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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
September 19, 2007
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| July 5, 2007 |
Of films and fears: Mori Tatsuya offers Peace Boat participants a new perspective |
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| Film-maker, author and critic of modern media, Mori Tatsuya joined the Peace Boat from India to Jordan |
Before he came onto the Peace Boat for the first time, Mori Tatsuya was a little sceptical of life onboard. “I thought it would just be one big party, full of hippies” he confessed. Yet he was not put off by the image that had been planted in his head. Instead, he decided to throw himself into the unknown environment and find out what it was really like by being part of it. It was this same approach as a film-maker – putting aside any preconceptions and getting closer to the subject – that made him a Berlin Documentary Film Festival winner and, some say, the best documentary maker in Japan. Now on the ship for the third time, Mr. Mori came to explain how he used this technique to tackle one of Japan's most traumatic events of recent times, as well as teach the participants how to see through the illusions of modern media. |
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| Lively debate and questions followed the screenings of A and A2 |
Running over the history for younger participants, Mori recalled the tragic events of 1995. Twelve people were killed and another 6,000 poisoned when members of religious cult Aum Shinrikyo unleashed sarin gas into Tokyo’s subway during rush hour. In the fallout, Japan’s television, radio and newspapers became obsessed with Aum, all desperately asking the same question: “Why?” And it wasn’t just the media. “The attention of all Japanese society was focussed on them” he explained. In this climate of misunderstanding, Aum and its followers soon became a focus of hatred, enemies of society. “It’s easier for people to accept this sort of division of good and bad, black and white. People don’t want to see the grey areas in between” he commented.
Participants got to explore these grey areas through Mori’s eyes as they watched his documentaries ‘A’ and ‘A2’, capturing the everyday lives of Aum members in the years after the attacks. His aim was to provide an alternative view of the group in contrast to the demonising portrayal by the mass media. His method was to openly record the members he stayed with everyday from early morning until late evening. No other journalist had been granted such close-up access or could get the same level of insight into their practices.
Using the tool of the big screen, Mori was able to show what the small screen did not: the human side of the average Aum follower. Everyone watching was absorbed as the films revealed a series of individuals who were “kind and gentle” he says, usually young and often struggling to put their beliefs into words. None were directly involved in the attacks and most just wanted to carry on with their alternative lifestyles of meditation and spiritual learning. The radical perspective provoked many to question the director on his views of Aum and what he thought the group, and the way it is viewed, revealed about Japanese society. |
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| Mori taught participants how to “read” the media and form their own opinions |
The reaction to Aum shows “a culture of fear in Japan” for Mori. Not just around the cult, but of natural disasters, crime, even the global war on terror - whatever television and other media can use to gain attention and maintain viewer ratings. Quite simply, as he says, “media is manipulating our emotions”. Giving the participants an example from home, Mori showed that although many in Japan assume the murder rate is higher than ever due to the violent focus of TV news, it is currently 60 per cent less than its peak in 1959.
To try and see past the panic and bias of news networks, Mori gave those onboard a lesson in what he described as “media literacy”. As he demonstrated, selective footage, direct voiceovers and quick soundbites are all ways to spoon-feed audiences and put across one angle of a story. However, it is not just a matter of understanding these tools – readers and viewers need to question what they are absorbing too. In the end, it is people themselves that decide their opinions and what is the “truth”, he explained. “So when you watch or read media, use your imagination and think about what you are observing!” he urged his students.
Putting all this into context for the Peace Boat, the independent journalist sees the role of news and reporters as key in the debates to save or scrap Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which prohibits the country from using military force. It’s his belief that the media build-up surrounding this issue is again playing on people’s insecurities that media itself feeds. As a result, he has better armed those activists on the ship who are trying to save Article 9 to cut through the hype and counter the fears media creates. As for Mori, where will his open-minded approach take him next after making two ground-breaking films and writing “twenty or so” books? He is typically wary of giving a simplified, black or white answer: “I don’t know. I do whatever comes to me. I’m wondering what the next thing will be too”. |
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