NT-3274

WNET30

Blank

The Eleventh Hour graphic and show opener.

Lipsyte talks about the topic of tonight's program

Lipsyte continues discussing tonight's topic and cuts to an off site segment with an American commentator who works for Fuji TV in Tokyo.

Big red "No" symbol (aka 'do not' sign) with a smiling cartoonish white ghost in the middle giving a peace sign

Cut to American reporter Bill Powell speaking in English to unseen unknown Japanese interviewer from his office - the interviewer translates Powell's English to Japanese as the English version of what he states is written in subtitles on the screen.

"Columbia Pictures Television" on brick wall. Japanese talking and narration "There are a lot of Americans who are uneasy about Japan's economy and it's a fact that articles which ?(obscured) this fear will sell ?(obscured)

Man looking through movie camera - outdoors and surrounded by onlookers.

Back with Powell speaking into camera in Japanese with translation: "to pounce on stories like this one that play on Japan's own...that America really does dislike Japan

Wide shot of Lipsyte in the studio with Schwartz and Peterson.

INTERVIEW CONTINUES:
John Schwartz 9:48
those things tug at the American heartstrings, whereas that there might be more present danger in this sort of talk about semiconductors, especially when you consider how popular Mr. Ishihara is in Japan.

Peter Peterson 9:57
But let me ask Great Britain was the leading creditor for period. They went through a phase where First they invested in financial instruments. And then they invested abroad, the United States. And second, after the Second World War, became the leading creditor invested abroad, the Europeans were worried about our taking over. What in God's earth did we think the Japanese were going to do when they became the leading creditor? What were they going to do with their money? stuffing in mattresses are what you say. But we railed about being there being the world's largest creditor and our being the largest debtor, and with the American attention span being very limited, somehow that didn't have any meaning. But anybody that thought very long, said, you know, one of the things that happens when you get in debt is other people get your money, and they can do with it, essentially, what others have done with it. So economically, we shouldn't be surprised.

Robert Lipsyte 10:50
Well, let's back logically to psychologically, do you think that there's any feeling now that the the Cold War seems to be thawing, and we as a nation, we've always needed to hate somebody? And now that we're probably not going to be hitting the Russians so much anymore? Do we now have to hate the Japanese. And since you're only 32, I'm not going to say hate the Japanese, again.

John Schwartz 11:11
The there certainly a case to be made, that what's going on in the media is a is an Arab isation of the Japanese that, that in 1973, the oil embargo whipped up tremendous hatred against all our all our peoples Persians, anyone from the Middle East, and and that was only made worse by the hostage crisis. And that in the Arab countries were portrayed as money rich coming in to steal our resources, and being able to cut us off just by turning off the oil spigot, a lot of the same type of coverage happened. And I would hope that we're reading Oh, I know, I'm going back and reading my 1973 News weeks, and my 1973 New York Times and trying to make sure I don't fall into a lot of the same problems when I write these stories, because there's a danger to be written about. And then the challenge is to write about the danger, express the fears, but don't fall into the Zena phobic swamp that goes with all that.

Robert Lipsyte 12:06
What about those fears? Do we have anything to fear?

Peter Peterson 12:10
Well, I met last night with a bunch of CEOs at a dinner. And it was interesting to go around the table. I heard something approaching real fear. One executive said they're now spending twice as much on research and development. The Japanese economy is putting more money in plant and equipment, they got two thirds of the robots with 100 million people basically, the 5% of our kids that at the top and math and science are no better than the average in Japanese schools, four to five times as many other kids have taken calculus and computer related courses. So I think there is real concern about Japan assuming being number one and our living standards going down our ability to compete going down.

Robert Lipsyte 13:01
Are those real, real fears?

Peter Peterson 13:02
Well, they needn't be realized if we get our act together. But one of the problems is we were politically paralyzed, as well as being frightened. And one of the things we mentioned to some Washington people last night, is where are the people in Washington, whether it's the president or the senators of the Congressman, that are saying, Hey, there are real concerns here for our kids and where we're headed, and 10 or 15 years, I would let's make these choices here are what the issues are. But we've kind of been in this happy times mood, where it's bad politics for anybody's suggest that America needs to be to make choices. And I've argued that the biggest competitive weapon the Japanese have and the Germans is they have a long term economic consensus that is focused on the future. And in the 73 oil problem that hit the Japanese far more than it did not. They girded up their loins, increase productivity, improve quality, and they came out, okay. The Germans are endlessly making decisions about their future. But we rhetorically talk about investing in our future. But every time we have to make a choice between giving up something now so we can have more later, our political system seems to be saying, I want it now. So there's very little leadership it seems to make coming out of our political system. And I don't know how that's to blame the voters or the leaders or both. But I really wish that our leadership could somehow define the problem because I think many more Americans than we believe. Then they believe our I've got a feeling in their bones, they look at the streets, they look at their living rooms, they look all around. They hear the products are better, they hear the products are more advanced. I think they're ready for such a message, but our political system has not delivered it in my view.

Robert Lipsyte 14:53
Peter Peterson, john Schwarz, thanks so very much for being with us.

Close up on Host Lipsyte. He cuts to off-site segment and introduces Manhola Dargis, film critic for the Village Voice, who examines Hollywood's images of US Japanese relations.

Zoom in on an article in the New York Times, Tuesday, September 26, 1989 "Deal is Expected for Sony to Buy Columbia Pictures", "Studio Would be 2d Sold to a Foreign Concern Recently -- Approval is Likely." Dargis narrates.

Tiltdown, crowd of Japanese men wearing suits

Pan posters of American movies but made by Japanese companies

Movie theater marquee reads "Black Rain with Michael Douglas". "Prancer" in larger letters on bright yellow bkgd, and ADon Bluth Film "All Dogs go to Heaven"

Dargis standing on street, traffic going by, reports about how well the movie "Black Rain" is doing here in US as well as in Japan.

Dargis reporting from Times Square, large Coca Cola billboard and large poster for the movie "Back to the Future, behind her.

Scene from the film, "Mystery Train" as Dargis narrates.

Large banner reads: "Hungry?, Eat Your Foreign Car!!!"

Montage of the logos on Japanese made automobiles: Datsun 200 SX by Nissan; Toyota, Subaru, Nissan 200SX, Honda, Toyota

Another clip from the film, Black Rain

INSERT INTERVIEW: JOHNSON AND NARITA

Robert Lipsyte:
the kind of roles that you've been offered over the years as an Asian woman are probably some sort of litmus test to attitudes here. Could you tell us about it?

Jude Narita 19:51
Basically, if that part wasn't specifically an Asian if it was just a woman, and it wasn't an Asian I would be I would be met with I'm sorry, that's not an Asian A mother, that's not an oriental teacher, that's not an Asian nurse. But we do have a villager or we do have a prostitute that you might be right for. So that was real frustrating thing to be trained the full spectrum of an actor, and then to go into industry and find out that there was a solid prejudice against what you could be.

Robert Lipsyte 20:21
Well, then once once you might be cast as an Asian character, we're Asian women themselves put into specific categories,

Jude Narita 20:30
I would say that the majority of the majority of rules of roles that are available are either villagers are village prostitutes, or bar prostitutes in plays. And those are very there, there aren't even that many. So out of frustration, I started working myself and writing

Robert Lipsyte 20:47
your own your own woman show came out of that, that sort of expression. She'll This is in your book, I mean, this is a long history from Puccini from Madame Butterfly, all the way up the the the western view of the Eastern woman.

Sheila Johnson 21:06
Yes, exactly. And, indeed, Madame Butterfly and thinkton saying to think that this little squirrel could be my wife. At the same time, my book has been published in Japan. And they are very interested in the fact that the image of the Japanese woman softens the national image. I mean, when I talk about how you talked in the opening of this show, about the stereotype during World War Two, and one of the things that fascinated me, was how fast that stereotype dissipated. Now, I say that one of the reasons has to do with Hiroshima. And the fact that we felt an enormous amount of guilt. Once we realized what kind of a bomb we had dropped there, but then it was also books like Sayonara, and the image of the Japanese woman, that that came through to the occupying forces and the great number of intermarriages that took place. Not all bad is what I am trying to say

Robert Lipsyte 22:10
that image was an image of a either a non threatening woman subservient to us, or the dragon lady

Jude Narita 22:17
Or the dragon lady. It was it's interesting that these romances are always Asian, an Asian woman and a white white man. And it's not an Asian man or and for now, it's changing. Now, there's only been one kiss. I know, because my brother's the actor who did a movie called American geisha. But this, this idea of Asian women being portrayed as a fantasies sort of exotic little flower that's sexually available, while the Asian men are sort of goofy with cameras, or glasses, or buck teeth, sort of neutered. these are these are the same race of people, you know, that these are, there's there's marriages here there's brothers and sisters, there's, you know, sexual energy, and that's not portrayed. It's like, okay, we can we can accept that maybe they are economically they have some know how, but as far as any sort of charisma or any sexual energy, they don't, and that's interesting, because my brother's run up against this, that if the project does not demand an attractive Asian male, I mean, just to just to, you know, an attractive, powerful Asian, young man, they're not going to get cast. And you see this in, in the movies that do come out, there's this there's a definite image of, of an Asian male, and there's a definite image of an Asian female, and one is to be mocked and one is to be desired

Interview concludes, Robert Lipsyte announces the show and introduces himself. Show ends.

Charitable funding by announcer and overlay the Eleventh Hour graphic.