更新时间:2014-04-19
CCCCChiiiii • 太空朋克猫:Minerva Cult
这部非常self- referential 的电影是今年日本文化课在讲consumerism的时候pro放的。最开始看的想摔瓶子，但真正做完功课觉得拍的很有料。处于自虐倾向我的final essay选这个电影和日本Noh表演做对比。来试着讲清楚为什么电影中Minerva Cult以拜物教为原型。发上来希望对跟我一样第一遍看完觉得在做死的同学有帮助。:)
(PS:强烈推荐Mcgill EAST212。pro人好到爆。我这么懒整个学期都不缺课就知道这门课真的真的好好玩！)
--CKR
During periods of turmoil, people began to worship idols to eliminate threat of unknown environments and gain security. A fetish is an object that is believed to have supernatural powers. Yet, this fetishism often involves violent ritual. In almost every religion, a fetish is worshipped through the ritual of offering sacrifices. Through the act of killing animals or people, a relation between man and fetish is established. And under the belief that this relation with fetish will protect people from chaos and danger, fear is reduced. However, fetishes are actually the unknown chaos that arouse people’s fear. Paradoxically, the fetish becomes apotropaic, and generates a cycle of fear and desire. To maintain this relation with the fetish, people must continuously offer sacrifices, killing animals then even humans as they believe a stronger relation with fetish can be established this way. (两个文学世界中异化的拜物主义与暴力崇拜: 《蝇王》与《黑暗之心》的比较研究 (英文) 《世界文学评论》2008年第02期) Commodity fetishism is a theory proposed by Karl Marx based on the idea of fetishes cult. Commodity fetishism is the idea that people attached an intrinsic value to the commodity rather than the use value. By consuming the commodity, the ritual is performed, therefore, a relation between human and fetish, the sign value, is established. (Isaak Rubin, Essays on Marx's Theory of Value. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1990, 5). That is to say, people are not only buying a commodity but also a relation with symbol. In Japanese culture, fetish can find its origin in the image of the non-human, for example, oni. This unknown evil supernatural spirit could be subdued and brought over to one’s own side as a protection god. (Lecture)When we look at the analogy of the non-human figures we will see the lineages relating to this fetishism. In my essay, I will discuss two non-human features from Edo period and 2010 respectively. The first one is Unai’s ghost from the Noh play, The Sought-for Grave. The second one is the cute cat, Tamala, in Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. These two non-human characters are both representations of sacrifice in fetish cults. Noh performance, announced as official by Tokugawa government, is similar to a ritual of fetishism cult. People’s acceptances of Unai’s ghost being forever condemned resemble the ritual of sacrifices, thereby, creating a relation with the fetish. In return Tokugawa as their fetish will provide them protection. Moreover, Tamala, the cute cat fetish, implies commodity fetishism. Through the cycle of consumption and production which resembles sacrifice ritual, desire for Catty&Co. products spreads via Tamala. Then, Tamala as an immortal character gets eaten implying the ritual is complete. Widely consumed Catty&Co brand commodities result in economic colonization of the planet Q. Finally, the immortal Tamala comes back to life, and a new cycle of monopoly capitalism begins. (Lecture)
Fire is a metaphor of desire. Unai’s ghost and Tamala are both born from the fire of desire. (Lecture) The Sought-for Grave, a Noh play written by Zeami, tells a story about Unai. Unai drowned herself after declining to choose between two men who wrote her love letters at the same time. These two men then committed suicide by stabbing each other. Unai's ghost bears the karmic responsibility for two men’s demise, and therefore is forever condemned in Eight Great Hell. The priest’s prayers are of no avail. (Matsukaze, Donald Keene, 39-49) Unai’s ghost is unable to escape from the Burning House (preoccupied by desire and the mortal world). Her desire and attachment to the world is punished and repressed. And this punishment will come to her ghost every time the play begins. This creates an unreachable feeling because she always remains in the past. In other words, the desire and attachment to the world is repressed and enclosed in that absolute past. This is a typical ending of all Noh plays: often, the play is in the night, dark (when ghosts exist) and when the morning comes, the ghost vanishes, yet the Buddhist enlightenment doesn’t come. The Tokugawa period is a turbulent time. Tokugawa is a family of “hereditary military rulers who governed Japan during the Edo period”. This family made Noh the official ceremonial art of the state to create their own authority by instilling the “enclosed temporality” through Noh play. (Lecture) By this I mean in Noh, the absolute past is unchanging and time is cyclical and repetitive, therefore, cut off from the historical present. Noh performance is similar to a ritual of a fetishism cult, infinitely repeated. Unai’s ghost, forever condemned, is the sacrifice. By agreeing with this story and acceptance of Unai’s punishment, people are assumed to create a relation with Tokugawa government which will provide them protection.
In contrast, Tamala is a cute female cat born at “the red night of Edessa”, the big fire on planet Orion. This suggests that the birth of Tamala is equal to the genesis of desire. Sign value is the value attached to an object because of the social status that it imparts upon the possessor rather than utility or function. Tamala is a representation of the sign value of Catty.Co. Against the wishes of her human mother, Tamala flies to her birthplace, Orion. However, the Postcat shoots down her ship and Tamala lands on planet Q. This represents that Catty&Co begins sowing seeds of desire for its products via Tamala on planet Q. Tamala then meets Michelangelo, a male cat. He drives Tamala to the Hate City, a city dissolving into widespread violence between dogs and cats. This resembles the chaos of fetishism cult, it’s the underpinning of people’s desire and fear and the reason for the existence of attachment and relation to fetish as well as ritual. Michelangelo and Tamala first go to visit a museum of animals which is exhibiting human civilization. Tamala discovers a painting describing the sacrificial rituals of the ancient Minerva cult religion and the ruins of a statue of Tatla, the Goddess destroyed and reborn in infinite succession. Minerva cult is in fact a fetishism cult. The mass killing of cats in Minerva cult is the sacrifice ritual in fetishism. In fact, Tamala is Tatla’s reincarnation. The evidence from the following plots support this idea: after Tamala sees a tattoo on Tatla’s arm, she gets one on her arm too, saying: “The octopus tattoo is my original.” Another evidence for the connection between Tamala, Tatla, and Minerva cult are the plot of Tamala dancing like a super star and everyone is shouting: “TATLA!!TAMALA!!Catty!! Minerva!!”
When Tamala tells Michelangelo about her birthplace, Orion, she said to him: “Moimoi, me very tasty. Wanna eat me?” This is one implication that Tamala is supposed to be consumed. Another more direct evidence is that Kentauros, a sadistic dog dressed as a motorcycle cop attacks and eats Tamala while Michelangelo abandons her and runs away. This is when Tamala, the product, is consumed. In Minerva cult, Kentauros is equivalent to the people in the chaos, doing mass killing to create relation with the fetish so as to satisfy certain desires. By consuming the cute female cat, Tamala, Kentauro completes the sacrifice and he has a fake stronger relation with Tamala. Additionally, the presentation from Professor Nominos reveals that Catty&Co. is an offshoot of the Minerva religion：
This ancient cursed secret religion infests us even now. Repeated destruction and rebirth, the progress of an undying world. Their activity based in a crazed doctrine devoted to live sacrifice. A crazed cult that couldn't avoid persecution and mass killings. Some believers sought revenge and changed their identities to fulfill their pledge. Then, they changed the name to Catty&Co… Just when I was talking about the enigma of Minerva, this enigma fabricates yet another answer. Why you ask? Because I intervened in that riddle wrapped in an enigma. Minerva could be a demon possessed in history!! Then, we are hoping for demons within ourselves.
This suggests that Tamala is the sacrifice in the Minerva culture. The demon possessed in history refers to people’s desire of attaining security through ritual of mass killing. And demons within ourselves are the desire of consuming and establishing relation. Tamala’s recurring ritual sacrifice serves the goals and gives power to The Minerva Cult and its monopoly. In the ending of the movie, Tamala revives and continues her voyage to Orion. Catty&Co’s product branding, advertising, newspapers, and street conversation occupied Hate City imply that the city is taken over by Catty&Co. Another evidence of colonization of Catty&Co. through Tamala is that Tamala renamed a lake on planet Q from Prometheus to Lochness, a lake on CatEarth. (All plots are from Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space).
Taken together, we’ll see a strong connection between Tamala and Unai’s ghost as they both serve the goals and gives power to fetishism through recurring sacrifice rituals. We can come to a conclusion that Tamala as a monopoly strategy of Catty&Co is evolved from the strategy of gaining authority used by Tokugawa government. In other words, in both cases, relations between human and fetishes are established through recurring sacrifices. As a result of this establishment of relation, satisfaction of desire and reduction of fear fueled new desire to sacrifice, consume. A vicious cycle of desire to scarifies form. That is to say, fetishism can be the product of reducing fear and stress from the outside world but at the same time, it can be the origin of violence and terrorism. Furthermore, we will see how the information is controlled in these two cases. The Tokugawa family controls the information by announcing Noh as the official play that people are allowed to access. The Postcat delivering mail in wartime in the beginning of the film; two cats in the bar of planet Q talking about how “direct mail is low” and phones are strange “Always cutting out or suddenly busy”, are all the manifestations of Catty&Co‘s plan of controlling the world by controlling the information.
(PS:强烈推荐Mcgill EAST212。pro人好到爆。我这么懒整个学期都不缺课就知道这门课真的真的好好玩！)
--CKR
During periods of turmoil, people began to worship idols to eliminate threat of unknown environments and gain security. A fetish is an object that is believed to have supernatural powers. Yet, this fetishism often involves violent ritual. In almost every religion, a fetish is worshipped through the ritual of offering sacrifices. Through the act of killing animals or people, a relation between man and fetish is established. And under the belief that this relation with fetish will protect people from chaos and danger, fear is reduced. However, fetishes are actually the unknown chaos that arouse people’s fear. Paradoxically, the fetish becomes apotropaic, and generates a cycle of fear and desire. To maintain this relation with the fetish, people must continuously offer sacrifices, killing animals then even humans as they believe a stronger relation with fetish can be established this way. (两个文学世界中异化的拜物主义与暴力崇拜: 《蝇王》与《黑暗之心》的比较研究 (英文) 《世界文学评论》2008年第02期) Commodity fetishism is a theory proposed by Karl Marx based on the idea of fetishes cult. Commodity fetishism is the idea that people attached an intrinsic value to the commodity rather than the use value. By consuming the commodity, the ritual is performed, therefore, a relation between human and fetish, the sign value, is established. (Isaak Rubin, Essays on Marx's Theory of Value. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1990, 5). That is to say, people are not only buying a commodity but also a relation with symbol. In Japanese culture, fetish can find its origin in the image of the non-human, for example, oni. This unknown evil supernatural spirit could be subdued and brought over to one’s own side as a protection god. (Lecture)When we look at the analogy of the non-human figures we will see the lineages relating to this fetishism. In my essay, I will discuss two non-human features from Edo period and 2010 respectively. The first one is Unai’s ghost from the Noh play, The Sought-for Grave. The second one is the cute cat, Tamala, in Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space. These two non-human characters are both representations of sacrifice in fetish cults. Noh performance, announced as official by Tokugawa government, is similar to a ritual of fetishism cult. People’s acceptances of Unai’s ghost being forever condemned resemble the ritual of sacrifices, thereby, creating a relation with the fetish. In return Tokugawa as their fetish will provide them protection. Moreover, Tamala, the cute cat fetish, implies commodity fetishism. Through the cycle of consumption and production which resembles sacrifice ritual, desire for Catty&Co. products spreads via Tamala. Then, Tamala as an immortal character gets eaten implying the ritual is complete. Widely consumed Catty&Co brand commodities result in economic colonization of the planet Q. Finally, the immortal Tamala comes back to life, and a new cycle of monopoly capitalism begins. (Lecture)
Fire is a metaphor of desire. Unai’s ghost and Tamala are both born from the fire of desire. (Lecture) The Sought-for Grave, a Noh play written by Zeami, tells a story about Unai. Unai drowned herself after declining to choose between two men who wrote her love letters at the same time. These two men then committed suicide by stabbing each other. Unai's ghost bears the karmic responsibility for two men’s demise, and therefore is forever condemned in Eight Great Hell. The priest’s prayers are of no avail. (Matsukaze, Donald Keene, 39-49) Unai’s ghost is unable to escape from the Burning House (preoccupied by desire and the mortal world). Her desire and attachment to the world is punished and repressed. And this punishment will come to her ghost every time the play begins. This creates an unreachable feeling because she always remains in the past. In other words, the desire and attachment to the world is repressed and enclosed in that absolute past. This is a typical ending of all Noh plays: often, the play is in the night, dark (when ghosts exist) and when the morning comes, the ghost vanishes, yet the Buddhist enlightenment doesn’t come. The Tokugawa period is a turbulent time. Tokugawa is a family of “hereditary military rulers who governed Japan during the Edo period”. This family made Noh the official ceremonial art of the state to create their own authority by instilling the “enclosed temporality” through Noh play. (Lecture) By this I mean in Noh, the absolute past is unchanging and time is cyclical and repetitive, therefore, cut off from the historical present. Noh performance is similar to a ritual of a fetishism cult, infinitely repeated. Unai’s ghost, forever condemned, is the sacrifice. By agreeing with this story and acceptance of Unai’s punishment, people are assumed to create a relation with Tokugawa government which will provide them protection.
In contrast, Tamala is a cute female cat born at “the red night of Edessa”, the big fire on planet Orion. This suggests that the birth of Tamala is equal to the genesis of desire. Sign value is the value attached to an object because of the social status that it imparts upon the possessor rather than utility or function. Tamala is a representation of the sign value of Catty.Co. Against the wishes of her human mother, Tamala flies to her birthplace, Orion. However, the Postcat shoots down her ship and Tamala lands on planet Q. This represents that Catty&Co begins sowing seeds of desire for its products via Tamala on planet Q. Tamala then meets Michelangelo, a male cat. He drives Tamala to the Hate City, a city dissolving into widespread violence between dogs and cats. This resembles the chaos of fetishism cult, it’s the underpinning of people’s desire and fear and the reason for the existence of attachment and relation to fetish as well as ritual. Michelangelo and Tamala first go to visit a museum of animals which is exhibiting human civilization. Tamala discovers a painting describing the sacrificial rituals of the ancient Minerva cult religion and the ruins of a statue of Tatla, the Goddess destroyed and reborn in infinite succession. Minerva cult is in fact a fetishism cult. The mass killing of cats in Minerva cult is the sacrifice ritual in fetishism. In fact, Tamala is Tatla’s reincarnation. The evidence from the following plots support this idea: after Tamala sees a tattoo on Tatla’s arm, she gets one on her arm too, saying: “The octopus tattoo is my original.” Another evidence for the connection between Tamala, Tatla, and Minerva cult are the plot of Tamala dancing like a super star and everyone is shouting: “TATLA!!TAMALA!!Catty!! Minerva!!”
When Tamala tells Michelangelo about her birthplace, Orion, she said to him: “Moimoi, me very tasty. Wanna eat me?” This is one implication that Tamala is supposed to be consumed. Another more direct evidence is that Kentauros, a sadistic dog dressed as a motorcycle cop attacks and eats Tamala while Michelangelo abandons her and runs away. This is when Tamala, the product, is consumed. In Minerva cult, Kentauros is equivalent to the people in the chaos, doing mass killing to create relation with the fetish so as to satisfy certain desires. By consuming the cute female cat, Tamala, Kentauro completes the sacrifice and he has a fake stronger relation with Tamala. Additionally, the presentation from Professor Nominos reveals that Catty&Co. is an offshoot of the Minerva religion：
This ancient cursed secret religion infests us even now. Repeated destruction and rebirth, the progress of an undying world. Their activity based in a crazed doctrine devoted to live sacrifice. A crazed cult that couldn't avoid persecution and mass killings. Some believers sought revenge and changed their identities to fulfill their pledge. Then, they changed the name to Catty&Co… Just when I was talking about the enigma of Minerva, this enigma fabricates yet another answer. Why you ask? Because I intervened in that riddle wrapped in an enigma. Minerva could be a demon possessed in history!! Then, we are hoping for demons within ourselves.
This suggests that Tamala is the sacrifice in the Minerva culture. The demon possessed in history refers to people’s desire of attaining security through ritual of mass killing. And demons within ourselves are the desire of consuming and establishing relation. Tamala’s recurring ritual sacrifice serves the goals and gives power to The Minerva Cult and its monopoly. In the ending of the movie, Tamala revives and continues her voyage to Orion. Catty&Co’s product branding, advertising, newspapers, and street conversation occupied Hate City imply that the city is taken over by Catty&Co. Another evidence of colonization of Catty&Co. through Tamala is that Tamala renamed a lake on planet Q from Prometheus to Lochness, a lake on CatEarth. (All plots are from Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space).
Taken together, we’ll see a strong connection between Tamala and Unai’s ghost as they both serve the goals and gives power to fetishism through recurring sacrifice rituals. We can come to a conclusion that Tamala as a monopoly strategy of Catty&Co is evolved from the strategy of gaining authority used by Tokugawa government. In other words, in both cases, relations between human and fetishes are established through recurring sacrifices. As a result of this establishment of relation, satisfaction of desire and reduction of fear fueled new desire to sacrifice, consume. A vicious cycle of desire to scarifies form. That is to say, fetishism can be the product of reducing fear and stress from the outside world but at the same time, it can be the origin of violence and terrorism. Furthermore, we will see how the information is controlled in these two cases. The Tokugawa family controls the information by announcing Noh as the official play that people are allowed to access. The Postcat delivering mail in wartime in the beginning of the film; two cats in the bar of planet Q talking about how “direct mail is low” and phones are strange “Always cutting out or suddenly busy”, are all the manifestations of Catty&Co‘s plan of controlling the world by controlling the information.
太空朋克猫Tamala 2010:A Punk Cat in Space(2003)
又名：朋克太空猫
上映日期：2003-09-28片长：91分钟
主演：Béatrice Dalle / Takeshi Kato / Takeda Shinji / Hisayo Mochizuki /
导演：Tol /
