Japanese "Pink Film" (pinku eiga)

One source of Asian Fetish that's not usually discussed is the extent to which Eastern views of Asian women influence the growth of racial stereotypes here in the U.S.  Most sources, such as Prasso's Asian Mystique, view the development of racial prejudice as something that has developed full blown in American culture independently of any Asian influence.  But one has only to watch a Japanese "violent pink" film to realize how incorrect this assessment is.  There is a long tradition in Asian culture, now being questioned assiduosly as the demand for equal rights has grown, that holds women to be in all respects subservient to men.  The question is then -- if Americans see Asian women as submissive sex dolls, are the attitudes towards women in certain Asian cultures at least partially to blame?

Specifically, and most dramatically, there is a sub-genre of Japanese pinku eiga ("pink film") called "violent pink."  These films are not strictly pornographic because they do not show actual intercourse, the genitals of either sex, or even pubic hair.  These elements are masked primarily through the use of camera angles but also with a digital blur over offending areas in those shots where they would othewise be visible.  But if these films don't show actual sex, they do contain graphic scenes of intercourse and reenactments of violence against women and of forcible rape.  In do doing, they attempt to be sexually exciting but instead end up being deeply disturbing.

The most notable example of violent pink is the Angel Guts series of five films made by Nikkatsu studios in the 1970's.  (Although Nikkatsu is the oldest studio in Japan and at one time the most successful, its fortunes fell during the post-WWII years, and it began to crank out violent pink films until its name became synonomous with the subgenre).  The Angel Guts series has an ambivalent point of view and is strangely sympathetic to female characters themselves.  Notably, the screenplays were written by Takashii Ishii who went on to direct Flower and Snake. perhaps the kinkiest of all violent pink.  Unlike most other cult films, it has incredibly high production values.

So, in my novel, I intend to make one of the three male protagonists a former director of Japanese "violent pink" who's now cranking out S&M films here in NYC.  Echi definitely is twisted, a pervert who embraces violence against women, not only in his films, but in his lifestyle as well.  The overriding problem in his characterization, though, is to reveal this to the viewer/reader without actually pandering to the same stereotypes that are already so reprehensible.