Culture Shock

Suburban Mom Meets Japanese Host Club

The Stylish Café Rakkyo

Hosts

Customers

Show clip

2:42—5:11

Critical Success

Audience Reception

“…I think [the film was successful because it is] received by the viewer on whatever wavelength they want to receive it. I mean, if you’re a woman and you feel that the women are abused, you can see it like that. If you’re a guy and think it’s a fun job you can see it like that. If you’re a guy and you see the tragedy of selling your affections as a man, you can receive it like that”

—Jake Clennell

Interviewees

-suburban

-American

-upper middle class

-white

-mothers

Preliminary Survey

2-Dimensional Graph

Viewer Responses

“very difficult to watch”

“Everything is so superficial [in the film] and you don’t know what’s real”

“I think it was a very thin slice of what really goes on”

“From the get go I suddenly got really tired…I just didn’t want to be there”

The Turning Point

“At first I thought it was going to be…[about] regular women”

“In the beginning [before it was revealed that they were prostitutes] it was mesmerizing…”

“When you hear they’re prostitutes, there’s a judgment that gets associated with them”

Show clip

32:28—36:24

Conclusions

-the “Othering” of the characters creates a barrier between the audience and the film

-too much emphasis on shock value repels viewers and minimizes their willingness to analyze the deeper issues

-no discursive space facilitated by the film for audiences to discuss issues and reconcile their own contradictory beliefs