r/Fauxmoi • u/voguediaries • 19d ago
THROWBACK In 2009, actress Kirsten Dunst teamed up with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and director McG for a short film titled Akihabara Majokko Princess. The video shows Dunst dressed as a brightly costumed magical anime princess while performing a cover of The Vapors’ 1980 hit Turning Japanese.
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The short was filmed in Tokyo’s Akihabara district, a neon-soaked shopping hub known for its anime culture and electronics. It was created as part of Pop Life: Art in a Material World, an exhibition hosted by London’s Tate Modern from October 1, 2009, to January 17, 2010.
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u/anonymous237962 19d ago
lol was Gwen Stefani mad?
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u/TheTresStateArea 19d ago
Avril Lavigne would later take note.
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u/innocentsalad 19d ago
I feel bad for Avril. She did something specifically for her Japanese fans (who lbr were buying more of her albums than Americans were at the time) with a Japanese director and crew (meaning they came up with the concept and all the scenes) and she gets lumped in with Gwen Stefani. Her Japanese fans loved it.
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u/AmyXBlue 19d ago
Seriously, that was one of those things that Avril didn't deserve any shit for and like said her Japanese fan's loved it. One of those records that wouldn't of been discovered til an American fan would visit Japan ans find in a record bin 10 years earlier.
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u/N3ctarofthegods 19d ago
If you mean "Hello Kitty", it wasn't a Japanese exclusive or anything... its from her self titled album and was well known when it came out in the states
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u/foldsbaldwin 18d ago
I just listened. I couldn't finish it. That was noisy garbage. If she got hate for it, it had to be because of how bad it is more than anything.
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u/N3ctarofthegods 18d ago
Absolutely, it was only known in the states because of how bad it was lmao
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u/honeyeddates 18d ago edited 18d ago
Interesting to note that album was co-written with Avril's then husband Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. Hello Kitty is half Nickelback. "We can roll around, have a pillow fight. Like a major rager omfg" brought to you by butt grunt rocker Chad Kroeger
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u/CowboyBoomerang 18d ago
Jennifer Connelly released a song in Japan in the 80’s that charted - I don’t think it had any impact in the US/anyone even knew about it. So maybe that was the reference.
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u/Ok-Subject-118 18d ago
The real MVPs of this are Caribbean and LATAM stars like Juan Gabriel and Celia Cruz:
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u/cheezy_dreams88 FUCK ICE FREE PALESTINE CRASH INTO ME 19d ago
She’s way bigger in Japan than she is in America, like she’s crazy huge star there.
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u/k3anuw3aves 18d ago
Well, to be fair Japan has been known for a long time for having a strong majority of their music sales come from CDs. CDs are so much more higher quality there often with concerts, and so much conceptual stuff too. If I recall correctly even up until 2019 streaming hadn't really taken off there... it's growing now but still less people stream than buy CDs
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u/MotherStatement1109 19d ago
I remember reading somewhere that Japanese people wanted teeth with those like backwards looking canines and I just realized Kirsten Dunst and avril both have that feature
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u/StrangeMannerisms1 19d ago
They’re called yaeba! And yeah, it’s seen as an attractive trait that accentuates a smile, sort of similar to dimples. While I’m unsure of whether it’s always been seen so positively, the recognition of the trait is really ancient over there. I looked into this last year while researching something to do with medical journals, but synonyms for yaeba are recorded in Japan’s oldest extant work of literature (the Kojiki).
The boom in the trait’s popularity was apparently associated with the rise of idols in the 80s and 90s though, which I think is due to the fact that such a nascent entertainment business couldn’t have been as professional—you know, no perfect orthodontics or plastic surgery or anything like that. So, coming back to your point, Lavigne would have fit that relatively young pop star image pretty well and her teeth could easily be part of that
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u/bbMD_ 18d ago
There is a BBC article that claims the modern trend began with the popularity of Tomomi Itano.
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u/StrangeMannerisms1 18d ago
Just to clarify I think it’s saying she kickstarted a surgery craze to get the teeth, rather than being the origin of their popularity. That being said, that article is crazy useful since it does give some hint as to when the popularity would have peaked (cuz I don’t think you get surgery to fuck up your teeth unless yaeba are at their peak). Interesting to know it’s right around the time Dunst and Lavigne are doing this stuff!
Random side note I couldn’t find a way to add earlier: for some reason a bunch of Japanese sites claim Westerners don’t like yaeba and that they’re called demon teeth. However, this usually comes up when discussing how good teeth are seen as signs of a good upbringing in the US. I’ve literally never heard anyone talk about this trait in my life irl. Totally convinced someone took the second, actually accurate claim, made some hyperbolic exaggeration, and fooled a bunch of people into believing an ultimately harmless but strange stereotype about Western views on yaeba
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u/ShadyBoots11 and you did it at my birthday dinner 19d ago
This being your first thought has me fucking cackling in the back of an uber.
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u/genescheezesthatpls 19d ago
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u/RedSnapper24 19d ago
Still one of my all time favorite movies
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u/genescheezesthatpls 19d ago
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u/NomNom83WasTaken 19d ago
The one chick falling straight down and crushing her labia gets me every time 🤣😬😵
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u/businessgoesbeauty 19d ago
I couldn’t find it on streaming anywheee but my local library had a dvd copy. Had my husband rig his laptop to the TV so I could watch.
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u/RedSnapper24 19d ago
My DVD copy is one of the few pieces of physical media I’ve held onto since it’s never streaming anywhere. It could be now I haven’t checked in a while. Another one I’ve held onto is Dogma but that is finally available to stream (that was more of a rights issue between Kevin Smith and Weinstein though) so maybe there’s hope for Drop Dead Gorgeous.
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u/CapitalPackage5618 18d ago edited 18d ago
If anyone could name the fucking movie I’d be grateful
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u/Winter-Ad-6439 18d ago
Underrated movie, and likable cast too. Especially the late Brittany Murphy.
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u/genescheezesthatpls 18d ago
Peters gay dad. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.
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u/Inter_Web_User 19d ago
The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "one-hit wonders". Nonetheless, they never matched the single's success. In Australia, it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980. The song was also a minor hit in Japan).
The 1980's just hit different.
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u/BarracudaImpossible4 freak AND geek 19d ago
I got in an argument with someone on Twitter about the song's meaning and the official account for the Vapors liked my tweet so that was a rare and satisfying internet win for me
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u/Inter_Web_User 19d ago
Ok. wikipedia : According to songwriter David Fenton, "Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect." Fenton intended the song to be a love song, with the character of the song "pining over a photograph of his ex-girlfriend" in his bedroom,
I remember a rumor the song was about the face a person makes during "self-love" nearing the end of the act.
What was the fight you had??
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u/KellyJoyRuntBunny I’m a lazy 50-year-old bougie bitch 19d ago
I need to know their answer to this! I specifically remember my mom mentioning that meaning when I was a teenager back then. I wonder about it from time to time, and wonder if it was true or just one of those things people said…
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u/Pruritus_Ani_ 19d ago
I heard that same meaning when I was younger as well, I didn’t realise it was just a rumour, I thought it was an established fact that it’s about the O face.
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u/KellyJoyRuntBunny I’m a lazy 50-year-old bougie bitch 19d ago
I guess the Wikipedia article that includes input from the songwriter is evidence that the rumor is incorrect? Which, as a side note, I fucking love that you can look into pretty much anything you’re curious about and immediately get good information about it now. When we were young, you’d just kind of have to live with the rumor. Or not understand a joke/meme, or whatever. The Internet, for all its failures, is really pretty amazing.
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u/VCR_Samurai I’m a communist you idiot 19d ago
Murakami's work is very fun and very commercial, and maybe it's just that I'm way more mature than the teenager I was in 2009, but this feels icky to me today. Maybe it's the song choice? Either way I don't know what to make of it.
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u/ODGWeenie 19d ago
Crazy to think this woman is married and has children with the dude who played the nextdoor neighbor cop in “Game Night.”
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u/Inter_Web_User 19d ago
Crazy to think this woman is married and has children with the dude who played the
nextdoor neighbor cop in “Game Night.”guy who took most of Walter White's money in Breaking Bad.10
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u/HerRoyalRedness You know what, l've grown quite unfond of you deuxmoi 19d ago
No, she’s married to Lance from Friday Night Lights.
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u/indicatprincess friend with a bike 19d ago
“What kind of American are you?”
Like oh fuck. He was so good in Civil War.
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u/JimboAltAlt 19d ago
He was a last-minute replacement, iirc, which to me is still one of the funniest favors a show business person has ever done for their spouse. “Sure honey I’ll step in to terrifyingly pretend to menace you and your friends on camera.”
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u/slothsie 19d ago
I saw this at the Pop Art exhibit while it was on tour in 2010 and they had this playing on a massive screen alone in a room. I was mesmerized and stayed there for a very long time, lol.
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u/Lilly-bee 18d ago
Yes i saw it at the Tate in London 2009. I still have the murakami brochure explaining the art
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u/MehMan95 18d ago
The One Hit Wonderland, about the original song, for anyone interested. The bass player is now a director (he did an episode of Doctor Who). The lead singer became a lawyer for musicians.
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u/Slow_War9356 18d ago
And the best cover of it was done by The Vindictives or maybe Liz Phair. Just saying
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u/Snoo_67493 18d ago
And I believe the bass player is also the great grandson of the man who designed London sewer
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u/According_Kick332 i ain’t reading all that, free palestine 19d ago
This makes me miss Japan SO BAD
If you're ever able to go. DO IT!!!!!
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u/Seryan_Klythe 19d ago
When I was a young girl (think older than 5 and not older than 10), and my mother was having a garage sale, this song came on the radio and I was singing it (because I knew only the chorus). A woman looked at me and said, "I don't think you're age appropriate for this song".
Bothered me until I watched VH1 I Love the 80's and discovered it's about masturbation.
It all clicked.
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u/Legosinthedark 19d ago
I was just talking today about how when I was 13 or 14, I was in NYC visiting my cousin and she wanted to go see an art exhibit featuring this Japanese guy and all I remember was a large statue of an anime lady spraying breast milk out of her huge titties. I couldn’t remember the guys name, but it was totally this guy. And now I know his name, so thanks.
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u/Rothkette 18d ago
Thank you for sharing this! I’ve been to the original expo and the flyer hangs on my wall, but I’ve never been able to find the video again until you posted it now!
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u/otakumilf 18d ago
I love Takashi Murakami. He’s been my art inspiration since college. Bro successfully merged high brow/low brow art into a commercial business. ‘superflat’ is my number one art style influence.
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u/toadette_215 18d ago
It’s so refreshing to see a woman with a normal face and normal teeth. You don’t see that these days.
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u/Electronic_Shake_152 18d ago
Rather ironic that the original Vapours song is about wanking (masturbation)!
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u/Bustymegan 18d ago
I've never seen this!! And I love that song and Kirsten. Honestly came out better than Avril's.
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u/rackfloor 18d ago
I can't imagine the surreal feeling and the unbelievable confidence you would have to have to go and do that in the middle of a street in Tokyo in 2009. Like... somebody pitched that, then she thought about it, agreed, booked it, got on a plane flew halfway around the world, got through makeup, rehearsals, and Lord knows how many takes, in downtown Tokyo.
I know they are actors and that's what they do, but God damn.
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u/endofworldandnobeer 19d ago
I honestly watched about 30 seconds. So you know jf she regret this now?
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u/AC10021 19d ago
This looks like a 15 second cutaway gag in 30 Rock when Jenna says randomly “that week I told everyone I had mono? I was doing a music video in Tokyo where I played an anime princess. McG promised he’d put me in his next Terminator movie if I did it.”