{"id":1090,"date":"2011-08-03T00:00:48","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T15:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/?p=1090"},"modified":"2011-07-25T15:14:08","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T06:14:08","slug":"i-heart-t-points-school-days-with-a-pig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/2011\/08\/i-heart-t-points-school-days-with-a-pig\/","title":{"rendered":"I Heart T-Points:<\/B> School Days with a Pig<\/I>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This month, it was a challenge settling on a film to review.\u00c2\u00a0 Initially, the article was going to explore Japanese remakes of American films, because as it turns out, Hollywood is not the only place \u00e2\u20ac\u0153borrowing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ideas from overseas.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, because I am cheap and \u00e3\u201a\u00b4\u00e3\u0192\u00bc\u00e3\u201a\u00b9\u00e3\u0192\u02c6 (which exists, seriously) is not eligible for half-price rentals yet, I decided to put that article on the backburner.\u00c2\u00a0 The school culture festival had put me in a high school dramedy mood, however, so I happily switched gears and picked up Linda Linda Linda<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 I might someday return to that glorious mash up of girl talk and The Blue Hearts, but not this month.\u00c2\u00a0 No, thanks to School Days with a Pig<\/em> (\u00e3\u0192\u2013\u00e3\u201a\u00bf\u00e3\u0081\u0152\u00e3\u0081\u201e\u00e3\u0081\u0178\u00e6\u2022\u2122\u00e5\u00ae\u00a4) I decided, this month, I am writing about pigs.<\/p>\n

In the West, a cute pig escaping the butcher knife is a surprisingly common trope in children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s literature.\u00c2\u00a0 There is Wilbur, also known as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some Pig,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from Charlotte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Web<\/em>, who proves his worth through the aid of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smartest spider.\u00c2\u00a0 Then there is Babe, who survives Christmas dinner thanks to his ability to herd sheep, and later goes on to have not-as-good-as-the-original adventures in a big city.\u00c2\u00a0 Although western nations eat their fair share of meat, once an animal is anthropomorphized or becomes a pet, it is difficult to reestablish the connection between pig and food.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, no one roots for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153roast pork feast\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ending; the characters might as well be eating grandma at that point.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Japanese culture, on the other hand, approaches the relationship between animal and food in a much different way.\u00c2\u00a0 I teach at a vocational school dedicated to agriculture, and have therefore seen (and smelt) my fair share of cows, pigs and chickens during the past three years.\u00c2\u00a0 One bit of culture shock I experienced at work, that still makes me laugh to this day, is that Japanese people can look at a live animal and casually remark, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wow, that looks delicious.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 In Japan, animals being raised as food are meat, regardless of which stage of edibility they currently occupy.<\/p>\n

School Days with a Pig<\/em> tackles the same issue addressed in Babe <\/em>and Charlotte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Web <\/em>but from a Japanese perspective.\u00c2\u00a0 The film starts out like an issue of Great Teacher Onizuka<\/em>, complete with a young, unconventional teacher, an overly understanding (female) principal, the somewhat villainous (and balding) vice principal, and a very angry mother rallying the PTA against the school.\u00c2\u00a0 Basically, the teacher brings a pig to school (buy first, get permission later) and proposes that his sixth graders raise it as a class project.\u00c2\u00a0 He suggests that once the school year is over, they should eat the pig in order to understand the relationship between life and food.\u00c2\u00a0 Also, perhaps, between an irresponsible education system and permanent mental scarring.<\/p>\n

Based on a true story or not, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief with this film almost immediately.\u00c2\u00a0 The first time I saw School Days with a Pig<\/em>, I only caught the second half on television, around the time when the students start debating about whether or not they will eat the pig.\u00c2\u00a0 There, sitting on my high American horse, I thought it impossible that they would decide in favor of sending poor \u00e2\u20ac\u0153P-chan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the slaughterhouse.\u00c2\u00a0 They voted, however, and the result was astounding yet perfect: a dead tie.<\/p>\n

The hour that I missed turned out to be rather inconsequential.\u00c2\u00a0 The students build a pen, name the pig against their teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wishes, and protect him during bad weather.\u00c2\u00a0 A few parents get angry because their daughters come home smelling less than ladylike, but the principal politely tells them to hit the road.\u00c2\u00a0 The gym teacher mentions to a few kids that they are raising their pig deliciously, and is subsequently pummeled by eleven-year-old fists.\u00c2\u00a0 It is all very charming, but these are not necessarily original or unexpected plot points.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The debates are what drew me back to School Days with a Pig <\/em>even though as a viewer I think I was a pretty hard sell. \u00c2\u00a0Thirteen kids voted to (albeit indirectly) kill and eat a living thing they had affectionately named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153P-chan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and raised for a year?\u00c2\u00a0 Having grown up on Charlotte\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Web<\/em>, this was the most unrealistic nonsense I had thought I had ever heard.\u00c2\u00a0 Until that second viewing, that is.<\/p>\n

School Days with a Pig <\/em>makes it clear that children are a heck of a lot smarter than we give them credit for.\u00c2\u00a0 In essence, my way of thinking was too simple; kids like cute stuff, so they would never be able to eat their pet.\u00c2\u00a0 I was convinced School Days with a Pig <\/em>was about the most irresponsible teacher of all time traumatizing twenty-six eleven-year-olds for life, but in reality, what he did over the course of a year was turn a bunch of immature kids into young adults.\u00c2\u00a0 There are plenty of students in the class that take a stand against eating their friend, pet, or classmate (some even call him nakama<\/em>), but others, and remember, these are eleven-year-olds, presented ideas that convinced me eating P-chain was the right choice.\u00c2\u00a0 It is truly something that must be seen to be believed.<\/p>\n

The only complaint I have about the film is that in an attempt to create a documentary atmosphere, the camerawork relies heavily on the shaky handheld technique that works well for The Office <\/em>and made audiences sick during Cloverfield<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Sadly, it leans a little too far in the Cloverfield <\/em>direction during the debate scenes I was so taken with; at some times it was easier to only listen to the dialogue instead of watch the screen.\u00c2\u00a0 Although I have nothing against this technique itself, there is no reason a close-up on a schoolchild needs to look like it was filmed during an earthquake in order to be realistic.<\/p>\n

This is but a minor issue in a film that has quickly rocketed to the top of my favorite Japanese films.\u00c2\u00a0 School Days with a Pig <\/em>is a superb film and despite all my initial criticisms, it convinced me that children really are capable of amazing, unexpected things.\u00c2\u00a0 I do not want to give away the ending (and the choice they make for P-chan) but I will say that this movie is definitely going to get remade in America. And Hollywood will change the outcome.<\/p>\n

Thanks for watching!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This month, it was a challenge settling on a film to review.\u00c2\u00a0 Initially, the article was going to explore Japanese remakes of American films, because as it turns out, Hollywood is not the only place \u00e2\u20ac\u0153borrowing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ideas from overseas.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, because I am cheap and \u00e3\u201a\u00b4\u00e3\u0192\u00bc\u00e3\u201a\u00b9\u00e3\u0192\u02c6 (which exists, seriously) is not eligible for half-price rentals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[9,95,175,22],"tags":[189],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/o0424060010165405635.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}