36 comments on “Turning japanese”

  3. Loved her look in this video. although the moral of that song has noting to do with Japanese people I bet there are alot of guys turning japanese while watching it…

    1. “although the moral of that song has noting to do with Japanese people”
      .
      I think they alluded to the real nature of the song with the art that was in the background of many shots.

    2. Yeah, I know what you’re referring to, and the guys who wrote the song swear that that’s complete BS and the song isn’t about that at all.
      .
      PAD

      1. .
        Huh? I thought one of them was on VH1 some years ago saying that it was. I could be wrong because it’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure it was one of the band.

      2. Even if the rumor is wrong, the song still isn’t about the Japanese people.

        The first few lines are the singer talking about looking at a picture of him and his girlfriend, ending with “I often kiss you when there’s no one else around.” Then he talks some more about how much he fixates on her pictures.

        Then he says, “I’m turning Japanese,” a bunch of times.

        More stuff about staring at pictures of her.

        The “I’m turning Japanese” chorus again.

        After that there’s a little bit about being alone, surrounded by strangers, and all the fun stuff he can’t do, including being with her.

        Finally, just the chorus again and again.

        Honestly, I have no idea what “turning Japanese” is supposed to mean if it isn’t a euphemism for something. If you take out that line, the song is entirely about a guy separated from his girlfriend, spending most of his time looking at pictures of her. The song sure isn’t about the Japanese people.

      4. I think I read this on Wikipedia, but it’s been a while so I can’t be certain it wasn’t somewhere else. But supposedly what the songwriter had in mind was that Japanese guys work long hours into the night, and on weekends, and so they have almost no time for romance or fun. The song also says ‘No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no sin, no fun..’
        You do have to remember that the popular image of Japan was quite a bit different in 1981.

      5. Jason M. Bryant said:

        “Honestly, I have no idea what “turning Japanese” is supposed to mean if it isn’t a euphemism for something.”

        And *before* that, he said:

        “After that there’s a little bit about being alone, surrounded by strangers, and all the fun stuff he can’t do, including being with her.”

        Putting it all together, the subject of the song is “turning Japanese” while everyone else around him remains the same as they were before — he’s becoming more isolated and alienated from those he knows, becoming more alone.

        That’s just me, going by what’s said in this forum, and not having seen the VH1 bit, or read the wikipedia or anything else about it. 🙂

        Wildcat

      6. Sorry Wildcat, but I have a hard time reading it that way. Why would “turning Japanese” mean that he’s becoming more isolated? That’s as random as saying he’s turning into bread, there’s nothing in the song to describe why being Japanese has anything to do with isolation. It also doesn’t explain his make out sessions with a girl who isn’t there.
        .
        The reason why the rumor exists is because it gives a specific reason for turning “Japanese”, as opposed to French, African, a mouse, or any other random thing they could have named. The reason may or may not make sense, but at least it’s a reason. The original band claims the song isn’t about that, but they weren’t able to explain what the expression *is* supposed to mean.

      1. I still remember being on Bendis’s board when the movie first came out. He was just slamming it until he was forced to actually see it.

        His complete turnaround to how great the movie was and how even he couldn’t believe he liked still has me laughing.

        But yeah its really a great film. And like others have said, all bout the Dushku.

  8. That is very fun, but you might want to put a NSFW warning on it, with the (drawn) nudity that pops up in a few places.

  9. Wow, I was never into the whole anime look — until now! Thanks, Kirsten!

    As for her other movies, I gotta think BRING IT ON was one of the easiest film pitches ever. (“Okay, we have this idea for a movie.” “What’s it about?” “Well, we’ll have Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Duishku, and Gabrielle Union in cheerleader outfits…” “Sold!”

    1. Actually, it was probably more like:
      .
      “Well, we’ll have Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku and Gabrielle Union in cheerleader outfits…”
      .
      “Hmmm. Not bad, not bad. Can they have a bikini car wash to raise money?”
      .
      “Sure.”
      .
      “Sold.”
      .
      Supposedly the day they filmed that scene, everyone connected with the movie in any way, no matter how tangential, found a reason to be on set.
      .
      PAD

      1. “Supposedly the day they filmed that scene, everyone connected with the movie in any way, no matter how tangential, found a reason to be on set.”

        I believe it. During an interview with the band Fountains of Wayne about shooting the video for “Stacy’s Mom” (featuring Rachel Hunter as THE ideal milf), the lead singer was saying, “They told us, ‘She’s shooting her scenes, you don’t have to be there’ and we were like, ‘Yeah, sure. She’ll be there as six in the morning? We’ll be there at 5:30.'”

      2. I heard Janet Leigh talking about filming the shower scene. She said that there were an amazing number of people who suddenly found reasons they *really* needed to be on the set.
        .
        She also said that she had three patches of moleskin covering strategic areas and that, during the take that wound up being used of the shot where she had to lie there unmoving, the most important of the three patches began to slip…

  10. “I gotta think BRING IT ON was one of the easiest film pitches ever. (“Okay, we have this idea for a movie.” “What’s it about?” “Well, we’ll have Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Duishku, and Gabrielle Union in cheerleader outfits…” “Sold!”

    Eliza Dushku is one of the most truly sexy women I have ever had the pleasure of watching onscreen. Meeting her – albeit briefly – at a con was beyond cool.

  11. McG really suits making pop videos – plus if he stuck to it he’d stop offending my eyes as a movie director 🙂

    I’d need to hear a non-compressed version before properly judging Ms Dunst’s vocal skills, but on this listen it appears her producers considered neither her regular singing voice nor falsetto strong enough, so they overdubbed both. Plus, woah, that is one slavish cover version :/

    Still, I think she looks great and displays a fun, sparky persona in the vid, so it’s not entirely a road accident.

    *takes music snob hat off*

    1. Overdubbing the vocals is commonplace. Even great singers do it. The Beatles did it routinely, Freddy Mercury did it multiple times on nearly every song. While it is a common trick to disguise thin voices, it can’t be taken as proof of limited ability.
      You’re right, though, that they did copy the Vapors arrangement exactly. I wondered at first if they might’ve just used the original backing tracks or something.

  12. I love the first reaction shot – the girl with headphones. Total deer-in-the-headlights style “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Interrogative”.

  13. “The song also says ‘No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no sin, no fun..’” which shows how much they know about the Japanese. ie not a whole heck of a lot.

    But, oh, Akihabara (a.k.a. ‘Electric City’) … ahhhh I miss it. The neon, the tech toys, the cute models hawking various businesses/products, the energy …

    As for Dunst, I loved SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2 (3 not so much) but found she was the weakest part of the films. She simply couldn’t carry MJ’s seemingly self-assured party girl persona.

    1. Ithought the same thing. Although, in SM1 I thought they were trying to make her a composite of classic MJ and classic Gwen Stacy.

  15. Okay, you know you watch too much anime when while enjoying four minutes of hot Kirsten Dunst, the one thing that makes you do a double take, back the video up a bit, and pause is, “Hey, did I just see a brief half-second shot of The Melencholy of Haruhi Suzumiya?”

    And yes, I did.

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