Journalist or media self-criticism?
This drama has caught my attention since I saw the first episode. I was looking forward to what would happen because the media is going to expose the corruption of the mass media. Because I didn't think that Fuji TV would do a self-torture story that strangles itself.
I don't think so, but as a serious drama, the atmosphere felt strange from the beginning. I felt a comedy element somewhere. I felt that the thing itself was "new".
I don't know Aya Watanabe, who wrote the script. Wiki, the only one that comes to mind is 'Stranger ~Shanghai Ryunosuke Akutagawa~'. The contents were packed so much that it was a waste in 73 minutes. It was interesting. Ryunosuke in a different space, a different culture. The world portrayed by Ryunosuke's state of mind, such as his contact with the Chinese Kuomintang revolutionary, was well expressed regardless of historical facts.
Hitoshi Ohne, who directed "Weekly Yoko Maki" and "Moteki", was interesting. It seems that he also directed a part of "Trick". In "Weekly Maki Youko", the charm of Yoko Maki who can't fit in the camera a little, and in a sense, the atmosphere of Yoko Maki floating from the screen is similar to the atmosphere of Masami Nagasawa in this work.
Producer Ayumi Sano made this project with Aya Watanabe and sold it to the station during the TBS era, but it was rejected. It is said that she was revived after joining Kantele (『 FRIDAY DIGITAL”). Ms. Sano worked on "99.9 -Criminal Lawyer-", so she must be interested in criminal cases and false accusations. but).
It seems that it was decided early on that Masami-chan would be cast as the protagonist of a female announcer who is mentally cornered. This role is close to the "Masquerade" series, but the image of "The Confidenceman JP" is strong in me, and I felt that I would burst out laughing like Dako at any moment. I hardly laugh in this piece. I like the scene in the ending where they dance while cooking.
Goatsu Maeda's eyesight is amazing. Every time I see him, I think of Yukiyoshi Ozawa. don't you think they look alike? If you say that he resembles his father (Shinichi Chiba), yes.
Ryohei Suzuki is a rare villain. He's smart, good-looking, second-to-none, and on the surface he's very serious. And he doesn't know what he's really thinking. The mysterious part may attract more women. They see co-workers, women, money, and human relationships as nothing more than tools for self-fulfillment. Is the word in the final episode "true"? Ena Asakawa seems to have given up on pursuing it any further, but I suspect that there is still a "hidden conscience" somewhere. It may be hope that we continue to believe in that "something we don't know if it exists or not."
The Role of the Mass Media
Shuichi Kato describes the main points of ``the information selection of TV stations,'' representatives of ``the public and information transmission, the so-called ``mass communication''. I list four.
Firstly, ``Broadcasters are large organizations, so they have the background of the government or large corporations (advertising, bank loans, etc.). The problem of 'manipulation of the masses' arises." Secondly, ``many broadcasting stations are sensitive to ``audience ratings,'' and as a result they repeat similar programs to pander to the masses--a very typical Japanese commercial broadcaster. "One hundred million total idiots"). Third, "broadcasters do not pander to the masses without limit, but to the extent that they do not significantly contradict the prevailing value system of the society concerned." Fourth, "Broadcasters' information choices are also subject to technical constraints." In a society that is formed by >, which is difficult to photograph.” (『Current History』 1976/10/20 Shinchosha, P.225~)
The mass media was born in the modern age, just like the masses, the people, or the crowd. No, it's not causality, they're different views of the same thing.
The mass media is built on a balance between capital, politics, audience ratings, science, and the public. Therefore, the mass media has "ambiguity" from the beginning. It is well known that books, and more importantly newspapers (mass media), have become effective weapons in the modern, democratic, and capitalist revolutions of Western Europe. It's the same as SNS having a certain power now.
The media mediates between power and the people, and is said to be like a guardian of power. But it is also true that the modern power needed the people and used the mass media as a means to do so. Isn't it obvious how to use the media when that power becomes a ruler? No, the current state of the media itself represents the essence of the mass media.
Books and Media
There is a difference between books that convey ideas and media that convey emotions. It is clear from the fact that the mass media needs illustrations and photographs, including tile plates. Even so, there were still assumptions, assumptions, and fantasies that newspapers (or television) "tell the facts." As pictograms are symbolic of SNS, the aspect of "conveying the facts" is almost omitted in the limit of 140 full-width characters and 280 half-width characters (even if it becomes 4000 characters).
Why "emotion" instead of "reason"? It is clear that this is because we are dealing with the "mass". The mass media has a great affinity with dramas and variety shows because it conveys emotions. It is only natural that comedians and actors (that is, professionals who control emotions) make persuasive remarks on "information programs" (originally wide shows).
At first glance, this seems to represent the "defeat of reason" and the "limitation of reason." I think it's a simple statement that "reason is just a means of expressing emotions."
The mass media as anti-authority and anti-establishment
Liberty and equality of the "people" as a force opposing the feudal lords, the aristocracy, and the Catholic Church in the modern revolution ・The mass media spread as a "power" to realize independence and democracy. The mass media were "friends of the people" and "justice and goodness." The revolution ended as "the people won", and since the revolution it has assumed the role of "watchman" of the new political and economic powers. This is the "justice" of journalists (journalism, mass media) that Murai and Asakawa continued to hold and Kishimoto awakened.
This justice can be expressed as "it should be" or "I want to be", but which comes first? It may be different for each person. I don't know either. If the former comes first, then "Society should be" becomes "I should be". And it leads to "You should too". Without that compulsion (including for ourselves), we cannot aim for a "ideal society." It becomes difficult to compromise between "forcing" others and "liberty, equality, and democracy." It is painful to "force" yourself, and it becomes a bargain with "frustration" and "escape/give up". This is exactly the conflict that Murai, Asakawa, and Kishimoto have.
Other staff are "shelving" what "should be". "I want to do it" is given priority to some extent, and I am in the principle of self-protection and carelessness. It may be that he is preoccupied with busyness and "gives up" from the beginning in front of the size of power. Rather than "I want to do this", I act with the thought "I don't want to be like that (sacrifice or miserable position)".
If “I want to do this” is given priority, it will lead to “I want to be like this” and lead to Saito (Ryohei Suzuki). It's not like Saito doesn't have the idea that "society should be like this." Although these positions have different priorities, the conflict is not essential.
Power
The fact that the media plays the role of "connecting power and the people" means that it is "closest to power".
I don't understand Foucault's "biopower" at all, but Murai, Asakawa, and Kishimoto were fighting, supporting the surrounding staff's "do nothing" principle, and Saito Isn't it also "biopower" that justified his actions? It is more of a "feeling" than a "substance" or "fact".
That's why the "how" and "when" of the media is more important than the "what" to report. Mika Tsutsumi is cut from the TV broadcast. ("America's Japan Dismantling Plan" by Mika Tsutsumi, 2021/01/20 Management Science Publishing, P.146)
. And "when the news becomes all about an incident, there is something going on behind the scenes" (ibid.). The relationship between the Apollo program and the Vietnam War is well known. The same is true for the Tokyo Olympics (both this time and the previous one) and the Expo. Most of the bills directly related to our lives are not reported when they are being deliberated in the Diet, and are reported "all at once" on every channel's wide show a few days before they come into force after they are enacted. It's like "broadcasting has been lifted".
It's not just fun. Mr. Tsutsumi cites the "Erika Sawajiri Incident" as an example, but the same goes for "The University of Tokyo Dispute", "Asama Sanso", "Aum Shinrikyo", and "Abe Murder". What is drawn there is the "criminal (bad guy)" and his fate. It strengthens the "biopower".
Drama continues to portray politicians, bureaucrats, and police organizations as doing bad things, and doctors as making money. Challenging the "great darkness (power)" is to fight "the fear of being assassinated." The fear is not necessarily "physical violence". You don't need to. This is because the media reports 'feelings' rather than 'facts'. There is no distinction between reality and drama. How much the news video is "directed". I'm not on the scene, so I can't confirm, but I don't think there's any news coverage that isn't staged. Which video to use, what to convey in the close-up, whether to include telops, who to include comments... that's where the director can show his skills.
Presence
Saito said, "Each person is just a cell of the nation." I think society is a collection of individuals. It is analytical thinking that society (the whole) can be divided into individuals (parts), but is that possible? Is it possible for an individual to be further divided into "hands, feet, bones, heart, liver", etc. (further divided into individual cells)? Thinking "I can do it" makes organ transplantation possible. Furthermore, the idea that losing a hand or leg or having a disability is "incomplete" is also born.
If the individual is the "combination" of hands, feet, etc., the disabled person is imperfect. It is an individual who has been put somewhere or something. Medically and biologically, there may be a "decision" that "from here to here is the hand", but in reality it is quite rough and I think it is difficult to point it out strictly. It's even more difficult to say where the "nose" ends. In fact, the range of "nose" and "mouth" varies depending on the country or region.
The answer to the question, "Is your family part of you?" Your home, your company, your nation... your mind and body?
When many people have stripped away the various things around them, what remains at the end is not "myself, mind, and consciousness," in other words, the "subject/self." Uka The idea of "extracting your own memories and thoughts as data, and continuing to live in the Internet space" is the best example. Writing books (sentences) and works of art (drawing, creating), “I want to leave proof that I was alive” (me), “I want people to know my existence” (me) ) and so on are the same. On the other hand, some people think that money, smartphones, figures, families, religious groups, and nations are more important than life.
But is it really the opposite? I think that in many of such cases, there is "myself" at the center, and money and family are the extension of that, or the things that make up and supplement it.
Money is a symbol, but it is exchangeability. Land submerged by dams and alternative airport construction sites are based on the same idea as Osaka instead of Tokyo, Omi instead of Suruga, or organ transplants. It is to perceive the land and organs as part of the whole, or, in Heidegger's words, to perceive "existence" as "existence" or, in other words, as "object." If we regard the land and limbs as objects (existences), in other words, if we regard them as "parts of the whole," then "exchangeability" occurs.
From the point of view of humanity as a whole, it doesn't matter if I die or you die, whether Japan perishes or America perishes (and you and I will surely die one day). The land where you were born and the land beyond the mountains are the same "things" as long as they "live biologically". It is possible that the desire to protect one's family, the land one was born and raised in (ancestral land), and Japan is born from the idea of "protecting oneself (ego)." However, at the same time, I think there is also the idea that it is "irreplaceable," "irreplaceable," and "not a part," and that it is itself the whole, and "existence itself."
The idea that "others are a part, but I am not a part" is the "individualism" of modern Western Europe. The fact that the word “identity” has become somewhat established in Japan is also a manifestation of the modern individual. "Self-approval desire" is another name for the same thing. There is no doubt that this is the effect (reaction?) of thorough objectification, but I think there is also a desire for totalization (the desire for existence itself) (individualism in Western society). even in ). Even if I can't say I'm "perfect," I somehow feel like I have to be "a full-fledged person" and "a person." If this is strong, they will feel pity rather than respect for "people who are not mature," "people who lack something," "handicapped people," "old people," and "children." The gathering is called “homosocial”).
Is the ``individual'' for the mass media, the state, or the masses perceived as a ``cell (exchangeability)'' as a part, or as a ``whole or existence'' with duality? That is where the relationship between Saito and Asakawa lies.
To the other side of good and evil
Asakawa says in the final episode.
I don't know who's good or who's bad. Let's give up on the right thing and dream.
It must be the thoughts of the screenwriter and producer. Good and evil and justice are things that humans (or beings) as beings think about. Japanese people are familiar with the idea that the natural world (animals and plants, or mountains and rivers) does not have “good and evil” and “justice”. The idea of dividing everything into "good and evil" or their opposites is "dualism." This seems to divide the object into two, but in reality, "good" means "oneself (or the one close to oneself)", so the basis is "subjectivity and objectivity". Basically, you have to separate yourself from things other than yourself, and you can divide things other than yourself into "good things for yourself" and "bad things for yourself."
It's hard to talk about anything without dividing it into two parts. "I" is myself because there is "something other than myself". The fact that you think so is "subjective." Black-and-white photographs are mottled in black and white. If it's all white or all black, you can't see anything. The letters are legible because they are written in black ink on a white background. There are times when there is sound and times when there is no sound, so you can feel it as sound. It is self-identity to distinguish one thing from another.
Obviously, this is difficult. Have you ever been surprised (or laughed) at a picture of an ID card from ten years ago? Everything "changes" (shōgyō impermanence, universal transformation Πάντα ῥεῖ). Self-identity (A is A, A is not B...) can only be said by stopping the object at a certain point or in a certain section. Just like an electron microscope picture. It is impossible to recognize self-identity without acknowledging that "a flying arrow does not fly" (Zenon of Elea).
When you see data, information, or "characters," you can tell immediately. It quickly becomes "a thing of the past" as soon as it is recorded. It is not possible to "write down" the present existence.
Good and evil and identity are just certain thought forms on the part of humans. So what is a "dream"? In Asakawa, I think that it means "hope".
Espice or "Pandora's Box"
Pandora (the first human woman) opened the box (πίθος, vase/jar) given to her by God, Various disasters flew out, but the one that got stuck on the rim of the urn was ``Espices ἐλπίς'' (Hesiod's ``work and day” Iwanami Bunko, P.16~). Espis is usually translated as "hope". It is also translated as "prediction, prediction, expectation," etc., but there are various theories.
The fact that opening a box brings misfortune reminds me of Urashima Taro. Hesiod's conception of women makes me laugh and at the same time makes me feel sick (sweat), but it also leads to the story of Adam and Eve. Come to think of it, Urashima Taro also fell in love with Princess Otohime.
"I hope there are people who believe in me," says Asakawa. And it is a "dream".
The fact that the people (the masses) won over the feudal powers using the mass media is a fantasy and a dream, even if it is a reality. It is an illusion and a dream that the mass media is in the position of the people (the masses) who monitor the power of the modern age. To quote Gene Sharpe, the people (the masses) are not unrelated to power.
Isn't it a "belief" that the mass media (such as Asakawa) is on the people's side, or in the people's position? Who did Asakawa and his friends "win"? Whose "hope" is freedom and democracy?
Our innate feeling will always be socialist, not capitalist. For example, there is an objection to selling food to foreign countries as a commodity instead of sharing it with the poor in the neighborhood.
These are the words of neo-liberal economic theorist and Nobel laureate F.A. , P.22). I don't think it's socialistic to share food with the poor, but I think it's a matter of subjectivity whether you "give" or "share". The same goes for “pitying” or “helping” those in need.
Actually, only death can reveal true kindness. For that alone can destroy subjectivity. "Kindness" and "love" spoken within the framework of subjectivity never truly convince us. Terms such as “love,” “human rights,” “equality,” “the preciousness of life,” and “coexistence” used in modern thought and political slogans are mostly of that kind. There is something that cannot help but arouse feelings of irritation and repulsion in us. Who is unaware of the frustration and frustration that is prevalent in society over those intrusive terms? (Yoshinobu Kusakabe, Lectures Heidegger and Western Metaphysics, Koyo Shobo, P.77-78) I believe in the existence of love. That's my only "hope". "Good and evil" and "correctness" cannot be discarded either. However, I think that I will continue to feel "artificial" in them until I die because I am caught in subjectivity.