Kids Vs. Zombie

[Yojimbo]

Says something about the Japanese Is it any wonder that a culture which overtly revels in the dark guilty part of the human psyche that watches car races for the crashes does things like slaughter whales for what they call "Nationalist sentiment". Wyld, I'm sorry to hear about what you had to go through. I can't imagine how difficult things must have been for you. I did want to say that I don't think it is entirely fair to make a sweeping statement about the Japanese and their culture based on this television show. As an American, for instance, I would feel it to be a great disservice if someone based their opinion of American culture on what they had seen on "JACKASS" or "JERRY SPRINGER" You can hold whatever opinion you choose about Japanese Culture, of course, and please do not think that I am defending practices such as Whaling (something that I agree is reprehensible). Japanese Culture certainly has it's flaws - just as every other culture has it's own quirks, flaws and bad things that even we Americans are not without.

[DjfunkmasterG]

To me, those videos are no different than the BS put on America's Funniest home videos when kids get their nuts kicked in, or some other dumb prank. People never seem to have a problem with those, but if a foreign entity does the same thing people suddenly have a cow. I am sure both the parents and the show probably spoke to the kids after the fact, especially if there were any nightmares or prolonged effects, but honestly even as scared as those children were they stood their ground and took on what they thought was a real threat, what you find disturbing I found not only entertaining but educational at the same time. Sorry for your history and what you went through, but life doesn't deal everyone a royal flush and you sometimes have to roll with the punches so to speak, but through life experiences and growth.... whatever doesn't kill you.. makes you stronger.

[krakenslayer]

To me, those videos are no different than the BS put on America's Funniest home videos when kids get their nuts kicked in, or some other dumb prank. People never seem to have a problem with those, but if a foreign entity does the same thing people suddenly have a cow. There is clearly a huge moral difference between passively presenting a spontaneously occurring accident as entertainment, and actively engineering a traumatic situation with an unwilling victim for fun. It's like comparing a psychopath who goes out and murders women on camera to make snuff movies, with a bloke who just edits together war and newsreel footage into "faces of death" style documentaries.

[Wyldwraith]

EXACTLY, Look at Scare Tactics for an example of appropriate boundaries in this sort of activity. 18+yr old targets and the pranks are ALWAYS called to an end before they get out of hand. Targeting children is good for the cheapest sort of laughs, but they lack the mental protection a mature brain affords adults. Just look at the stuff that could give you nightmares when you were 4-7. Those things are probably light comedy compared to what you absorb for entertainment these days. America's Funniest Home Videos also EXPLICITLY denies entry to any footage of a traumatic or abusive nature they feel there is the tiniest possibility was engineered to be recorded when it comes to kids. My biggest problem was with the parents though. How do you set up your kids days ahead of time to be mortally terrified, then laugh your head off as it happens? I just don't get that. Didn't get it when it was my biological father doing it to me either, and I can tell you I came to HATE him for it. Haven't seen him in 18yrs, but to this day I would love to tag team torture him with a professional torturer if I could avoid the consequences of doing so. "Hahahah Dad, I just splashed your nuts with sulfuric acid. Isn't that hysterical? Hahaha." Yojimbo's point about not judging Japanese society by the excesses of on TV program is well taken. I too wouldn't want America judged by a glance at Jerry Springer. Although look at the profound difference between Jerry Springer and their program. On Springer the guests are the source of aberrant behavior, and the mainstream audience in large part boos and hisses at their screwed up antics. With the Japanese program the audience, parents, neighbors, guest celebrities and show hosts all thought it was hilarious. So to me the difference was the absence of anyone at all that thought what they did was screwed up and twisted. I dunno, as I said before my own bias could perhaps explain my reaction. I don't think I need to say much more than I've never experienced a moment of regret for shooting my father about anything except the fact I only hit him in the shoulder. If I could go back in time I would've emptied the clip. If that Japanese boy slits his parents throats in a few years, could you really blame him?

[DjfunkmasterG]

There is clearly a huge moral difference between passively presenting a spontaneously occurring accident as entertainment, and actively engineering a traumatic situation with an unwilling victim for fun. It's like comparing a psychopath who goes out and murders women on camera to make snuff movies, with a bloke who just edits together war and newsreel footage into "faces of death" style documentaries. I fail to see the difference, even some of the AFHV vids were set up pranks, which no one had issues with, so to me it is being very hypocritical to say one is ok, and the other is not. EXACTLY, Look at Scare Tactics for an example of appropriate boundaries in this sort of activity. 18+yr old targets and the pranks are ALWAYS called to an end before they get out of hand. Targeting children is good for the cheapest sort of laughs, but they lack the mental protection a mature brain affords adults. Just look at the stuff that could give you nightmares when you were 4-7. Those things are probably light comedy compared to what you absorb for entertainment these days. America's Funniest Home Videos also EXPLICITLY denies entry to any footage of a traumatic or abusive nature they feel there is the tiniest possibility was engineered to be recorded when it comes to kids. My biggest problem was with the parents though. How do you set up your kids days ahead of time to be mortally terrified, then laugh your head off as it happens? I just don't get that. Didn't get it when it was my biological father doing it to me either, and I can tell you I came to HATE him for it. Haven't seen him in 18yrs, but to this day I would love to tag team torture him with a professional torturer if I could avoid the consequences of doing so. "Hahahah Dad, I just splashed your nuts with sulfuric acid. Isn't that hysterical? Hahaha." Yojimbo's point about not judging Japanese society by the excesses of on TV program is well taken. I too wouldn't want America judged by a glance at Jerry Springer. Although look at the profound difference between Jerry Springer and their program. On Springer the guests are the source of aberrant behavior, and the mainstream audience in large part boos and hisses at their screwed up antics. With the Japanese program the audience, parents, neighbors, guest celebrities and show hosts all thought it was hilarious. So to me the difference was the absence of anyone at all that thought what they did was screwed up and twisted. I dunno, as I said before my own bias could perhaps explain my reaction. I don't think I need to say much more than I've never experienced a moment of regret for shooting my father about anything except the fact I only hit him in the shoulder. If I could go back in time I would've emptied the clip. If that Japanese boy slits his parents throats in a few years, could you really blame him? Yes, I blame anyone who slits someones throat, murders or shoots someone. While there are some seriously mentaly distrubed people, which i do not argue there are, others use insanity as a means to get away with murder so to speak. Sorry if I seem brash about this, but again, you allow one group to go on as they please with no reprisal, but criticize the other for doing the exact same thing. Yet one group does it for shear entertainment while the other used the video for the purpose of a learning experience.

[blind2d]

Geez guys, get over it! It's just a dumb TV show! Don't make such a fuss. Japan isn't a perfect place, but neither is any other country, because humans are flawed and weak. Except maybe for those kids.... they really kicked ass.

[Wyldwraith]

Wait a second, I have NEVER said I'm ok with ANYONE torturing kids mentally, emotionally or physically for laughs. I'm pointing at the Japanese atm because that video was the most extreme example of apparently culturally sanctioned behavior I've ever seen. If AFHV did the same thing next week I'd be just as angry. Hope I've clarified the fact there's no double standard at work in my views at least.

[EvilNed]

I fail to see the difference, even some of the AFHV vids were set up pranks, which no one had issues with, so to me it is being very hypocritical to say one is ok, and the other is not. The difference I guess is that there are harmless pranks (see AFHV) and then there are those kinds of pranks that can end up really badly for all people included... See this one. Try putting yourself in that kids situation. Did you see him crying? He was fighting for his life. That kid's going to have nightmares for months. How can you fail to see the difference between two very, very different kind of pranks? One light, the other extreme?

[DjfunkmasterG]

Ask the guy who has been kicked in the balls then humiliated on National TV and see if he thinks there is a difference. A prank is a prank no matter how gentle or how extreme and both have lasting psychological effects. Geez guys, get over it! It's just a dumb TV show! Don't make such a fuss. Japan isn't a perfect place, but neither is any other country, because humans are flawed and weak. Except maybe for those kids.... they really kicked ass. This is the thing... The video was about kids coming up with a plan to fight a zombie and they did, albeit an actor, but they did it, and us as zombie fans rooted for them and watched them claim victory, albeit with some scary moments for the kids themselves, but everyone is turning this into something it shouldn't be, I mean honestly it is time to move on about it and enjoy it for what it was.. a bunch of kids kicking ass and taking names.

[EvilNed]

Ask the guy who has been kicked in the balls then humiliated on National TV and see if he thinks there is a difference. Well, uh. Yeah, there is? Because kicked in the balls and "then" humiliated on national television doesn't traumatize you with nightmares from a young age. I'm starting to think you actually didn't even watch the videoclip this thread was about, because you don't really seem to know what it's actually about... Also, as for the teamwork bit. I don't buy it. There are hundreds of ways to teach kids how to use teamwork, and most of them do not involve making them cry, fighting for their lives (or having them believe they do) or more or less getting a mental breakdown.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Well, uh. Yeah, there is? Because kicked in the balls and "then" humiliated on national television doesn't traumatize you with nightmares from a young age. I'm starting to think you actually didn't even watch the videoclip this thread was about, because you don't really seem to know what it's actually about... Also, as for the teamwork bit. I don't buy it. There are hundreds of ways to teach kids how to use teamwork, and most of them do not involve making them cry, fighting for their lives (or having them believe they do) or more or less getting a mental breakdown. I didn't watch the clip eh? Ok, yeah would you like me to discribe it in detail? Seriously, MY OPINION is THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME. The same prank just a different scales with the same outcome, someone being traumatized or embarrassed by the actions of another. Pot Kettle still Black.

[EvilNed]

I didn't watch the clip eh? Ok, yeah would you like me to discribe it in detail? Seriously, MY OPINION is THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME. The same prank just a different scales with the same outcome, someone being traumatized or embarrassed by the actions of another. Uhm. Okay, so someone falling flat on their ass into the mud (slapstick) is the same thing as scaring a kid into tears over a 10-15 minute period. Sure. Fine. If that's the way you see it. Ps. I hope you don't have kids.

[Yojimbo]

I'm pointing at the Japanese atm because that video was the most extreme example of apparently culturally sanctioned behavior I've ever seen. If AFHV did the same thing next week I'd be just as angry. But if AFHV did the same thing, would you then interpret the show as "culturally sanctioned" and in that sense reflective of the morals of the people of the United States of America? My thought is that it would be reflective of the producers of that show and whatever audience finds that appealing and not necessarily an indicator of the moral temperature of the nation and it's culture at large.

[EvilNed]

But if AFHV did the same thing, would you then interpret the show as "culturally sanctioned" and in that sense reflective of the morals of the people of the United States of America? Of course! I mean, the title of the show is AMERICAs funniest home videos, isn't it!?

[Yojimbo]

Of course! I mean, the title of the show is AMERICAs funniest home videos, isn't it!? Oh crap, we are doomed aren't we?