Memoirs of Geisha; Japanese Culture distortions in the Western Paradigm

1. Introduction
As a film adaptation of the novel, the film Memoirs of Geisha is a successful Hollywood movie. The director managed to show a story about the fall-awakening of a Japanese woman who devotes her life as a geisha. Japan took the set in the era of the 1930s until the 1940s, the film is built with classic narrative standard Hollywood movies, ie: the entire narrative is built on the causal relationship works the main actor, in this case Sayuri (her geisha).

Since the beginning of Rob Marshall (the director) to build the narrative with a very simple film. Beautiful child named Chiyo is taken to the city of Kyoto because of poor family conditions. As a result of the encounter with a man named The Chairman and the conditions around him, he decided to become a geisha. The whole story focuses on the figure of this Sayuri. While the social conditions or anything else that is more naturally functioning as a catalyst / preconditions for the fate of the main characters of this.
Narrative film is built on the main character wants to get something. In this film, the main character (Sayuri) moved his fate because of the desire to meet again with the Chairman. It inspires the desire to fight the main character, change, and get goals. In the struggle to reach this goal, the characters usually get the barriers. The things that prevent the ideals main character is a cause of conflict. Conflict is the main character the film developed. Classical narratives claim Hollywood films usually have a definite closing film. In this story, Sayuri finally managed to reach his goal.
2. Problems
Since the beginning of making this film was already causing a lot of protest and controversy from many people, especially the Japanese. Why? The film was lifted from a novel that tells about the life of a geisha, written by Arthur Golden. Geisha is a Japanese cultural artifacts.
For the Japanese culture, geisha women occupy a relatively ambiguous position. Apart from being female "entertainer" in the sense of providing services for men (not always sex, but sex is an important position in this transaction), women also have a role as a geisha artists who have art technical skills, such as: playing shinkasen, and serve "guest" in the tea ceremony.
3. Memoirs of Geisha analysis; Propaganda Culture
In pursuit of the classic Hollywood narrative system which of course satisfy the audience's desire was educated by the system of this narrative, the movie, a geisha is shown as a mere courtesan / prostitute or just sell your body. This of course reduces the geisha's position as a Japanese cultural artifacts. The system is constructed through narrative images of beautiful and plots arranged in a sequence showing Chiyo (Sayuri) as a woman who is almost no power over himself.
Mental patterns presented in the film Memoirs of Geisha Sayuri displays allow himself floating in the flow of fate beyond his power. This description contrary to what is described in Arthur Golden novel. In a novel that is a reconstruction of the past of the geisha, Sayuri is portrayed as a strong woman, clay, and not give herself only to the fate of the crib. Instead of the novel seemed the impression that he is a strong woman who managed to get through "bad" as a geisha.
Helpless character protrusion Sayuri and Japanese traditions and landscape are incredibly beautiful and fascinating, the perceived excessive and more like a romance (or even melodrama). Determining the fate of the geisha and the protrusion of the role of Chairman as an ideal is also a very strong reduction of Sayuri's own initiative. In the novel, though Chairman occupy an important role, but not the only motivation, and especially the events that took place.
The issue in this narrative level and culminating in the events after the war, when the United States came to Japan as the winner of the war. In this film, showing that the Americans came as a "hero" who would help overcome the crisis, the Japanese lost the war it suffered. Negotiations between the Japanese and the United States take place very easily. Japanese people appear to rely on support from his people the United States.
What is evident from this phenomenon? Reproductive discourse occurs. The film is produced by the United States are relatively unfamiliar with Japanese culture (or liyan / the other for Japanese culture). Actor-protagonist was not taken from the Japanese people, although this film is about the Japanese. The main players instead of women taken from the Sino-people who already have a reputation among the Hollywood film industry.
In addition to economic and marketing reasons, the issue of election actress / actor is indeed correct in accordance with the demands of narrative film "won" the American people in the event of World War 2. Production problems and especially this narrative, related to the question "how the West looked at the East", how "white people" who have a history as a colonial view "of the nations of non-whites" who mostly have a history as a colony.
Sayuri melodrama in this movie exotic view mirror of the "romance" colonialists who once ruled the nations it deems liyan since the 18th century. January Nederveen Pieterse (1992) analysis of colonialism in Africa, said that the white people experience what is called "colonialist psychology" that divides the world into superior and inferior class. And this inferiority refers to nations outside the white nation.
In view of the nations outside of this white, they are "afraid to admit that the nations of non-whites are able to do things better than him". The people outside the white race is described as an object. They are isolated from the environment and presented with the "Schematic fashion" or style of beauty procedures colonialist eyes. Individual character (Sayuri, in this context) is the complement of civilization and Western privilege. Liyan confirmed by the placement of characters in the foreground (with a background of a beautiful landscape). It also puts the character as an object that can be seen and can be controlled. According to Pieterse, the liyan is placed in the Victorian aesthetic conventions.
4. Metaphor Memoirs of Geisha; Geisha Not Hookers
A geisha is not a prostitute, then what?. Problem prostitutes or not, concerns about stigma. about the stigma related to the terms of understanding, meaning, and acceptance of a term, behavior, or symptoms of a particular behavior. therefore, discuss the term geisha, prostitutes, or other terms seputarnya be important to understand the beauty of this memoir. Giving meaning and significance of a term becomes very important, at the time of the impact caused the behavior of the process of interpretation, understanding, and acceptance. This analysis, a form of metaphor, in addition to lifting beauty memoirs, the main goal is to place a geisha in stigmanya.
Ritualitas and routine of a geisha's life is different with a prostitute. There is one more unique thing, that is usually and most of the geisha have never had the choice to retire. The money it generates can be "the lure" for who knows 'position' geisha, not even feel tired after and out of the teahouse to entertain customers. A geisha is required skilled, beautiful, and intelligent.
In this memoir, the story of geisha Sayuri is a Japanese who lived in the 1930s. Geisha inhabiting such a unique subculture that and even Japanese women in the 1930s, might think is not easy to write the life of a geisha at the time. Distinctive subculture that, among other things: how a mengenakkan geisha kimono and put make-up is really one tebal.Hal distinctive subculture.
Geisha geisha called hot springs or hot springs geisha, who is resting places, obviously prostitutes; it is public opinion. However, as stated in the memoirs of Sayuri, the reader must see how they play the shamisen mahirnya, and how much their knowledge of the tea ceremony, before the readers deserve mention themselves as geisha. However, even the Kyoto geisha didistrik and Tokyo, as well as major cities the other, obviously there are some prostitutes. For example; an apprentice has to go through something called mizuage, or "memerawani". Their virginity was sold to the highest bidder.
After going through his mizuage stage, high-class geisha will provide them for the men every night. He will be a geisha who fail, if he does not have a man who acts as guardian and finance expenses. This guy will guarantee his life remain elegant, and, instead, the geisha would provide sexual services, only to the man. Is this prostitution?. Not in the same sense, as the understanding of people, which serves a variety of male prostitutes every night. In this memoir, geisha can be likened to the upper class mistress, not a prostitute.
Geisha are not any prostitutes who can offer themselves, there is a real subculture conditions achieved with great effort to skilled master training. This memoir presents to the reader, so complicated and the black side of the house peliknya sober place to prepare a novice, until he can fix the highest tariffs as a geisha. This is the memoir of a geisha beauty.
5. Closing
Clearly, that Rob Marshall to change the story of a geisha becomes a form of entertainment for "the white man" who experienced the colonial complex. So the images beautiful, the stunning cinematography system, extraordinary assertion of traditional images, is the discourse of "colonizing" is displayed in the form of popular tontontan is inevitable.
Not surprisingly, the narrative of the film Memoirs of Geisha Rob Marshall-style, white people (in this case, the United States) is described as a winner, helpers, and heroes. This is what many experts called a postcolonial Western colonial propaganda on East countries. Remarkably, this propaganda packaged in such a way that looks scientific, interesting, aesthetic and seemed not patronize (hegemonic). In this context, the film Memoirs of Geisha assert itself as a cultural propaganda that the audience does not know Japanese culture, the more attractive this movie.