon I had never even heard of, the Idol culture of Japan. This essentially amounts to teenage girls who double as pop singers and objects of idolisation for a fan-base. So far, not very strange, but the catch here is that the biggest percentage of the fans are older men, many in the 40s. It is a very strange spectacle to see older men faun over teenage girls in quite this way. Clearly, by this very fact this is by default a pretty controversial subject. In the west, such young girls would have fan-bases of even younger girls, not older men. So, there is a troubling aspect to the whole phenomenon where the motivations of many of the fans must clearly by somewhat dark in nature. While the sub-culture involving the even younger pop idols definitely seemed to be coming from a questionable place. But when watching this I couldn't help but sense a cultural gap that I could never quite bridge. I could never really understand the motivations of the men who followed these teenage girls, it remained very odd indeed and it did seem to stem from a Lolita sub-culture which is embedded in Japan in some complex way. It was partially disturbing, yet bizarrely innocent on a different level – I essentially left the theatre baffled by it all.