Perfect Blue and Its Relevance on an Imperfect Society and Culture.

A deep dive into one of favorite yet heavy films. I had to many thoughts and not enough time for this essay for my film class. Forgive me.

Perfect Blue is the psychological exploration of Mima, a J-pop idol turned actress as she goes through the struggles of celebrity and accepting oneself. Her reality distorts as she is stalked by not only the spiteful idol version of herself but by a mysterious blogger who writes Mima’s room, a homepage page that accounts her day to day life scarily accurate. Directorial debut of the great and late Satoshi-Kon Perfect Blue released in 1999. According to IMDB it had an estimated budget of about 20,000 dollars, while opening weekend in the U.S and Canada fell short at 9,600 dollars it did go on to gross 563,130 dollars.

Culturally Perfect Blue went on to influence other films such as Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream, both movies have similar themes and are cult classics in their respective spheres. Satoshi Kon’s film and Black Swan can be compared shot by shot concluding there is some influence no matter how much director Darren Aoronfsky argues. Alongside his other film Requiem for a Dream mimicking the iconic bathtub scene in Perfect Blue. Even if there is not a direct correlation this goes to show that the themes and message in Perfect Blue continue to be relevant and show up in other influential films. Socially Perfect Blue is filled with commentary on parasocial relationships, the entertainment industry and the human psyche. It’s a film that pushes for multiple watches to fully grasp and deserves analysis.

Gerbner's Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to specifically television but also media as whole influences people's perspectives. In order for Mima to be taken seriously as an actress she must be willing to expose herself and accept a taboo rape scene, thus severing her ties from ever being an idol again. In real life there are many examples of teen celebrities making a dramatic transition into adulthood through overcompensating with their bodies. One prime example would be Miley Cyrus among a dozen other young stars. When late teen celebrities become adults there is a disconnect between their crafted and innocent image and the real explorative adults they are becoming. They are too adult and have outgrown that image but still cramped into that box through viewers and people who profit from them. So not only is Mima proving herself as an actress but an adult through this provocative scene. In the film we see many people take advantage of Mima’s naivete, from screenwriters, directors and even her male agent. Although the idol industry itself is not free from the same malpractice and extortion. Mariko Oi , journalist for BBC News, states an example “...Minami Minegishi from popular girl band AKB48 shaved her head and wept in apology, after breaking management firm rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.” This cements that idols must conform to sexist and strict ideals and actresses must succumb to the wishes of perverted screenwriters. This social setting creates two archetypes of women, the Madonna and the whore. Penn State's Psych 424 Blog defines the ‘Madonna and Whore’ complex as, “...a theory to explain men’s anxiety towards women’s sexuality, suggesting that men cast women into one of two categories to allay the uncomfortable dichotomy of fear and desire: the Madonna (women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects).” We see this affect Mima personally as people's attitudes about her shift dramatically. When her former bandmates learn Mima has a photoshoot with a male photographer infamous for getting women to undress they joke about her being willing to show everything. These types of opinions can further go on to influence younger generations as one version of Mima is beloved by a mostly male audience making other young women strive to be that ideal and shun embracing their sexuality. The other version of Mima is a temptress and the kind of attention she gets is the ‘wrong’ kind and can bring out feelings of jealousy and insecurity in other women.

The ‘Madonna and Whore Complex’ also falls into Stuart Hall's encoding and Decoding theory. Symbols are used throughout the film. Mima herself is one. There is a myriad of outfits we see Mima in, two of them being her idol uniform and the scandalous outfit that she adorns in the rape scene. The resemblance between them is subtle but I believe intentional. Her idol costume is a mostly white puffed out dress with pink highlights, arm length gloves, thigh high stockings and headband. While her costume in the rape scene has a similar silhouette and design instead of the softer pinks they are replaced with intense reds. I think while this speaks on Mima’s transformation it also touches on that she already served the voyeuristic male gaze as an idol. Later on in the film it is revealed that Rumi, her female agent, is the one behind the website Mima’s Room and has a twisted way of thinking. Within her own head she has created a split personality where she is the idol version of Mima and must get rid of the filthy actress she has become. When this version of Rumi is revealed, she also shows off a new costume identical to the first idol dress besides it being all red. Mima due to her physiological distress sees not Rumi but the vengeful idol version of herself that has been stalking her the entire film. As the movie progresses, we ultimately see the same color to convey different meanings. The highlights of pink transitions to bold highlights of red and then finally an almost fully red outfit. Perfect blue in general uses color as a whole to create impactful scenes and story. But in this instance, it tells the story of innocence being tainted and then almost fully corrupted at the end by Rumi. Even though Rumi’s dress is red she has the white gloves and knee-high stockings. I think this implies that there is some innocence to Rumi. At the end of the film, we see her in a sympathetic light, after Rumi’s attempt on Mima’s life we see her hospitalized in a mental ward. We don't just see her as a villain but as someone who is mentally ill and needs help. Even Mima shows some sympathy as she visits and brings her flowers.

Uses and gratifications theory can also be applied to this media artifact in many interesting angles. Uses and gratifications theory argues that we as viewers consume media that feeds our inner desires. We can view it from the angle as us as viewers, from the characters, and symbols and events in the story. From our perspectives as viewers, we get a deeper look into the industry that feeds us and vice versa. Often, we view celebrities as having the perfect life but this exposure to the sad and cruel reality humanizes them, that they might just have it just as bad or worse. Many times, throughout the films you can reflect on the pressures faced within small communities such as school or work environments and compare it to a much larger scale pressure Mima faces and feel a sense of relief. Another perspective is from Mr. Me Mania’s, a devoted fan turned into a betrayed stalker due to Mima’s metamorphosis as an actress. He uses the idol version of Mima as a comfort for loneliness and projects his ideal version of a woman onto her, pure and innocent. And when she breaks this persona he snaps thus becoming violent and aggressively sexual towards what he sees as an imposter. In a disturbing scene Mr. Me Mania corners Mima alone and attempts to rape her. I believe previously Mr. Me Mania wanted to protect this purity for example after Mima’s revealing photoshoot gets published in a magazine he rushes to purchase all of them before others can see. But once she fully breaks her persona, she is no longer worth protecting and already defiled. Our last perspective would be Rumi’s. In an offhand comment it’s revealed that Rumi herself used to be an idol, thus suggesting that her persistence in the beginning of the film of Mima staying an idol is because she's living vicariously through her. And she too just like Mr. Me Mania cannot handle Mima breaking her idol image thus also breaking her psyche.

Overall Perfect Blue is a film that carries so much weight culturally and socially. It is an amalgamation of the gross and filthy parts of our entertainment industry and dives far into the human experience. Through its use of real-life issues mixed with the fabrications of the mind, characters, symbols, and wonderfully crafted story Perfect Blue will continue to carry Satoshi-Kon's messages about an imperfect society and culture.

Reference Page

IMDb.com. (1999, August 20). Perfect blue. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156887/

Oi, M. (2016, January 26). The Dark Side of Asia’s pop music industry. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35368705

Psych 424 blog. Applied Social Psychology ASP RSS. (n.d.). https://sites.psu.edu/aspsy/2015/10/03/madonna-whore-complex/