Lip my stocking

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2004)

Hi,
I've been reading the posts about the question of racism in LIT. I've found it interesting that I did not find (sorry if I missed yours) a post about the scene with the prostitute. Plenty has been said about other scenes and not this one. I think this is an interesting moment to consider.
The set up is clear and slap-stick. The language barrier makes the weirdness of an unexpected, corporate expensed visit from a call girl all the more surreal. And the language barrier is the joke, but only at first. The prostitute's seduction strategy is a sick cliche of heterosexual American male sexuality: no means yes. And Murray's character resists, clearly not understanding her or the codes she employs. One has to take for granted that in Japan, as heavily coded a culture that it is with a defiant strain towards outsiders, would treat an American very differently than a Japanese person in such a situation. Murray's character also "thanked" a stripper in another scene.
POINT: Lost in Translation explores sophisticated nuances of relationships: between cultures, between generations and between people. I'm gay so I am not biting on my obvious end tag: between men and women because it is over the PC police. This could so easily have been a gay film if a few roles were switched. What if Murray's character went after Johansson's character's husband? It would still be the same film albeit with another outcome (the washed up actor and the hot photographer at odds yet in love). LIT is that universal to me.
Where's the 20 something Lolita lobby to hate it for not bagging a million heir? Where's the 50 something lobby to hate it for not bagging the "chic". Stereotypes are where you find them.
This really is a generous fim that gives us characters that are completely realized. I understand some complaints, but they really underscore the risks the film has taken and it's ultimate generosity.
Thomas