Fearing the youth

Date Issued:: 2011
Summary:: In December 2000, Japanese lawmakers took unprecedented steps to ban Fukasaku Kinji's Battle Royale from theaters prior to its scheduled release. The film was deemed "crude and tasteless" for its portrayal of teen violence in a state run game of kill or be-killed and attempts to ban the film were pursued through the film certification process all the way to the floor of Japanese parliament. This thesis investigates the controversy surrounding the release of Battle Royale and the socioeconomic and cultural factors - in particular, the Japanese recession and widening generation gap of the 1990s - that influenced both the film's message and the extraordinary political reaction in Japan. This thesis argues that the objections to the film were not based solely on the violent content as is often reported, but rather were the combination of adult economic and cultural anxiety regarding themselves and the youth, the anti-authority message of the film that encouraged the youth to reject adult systems, and a political campaign that exploited the adult fears by using Battle Royale as a scapegoat for youth problems.

Title:	Fearing the youth: economic turmoil, adult anxiety and the Japanese Battle Royale controversy.	236 views 124 downloads
Name(s):	Pagel, Caren. Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Type of Resource:	text
Genre:	Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued:	2011
Publisher:	Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form:	electronic
Extent:	vii, 63 p.
Language(s):	English
Summary:	In December 2000, Japanese lawmakers took unprecedented steps to ban Fukasaku Kinji's Battle Royale from theaters prior to its scheduled release. The film was deemed "crude and tasteless" for its portrayal of teen violence in a state run game of kill or be-killed and attempts to ban the film were pursued through the film certification process all the way to the floor of Japanese parliament. This thesis investigates the controversy surrounding the release of Battle Royale and the socioeconomic and cultural factors - in particular, the Japanese recession and widening generation gap of the 1990s - that influenced both the film's message and the extraordinary political reaction in Japan. This thesis argues that the objections to the film were not based solely on the violent content as is often reported, but rather were the combination of adult economic and cultural anxiety regarding themselves and the youth, the anti-authority message of the film that encouraged the youth to reject adult systems, and a political campaign that exploited the adult fears by using Battle Royale as a scapegoat for youth problems.
Identifier:	738466756 (oclc), 3172429 (digitool), FADT3172429 (IID), fau:3657 (fedora)
Note(s):	by Caren Pagel. Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. Includes bibliography. Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s):	Kinji, Fukasaku Kinji, Fukasaku Motion pictures -- Censorship -- Japan Violence in motion pictures -- Japan Sensationalism in motion pictures -- Japan Japan -- Politics and government -- 20th century Japan -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
Persistent Link to This Record:	http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3172429
Use and Reproduction:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution:	FAU

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