whip marks

[incandescens]

"All fangirls are sadists at heart: discuss."

Yes, and no. Or no, and yes. We want the heroes to suffer for various reasons; part of it is that we feel that they're real heroes if they're suffering, perhaps, or because it excites pity in us and thus draws us deeper in, or because, you know, they look so sensual that way. Our adrenalin flows, our passions surge, our attention is caught, and sometimes we even cry "how clever of the author/artist to have so caught the pose and pain!"

And yet, we have to have enough conception of their reality to be able to accept the story and even write our own variants on it, but at the same time not fully have them really real, as I don't think many of us would be quite as comfortable to tolerate such degrees of pain in people who were real. To contrast J-pop and manga, fans of the manga sigh at Minnekura's picture of Sanzou, but fans of J-pop would probably be rather less enthusiastic at photos of Gackt (if I spell his name correctly) lashed and bleeding. Real blood. Real pain.

So yes, all fangirls are sadists. Only, you know, not for real. Not really. (Except for the ones that are.)

Comments

"It's what we do"

[(Anonymous)]

I put nothing past the Gackt fans, or even Gackt himself. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd appeared in something resembling calendar Sanzou's guise, bleeding and bloody but not, you know, *really* bleeding and bloody.

The striking and very hot thing about calendar Sanzou, in fact, is that he isn't actually in pain, in spite of those deep red whip cuts. Were I a true sadist I'd want to see his beautiful face twisted in agony. From which I conclude I'm not a real sadist. I'm a Japanese sadist. Give me the form of the thing (this man has been flogged so that his shirt is rent and his blood seeps through, oh how aesthetically pleasing and emotionally resonant an image!) and screw the content (y'know, he's looking awfully calm for someone who's been whipped till he bleeds.)

Though what really strikes me about the thing is the Magrittian suggestion (god can't I get away from that man ever?) that it's not Sanzou but his shirt that's flogged and bleeding. (We tactfully won't mention the odd proportions of the arms.)
-mjj

Re: "It's what we do"

[(Anonymous)]

For the interested, the image is here:

http://home.eol.ca/~basara/saiyuuki/saiyuuki_jpgs/cal_sanzou.jpg

though the marks should be a more exciting shade of fuchsia
-mjj

Re: "It's what we do"

[fadethecat.livejournal.com]

I felt a little guilty, at first, for immediately setting that image as my wallpaper.

But then I figured hey, I'm a fangirl. It's expected. And I felt much better about it.

Must go traumatize some characters, now...

Re: "It's what we do"

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Gackt is more apt to play vampires or yakuza, but both incarnations still allow for copious amounts of aesthetic blood loss. Remind me to scan in the cardboard baby-book that comes with the Moon CD.

Re: "It's what we do"

[incandescens]

One could see the shirt as a whole extension of the mangaka's toying with the fangirls. No, we're not actually going to provide any proof that they're sleeping together, all yaoi-ful and joyful (sorry, couldn't help that) but observe the posture, the meaningful glances, the shared cigarettes. No, we're not actually going to show you the marks on his back, the full stretch of the handcuffs (they're relaxed, not taut), the real damage, but boy, are we going to let you assume what's underneath.

[summer-queen.livejournal.com]

To contrast J-pop and manga, fans of the manga sigh at Minnekura's picture of Sanzou, but fans of J-pop would probably be rather less enthusiastic at photos of Gackt (if I spell his name correctly) lashed and bleeding. Real blood. Real pain.

Actually have to beg to differ. If you come visit at some point, I'll show you the Malice Mizer vids I have which show the boys (Gackt included) engaging in sadistic behaviour and, to a much lesser degree, being on the receiving end. Trust me, we JPOP fangirls are just as enthusiastic about those sorts images as we manga fangirls are about an image of flogged Sanzou ... though I'm with MJJ that it's really the appearance of sadism, and not the actual physical pain itself that's the attraction. For me, at least. It is, after all, all show. Grand Guignol on a much smaller, far tamer scale. No more real than Minekura's drawings....