There was an interesting post on the Hellenic Voice Facebook page a few weeks back that I couldn’t help from responding to. There was a tiny bit of controversy about the press around Dogtooth/:

Discussion on the Hellenic Voice

I need to make the important caveat here that this is about Greek films that are most commonly consumed outside of Greece. It’s fantastic that there are many Greek film festivals popping up in the diaspora – New York, LA, Montreal – that celebrate the diversity of film available.

To develop on this a little more, what we see a lot of outside of Greece fall mainly in one of these two categories:

• Movies by Greeks about Greece/Greeks for The World (often what I call “Greek Island P**n”) [later edited this word as my blog was getting traffic for ALL the wrong reasons!]




• Movies by Greeks about Greece for Greeks

What I’d like to see more of are:

• Movies for The World that happen to be by Greeks that are not (overtly) about Greece

—and Dogtooth is a great example of film in this vein. And we are sorely lacking in this category. Now, admittedly, I am no expert on Greek cinema, but when I try to think about movies like this, why is it that the only other film that stands out in this category is Z—a stellar masterpiece of a film—but it was made in 1969! True, at its core it is an incredibly important story about Greece, but it’s not overt and it thankfully never resorts to tourist-bait storytelling.

I’m glad Dogtooth made it big. It’s a Greek movie where the fact that this movie takes place in Greece or is about Greeks (and it isn’t, really) is not the central point. That we’re not focusing on one of our Great Ethnic Struggles, to me, is a sign of progress in maturity of Greek film and how people receive Greek work. It’s not that the Greek/diaspora story has been told – that story is never over! – but we’re no longer at a point where we feel obligated to educate people about our basic ethnicity and identity when we have the stage. Now, our background can take a backseat to the creativity we want to convey and instead of the Greek story being the center, it becomes the lens. It’s an influencing factor but not the main event.

So often media of a people becomes its sole loudspeaker and platform to tell its story to the world and it becomes a representative of that people, whether they like it or not. Lots of Greek-Americans that grew up in the the U.S., Canada and Australia got non-stop references to Zorba the Greek and Never on a Sunday from the well-meaning public. In my own generation, it was the same experience but with My Big Fat Greek Wedding. (Thanks, Nia Vardalos!)

It’s a sign of huge progress that the Greek identity has become a bit more secure with itself, as have the various Hyphenated Greeks, that movies from ‘us’ are no longer about Telling Our Story, but Telling A Story—a story that no longer has to be about us.

Anyone who has had a decent art history course knows why these pieces are significant both in the context of Greek/classical history and to art history in general. I was very very glad I got to see these masterpieces in person, despite the fact they were not in Greece.

I also went to Martha’s Vineyard for a weekend and it was really lovely.

… Can you tell that I love flickr? Heh.

For the past few weeks I, like so many other Greek diaspora, have been completely consumed by news of the wildfires there. Most of my family lives in the northern part of Greece—Macedonia and Chalkidiki—but I do have a cousin living in Kalamata, which was affected by the fires, and I have wonderful memories from a summer spent in the Peloponnese. It’s a starkly beautiful place and I’m heartbroken to think of the devastation that’s been wrought there and how many peoples’ lives have been ruined this past summer. The only silver lining in this entire disaster is that all of the ancient sites put at risk by the fire, such as Olympia and Mistras, managed to escape the blazes, in large part thanks to the absolutely devoted Greeks that wanted to protect these sacred sites at all costs.

Next time I can, I’ll try to find my photos from my trip in the Peloponnese, as I’d visited many of the villages that have now been completely destroyed. Who knows how many years, if not decades, it will take for those areas to return to something resembling normal.

On a brighter note about Greece, I was recently contacted by one of the co-organizers of JMusic.gr: “Where Greeks Turn Japanese.” These guys in Athens are doing what I’ve always wanted to do—throw a giant J-rock party. They’ve invited me to drop by next time I’m in Athens to hang out with them, and I definitely will. I’m excited as hell that there’s a healthy contingent of Greek J-rock fans, partying as only Greeks know how to the music that I love so much!

Finally, I’m thinking of embarking on a little project that might excite a few Gackt fans. Back in October 2001, the Gman went to Madagascar to record a documentary for NHK (which is the PBS of Japan to put it simply). I think it was originally supposed to be a documentary about the country, with Gackt simply being the celebrity vehicle. Instead, it ended up being a really fascinating portrait of him as an artist in transition. He was on the cusp of big-time success at the time, and he himself said in an autobiography that he wasn’t really sure what was going to happen to him. That trip to Africa, for him, was at a very opportune moment musically and emotionally for him.

Now, this documentary has never been subtitled in English, so most non-Japanese fans of his really have no idea what’s said in it. It’s a shame, as it’s probably the most interesting Gackt-related piece of media I’ve ever seen. So far removed from the celebrity trappings that generally define him in Eastern media, we, as you might expect, see him in a totally different, remarkably sincere way. I think I want to take it upon myself to subtitle this documentary so more fans can enjoy this piece of “Gackt history” as it were.

To quote from Gackt’s autobiography “Jihaku” (“Confessions”), as translated into English by my awesome friend Ger:

When I really look back at my own life, I completely think that the trip to Madagascar was the second great turning point for me.

Madagascar was a very poor country. There is only about 2-3 percent of the country’s population which can afford education. But the people there are overflowing with smiles. At that time, I happened to think, “I wonder if I can smile like that.”

At the same time, I was keenly feeling my own lack of strength. My existence felt very small. And so, I felt that I couldn’t be rescued by the people who were around me.

That feeling hasn’t changed even now.

What is the most necessary for people? I think that is the fact that people have to wake up and realize change is inevitable.

For example, because we say Madagascar is a poor country, there are people who give 100,000,000 yen to their cause. One village can probably live affluently on that money for a year. However, after a year, conditions return to what they were previously. And so, there is no meaning in doing that.

No one makes you bring food to your mouth to eat; if food is set before you, then you will pick up chopsticks and eat of your own will. That’s the same way I operate.

I dine on my own intentions. The things which are seen to be moved by my intentions and purposes are, to people, the most precious things, the most important things. If that’s not the case, nothing will change about people.

I want you to make me act on my intentions. I want you to change. I am not going to make anyone change of my own will.

Though this was something that I had thought about many times before I went to Madagascar, going to Madagascar refined it, and I felt then that the things I was thinking about were definitely not a mistake.

—From Section 5 “Creativity”, Chapter 7 “An Unending Vision of the Future” from Gackt’s “Jihaku,” 2003

This snippet alone to me justifies trying to translate this documentary, I think. My Japanese is really not as good as it used to be, as I’m sorely out of practice, but I’ll keep you guys posted if I make any progress .

And finally, speaking of “Jihaku”—the translator Ger just moved up here to the Boston area, barely a few streets away from me! I couldn’t be more excited as I’ve known Ger for many many years. Welcome to Boston, Ger! Glad to have you here :)

A note to anyone attending AX: I’ll be wandering around booths and movie showings with friends in addition to hopefully scoring a few artist interviews. Drop me a comment or an email if you’ll be there too and want to say hello, I’m always psyched to meet new folks.

One of the take-aways I got from speaking with Audrey was an overall attitude towards the American idea of “feminism” versus women’s attitudes elsewhere. Social academics, especially in the Japanese studies circles, have been discussing women’s roles in Japanese society for years. What some American scholars wonder is why the American interpretation of “feminism” never really caught on in Japan. (I’m citing this anecdotally at the moment, but I can’t tell you how many hours in college I heard students and professors going back and forth on this very topic.)

The gigs Audrey signs have an interesting if not slightly befuddling response to all that. Their music is not political. They are not railing against “the man.” I can’t think of the Japanese equivalent of Ani DiFranco, though perhaps there is one.

Instead, Audrey says the motto for these groups is as simple as Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” That’s it. Across all genres, from punk to ska to rock to hip-hop, these artists perform because they enjoy entertaining. They’re not vehicles for a Big Message, nor are they putting themselves in some bigger broader sociopolitical context. Either they’re already well beyond issues of gender struggles or such problems never bothered them in the first place.

Depending on your worldview, this is either refreshing or distressing. Interpret it as you like.

I just realized that WordPress has a “nofollow” policy on links left in comments. As I’m somewhat new to WordPress, forgive me for not realizing this earlier. The moment I have access to FTP, I’ll install a “dofollow” plugin for links in my blog to make things equitable for people kind enough to comment here. (And if you have no idea what I just said, my apologies for that as well!)

Tonight the Social Media Club of Boston hosts its June event: Making the business case for social media. I’m fascinated by this topic so I’m hoping I can attend. If you need to prove ROI for investing in social media at work, it sounds like this panel will be a great guide for doing just that.

And finally, a big thank you to the people who emailed me in the past week. Jake Wark sent me two photos in response to my post and photo about Faces, Cambridge’s magnificent eyesore. Unfortunately, I was slow in posting these pictures so Universal Hub beat me to it—but I’m happy to be beat by such a great resource. Jake’s pictures are at that link, do check them out and read the responses. That abandoned building definitely has a … “special place” in the hearts of us locals who, in typical Cambridge-logic fashion, are sick to death of looking at the ugly thing but also worry how new development might impact the surrounding nature reserve.

I also got a few emails from Greek and Greek diaspora who are J-rock fans. I’m tickled! Yes, Japanese rock is somewhat obscure outside of Japan, and in Greece even more so; however, I recall seeing a flyer for a J-rock party at a club in Thessaloniki of all places. So certainly the global Greek diaspora population, by pure statistical probability alone, has a J-rock-adoring fanbase. We just need to find each other! :) Rock on, παιδιά!

(Her blog is aptly named “malpractice,” even her blog’s URL refers to corruption in the Greek system: a “fakellaki” is an under-the-table cash gift to doctors.)

Amalia died on May 25. Her blog’s final post has become something of a memorial site (well over 1,000 comments on there and counting), as well as a rallying point for Greeks to take action against the rampant corruption in the medical system.

Corruption in any kind of bureocracy in Greece has kind of been a given for many decades. From the stories my parents told me over the years, in order to get anything done easily, it’s expected you either have an “in” with someone, or you’ll pay a bribe.

The furor over Amalia’s treatment, which has only intensified with her death, has caused nothing short of a storm in the Greek blogosphere (check out the posts on metablogging.gr tagged “Amalia”.) There are videos on youtube in her memory in several languages, here’s the one in English: