Re: Using Art to Grieve Publicly

Sara, I love the idea that you mention incorporating "art therapy" into classrooms, aiding students in processing national (as well as their own personal) trauma. In regard to your difficulty in seeing how Takashi's work may be a response to the violence of Nagaski/Hiroshima, I believe that what Professor Tsutsui was hinting at was the vast array of ways trauma is processed in art: in the darkness of Gojira and the "monster movies," the violent cynicism of Akira, and the bright fantasticism of Takashi. I myself am personally a big fan of the horror film genre and know that Japan has a long history of "ghost stories" (dating back to the Edo/Meiji period). Many of their horror films are deeply violent and sinister, and in their American adaptations, have actually been "brightened" (i.e. Ringu to The Ring, Ju-On to The Grudge). I feel perhaps the only difference is that America does not simply dive "deep enough" in creating art that is a direct reaction to our own personal history of trauma...