Cool Japan as Dating: PR as Primal Behavior
PR as dating….?
Is this just whimsy?
No, “persuasion” and identity dissociation are primal behaviors intricately tied up with reproduction and the continuance of the species.
The “dating” metaphor is high appropriate to any form of non-coercive suasion.
Take Japan’s hugely expensive Cool Japan program. That idea here is to make Japan attractive to other countries. The Japanese have a lot of cultural penis envy – as any foreigner in Japan knows.
They lost WWII – that’s one thing. They have an image of their men as short-legged, short-dicked, short-minded compared to Europeans and Americans. Who really likes the Japanese? Nobody, Abe thinks. They just like our money. Or—our women. We are always second best. How can we get what we want?
What does Japan want?
A banana? Specifically, the one that the US has. A big one! Which means all the goodies that come from being Number One.
Now, a male bonobo who sees another male bonobo with a banana, will play cute. He may attempt to seduce him for that banana. Bonobos are bi or polysexual.
Strategy: if you can’t beat’em – beat’em off.
Of course, a bonobo might try to distract his friend and steal the banana: “hey look, is that a snake in the tree?” But there can be negative consequences . Introducing a nubile young female -- is OK if you have one around.
There are lots of options. They all turn on deception. By and large though, seduction is the main method – projecting a false – or least secondary identity, which brings us back to the dating paradigm.
When you go on a date, the girl’s sexuality is her banana. Although her sexuality is a projection of her low cut dress and push up bra—often as imaginary as whatever Japan thinks the US has that they don’t.
You do what you can to persuade your date to screw you – with unfortunately the result that you may really and royally get fucked.
In any case, just as with a bonobo, that involves deceptions, misdirection and projections of a “you” that isn’t “you” – or more correctly just a part of your inner community of roles and selves.
So too with Cool Japan. Cool japan is obviously not all of Japan.
Is Japan a cute, horny pre-teen? Is it ‘selfless’ warmth and hospitality? Well, yes, it includes these aspects – but is not defined by them.
Japanese men, in particular, have a streak of pedophilia and also desire to appear “selfless”, an important thing in a culture of conformists -- but that is not all they are.
Still, to the extent that PR is primal -- infantile values tend to float to the surface.
Japan wants the love of the World. Why? because it wants to fuck the world. That is, it wants the world to buy Japanese things – and, if possible, it wants to steal from other countries economically or politically with “favorable” deals.
So the Cool Japan identity is reductive and simple – good for ad companies – and Japanese fantasies about themselves – if quite inappropriate internationally.
If this were a Date… Japan would be a total loser pretending to be “Cool”.
But then again, this is a date with a billion dollar budget.
That kind of money buys a lot of forbearance. The emperor has no clothes? Who the fuck cares –he’s paying for the parade and the party too.
The world cheers and tries not to look at the tiny dick.
Is this just whimsy?
No, “persuasion” and identity dissociation are primal behaviors intricately tied up with reproduction and the continuance of the species.
The “dating” metaphor is high appropriate to any form of non-coercive suasion.
Take Japan’s hugely expensive Cool Japan program. That idea here is to make Japan attractive to other countries. The Japanese have a lot of cultural penis envy – as any foreigner in Japan knows.
They lost WWII – that’s one thing. They have an image of their men as short-legged, short-dicked, short-minded compared to Europeans and Americans. Who really likes the Japanese? Nobody, Abe thinks. They just like our money. Or—our women. We are always second best. How can we get what we want?
What does Japan want?
A banana? Specifically, the one that the US has. A big one! Which means all the goodies that come from being Number One.
Now, a male bonobo who sees another male bonobo with a banana, will play cute. He may attempt to seduce him for that banana. Bonobos are bi or polysexual.
Strategy: if you can’t beat’em – beat’em off.
Of course, a bonobo might try to distract his friend and steal the banana: “hey look, is that a snake in the tree?” But there can be negative consequences . Introducing a nubile young female -- is OK if you have one around.
There are lots of options. They all turn on deception. By and large though, seduction is the main method – projecting a false – or least secondary identity, which brings us back to the dating paradigm.
When you go on a date, the girl’s sexuality is her banana. Although her sexuality is a projection of her low cut dress and push up bra—often as imaginary as whatever Japan thinks the US has that they don’t.
You do what you can to persuade your date to screw you – with unfortunately the result that you may really and royally get fucked.
In any case, just as with a bonobo, that involves deceptions, misdirection and projections of a “you” that isn’t “you” – or more correctly just a part of your inner community of roles and selves.
So too with Cool Japan. Cool japan is obviously not all of Japan.
Is Japan a cute, horny pre-teen? Is it ‘selfless’ warmth and hospitality? Well, yes, it includes these aspects – but is not defined by them.
Japanese men, in particular, have a streak of pedophilia and also desire to appear “selfless”, an important thing in a culture of conformists -- but that is not all they are.
Still, to the extent that PR is primal -- infantile values tend to float to the surface.
Japan wants the love of the World. Why? because it wants to fuck the world. That is, it wants the world to buy Japanese things – and, if possible, it wants to steal from other countries economically or politically with “favorable” deals.
So the Cool Japan identity is reductive and simple – good for ad companies – and Japanese fantasies about themselves – if quite inappropriate internationally.
If this were a Date… Japan would be a total loser pretending to be “Cool”.
But then again, this is a date with a billion dollar budget.
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| Direct annual investment only |
That kind of money buys a lot of forbearance. The emperor has no clothes? Who the fuck cares –he’s paying for the parade and the party too.
The world cheers and tries not to look at the tiny dick.
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