Well duh. 
Well
Have you adopted a new taste for musical theatre?
Can you quote lines from any Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie?
Have you started going to the gym just to go to the steamroom?
Have you begun to watch Food Network obsessively?
If so, you may have caught Gay!
But hope is not lost. A diet of Charlie Daniels CDs and NASCAR should cure you. 
Well, I have just seen the movie. Here is a list of warnings they chose not to include:
[spoiler]WARNING: five people are brutally murdered in the course of this movie. One is stabbed. One is (heterosexually) raped and then drowned. One has his throat cut. Two of the murders are racially-motivated. Viewer discretion is advised.
WARNING: dangerous motorcycle stunts perfomred by hero. Do not try at home.
WARNING: characters consume large quantities of alcohol.
WARNING: Near-lethal levels of camp. Also, a stuffed bunny is stabbed. May be traumatic for younger viewers.[/spoiler]
The gay content? Our heroes kiss five times, and discuss their relationship. That is all.
Hamish, that, I think, is perhaps the more sad part of this.
Perhaps the Japanese are just behind the times? Maybe it’s a cultural thing? At least it’s not universally done, so it seems progress is being made (which has to be a good thing, right?).
My husband and I recently rented The Guru. It flopped at the box office, but we thought it was laugh-out-loud hilarious (and so did the friends we lent it to). In fact, I’d love to buy it and watch it over and over (great soundtrack, too!). It contains any number of “alternative lifestyle” depictions – though mostly of the heterosexual variety, it does include a yummy, full-on, no-holds-barred gay kiss (though I won’t spoil it and tell you when or between whom – rent it and drool for yourselves ;)). But all it says about the content is, “Strong Sexual Content Including Dialogue and Language.” No “warning” at all about “alternative lifestyle depictions that could make your eyes go kablooie or send you straight to hell if you see them.” Heck, I didn’t even see it coming until the scene itself! I don’t recall any warnings or disclaimers on the cover of Kissing Jessica Stein, either.
So what do you think draws the distinction? Is it where the movie’s made? Does it depend on whether the film already carries an R rating? Is it more prevalent at certain studios, or certain venues (primetime TV vs Theater released films)?
Ah, Fake. (or fah-keh as we like to call it here). Too bad I recently sold all of it off. The manga (comic) is better.
It’s great to see more boys love titles out here in the US. For those not in the know, boys love refers to comics/movies/etc written for women that depict males in romantic situations with each other. For a long time, Fake and Kizuna were the only videos in the US devoted to this subject. Now more are coming out. The manga version of Fake is already released in english by Tokyo Pop.
But anyway, I’ve noticed that with most American releases of Japanese titles, they cut out the homosexuality if they can. For example, if you pick up either the DVD or the VHS of Kimera, watch the entire series and not realize that the “chick” is actually male. Also, if you pick up the series “Wish” by “CLAMP” all the womanly looking characters are called “she” and “her” despite the fact that in the original Japanese, they were considered more guys than girls.
Annoying, but considering the American public, expected.
Musical theatre: Check
Davis/Crawford: Check
Gym/Steamroom: Nope
Food Network: Check Plus
Damn. I think I have a raging case of gay and must take two men and not call them in the morning!
Oh, shit! I have been watching Iron Chef obsessively…ok not the whole channel, but that’s worrisome enough!!!
I guess I’ll have to up my (already high) dosage of NASCAR races…
Musical Theatre: I acted in some in high school. But I’m more a non-musical comedy attendee at this point.
Bette Davis/Joan Crawford: Sadly, no. Unless it’s Kim Carnes.
Gym: No, but when I was killing myself at the dot-com I used to hit the gym in the basement just to soak in the jacuzzi for an hour hoping I’d boil myself to death. Does that count?
Food network: Nay, I prefer my colonial cookbooks.
But I can’t stand Charlie Daniels and find that NASCAR is beneath my own dignity and sense of self-worth…
CAN I BE SAVED?
Eraserhead: Warning! This film contains alternative … well … somethings. There’s definitely something odd with this film, we can tell you that. Viewer discretion is SCRATCHING AT THE DOOR!!! FELT!!!
Crossroads: Warning! This film contains alternative acting. Viewer discretion is clearly absent.
I caught that 24-hour Gay once.
Great OP, Hamish.
I’m sorry if there was confusion at what I said in my post. I have trouble with…um…words, yeah that’s what they’re called.
I simply meant that it’s a normal, healthy lifestyle that shouldn’t be labelled “alternative” just because not everybody is doing it. If you’re gonna go by percentage of population, then nuns are pretty darn alternative with their lifestyles too.
I’ve ranted about that far too many times on these boards – a personal pet peeve of mine. However, that’s begun to change. The DVD versions of both Sailor Moon and Evangelion corrected the subtitles, so the queer content isn’t edited out anymore. And until recently, Fake was not available anywhere in this town.
But still, there are these stupid things like these warning labels. And the owner of my local anime rental place said he couldn’t import a few episodes of a certain popular anime series, because Canada Customs was bothered by the lesbian content.
Which brings me back to the OP – and to the underlying issue – of why things like murder are considered suitable content for kids, but a homosexual romance that never goes beyond kissing isn’t.
Eeep. Haven’t done that in a long time.
The last post by matt_mcl was posted by me, not my roommate (hazards of posting from the same computer…)
Wow. How utterly stupid! (Not you, Hamish. :))
So, who decides this? Do the Japanese companies that produce these films take it upon themselves to label exports destined for the US Market? Is it the distributor in the US? Is there some sort of Tipper Gore committee presiding over this, à la “parental advisory” with music CD’s?
Censorship sucks, but assinine warnings suck just as bad.
Over here, we have a warning system for TV shows and movies that will show an icon of what is warned against: sex, foul language, violence, suspence. The icons are pretty funny: for sex, you see four feet on top of a bed, as if the two people are on top of each other. Kind of a hetero approach, perhaps, but it’s just that: a warning that the movie contains sexual material - of whatever nature.
Yes, you can be saved.
Now, come over here and get down on your knees.
To pray!
Yeah, to pray.
Really.
sigh
I so don’t do wholesome well.
Actually, I think what in this case it’s likelier that the “warning” was put in there by whoever released it for North American distribution. The language just sounds like an American-type disclaimer, of the kind that are proliferating recently. One of the draws of Japanese media for American audiences IS that it’s not that uncommon to have “alternative lifestyles” depicted, even if often in a hyperstylized light little related to reality. As Hamish mentioned, US distributors have had to work around such even when handling “mass mainstream” product (SailorMoon being an example).
In fact, American warnings that used to just say “parental discretion” have been getting MORE specific as to what is objectable. But in the case of Fake, there should have been no need to mention the “alternative lifestyle” : a warning that the program contains “graphic violence, sexual content and mature themes” should be enough to keep it off the hands of kiddies. Except of course for the legion of moron parents who can’t be bothered to pay attention.
And another thing - it’s bad enough that they call alternative lifestyles sick, they can’t even spell “sick” right.
For what it’s worth, Fake was released by Media Blasters. That company (along with Manga) can’t seem to get anything right.
Haven’t seen it and don’t intend to; I have no real interest in yaoi, and I’d rather go complete or start something else.
What’s even worse is what happened with Wish. Wish is a love story about an angel named Kohaku and a large human guy in his early 30s. (can’t remember his name) When Kohaku transforms, he is nude and you can clearly see his flat chest and underdeveloped hips. By making him a girl, he looks WAY underaged. So, pedophilia is acceptable but homosexuality is not. Right. :rolleyes: