The lady doeth protest too much, me thinks.

Heterosexual men don't over react with that kind of flamboyant drama.

Sorry, that's pretty culturally-ignorant thinking right there.

Japanese people are not "meek" or "inhibited" any more so than Americans are. There are different cultural rules about self-expression but there are most certainly loud, aggressive, and flamboyant people here. They just express themselves in different ways than your typically loud, aggressive, and flamboyant American would.

You might think socioeconomic factors were a reason for the lack of crime, but you'd be wrong there too. Japan has a higher poverty rate and lower median income than the U.S.

The low crime rates here can much better be attributed to cultural factors. Every Japanese person is raised with the belief that it is shameful cause problems to the people around them, whether that be family, schoolmates, or co-workers. Getting arrested is about the most shameful thing you could do here. Just being suspected of a crime will likely get you fired from your job, before you are even tried.

And let's not forget the role the justice system here plays. If you get arrested you are almost 100% going to get convicted because the odds are massively stacked against you in the court system. You are basically guilty until proven innocent. Read this for more info about it.

And people here know this. They also know that Japanese prison is hellish. You won't be raped or assaulted there like in the U.S. but you will know exactly what is like to have all of your freedom stripped completely away.

You add to all of this the low unemployment rate of Japan, the high regulation of all weapons (including knives), a robust social system for helping the unemployed (although unfortunately lately a lot of people seem to be falling through the cracks), a nationalized health insurance plan (I pay a $1 co-pay to take my daughter to the doctor and all prescribed medicines are free), a strong social stigma against drug use, and the ability as an island nation to strictly police the borders to prevent the influx of illegal goods (i.e. drugs/guns) and you get the low crime rates in Japan.

tl;dr

There is little incentive to commit crime in Japan because the both social and legal repercussions are extremely severe, and there is little need to resort to crime to survive (plentiful jobs and robust social security). Likewise the opportunity to commit crime is lessened because of the strict regulation of weapons, drugs, and borders.

EDIT: I will say that on more than one occasion I've thought that a career criminal in the U.S. who suddenly found himself in Japan would feel like a kid in a candy store. Because of the lack of crime, people here don't take precautions against it--some people leave doors and windows unlocked when leaving the house, you'll see laptops or iPads left in cars in plain view, and people carry ridiculous amounts of cash on them (I'm talking like on the order of $1000 or more in some cases). On the one hand it can be reassuring but on the other hand I seriously worry about these people when they travel overseas.

Your video, Flamboyant Police Car Accident Witness Description-Hilarious, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

I rather like the flamboyant way that the trash flies about in clip#2 too.

Lots of interesting conversation on this video. I always thought that the gay stereotype was used as a social cue to kind of announce that one was gay. I'm not saying any particular person had to act that way just that it helped to identify as part of a certain group. The flamboyance of the character for me is annoying, but tolerable. Cock props, a-hole pictures, TMI on the lover definitely cross the line for me in the workplace regardless of gender / orientation.

It's heavily implied by the contrast between the two characters. The counterpoint to obnoxious flamboyance isn't reserved, professional effeminancy but such straight masculinity that the viewer is surprised to learn the other character is also gay. Again, I get that this is caricature and comedy, but I couldn't help but feel that this video was saying, intentionally or not, that there are acceptable and unacceptable ways to be gay, a sentiment which is evidently shared by overcast.

Says who? What authority do you have to define what is and what is not gay? Your essentially saying that gays can only be gay in respect to whom they are attracted to. Anything else which deviates from mainstream heterosexual norms is "immature" and the mark of an "asshole". In other words you're only willing to tolerate difference so long as it's in a way that's acceptable to you. Who is the asshole again?

Again, the flamboyant character is caricature and much of his behavior is not work approrpriate. But it's entirely possible for a gay man to be effeminate and still be professional. According to you and this video however, once a gay man crosses the line into effeminancy, and starts to be different in a way that's harder to understand, then he deserves what's coming. I have a problem with that.

And how exactly does it dismiss it? I no where said that gay men must be flamboyant. I said that suggesting that gay men must look and act straight or face the consequences is deeply problematic. I have no problem with gay men who feel they only differ from straight men with respect to who they like to date. I do have a problem with someone suggesting that ALL gay men need to look and act that way. To me that seems like trying to manage difference so it's palatable to mainstream norms.

Full disclosure: I'm a transsexual, and unless you were extremely lucky or started transitioning before the onset of puberty, that means spending part of your transition, or in the worst case the rest of your life, looking visibly "not normal" to everyone else. I was not flamboyant, I was polite, unassuming, and did my best to fit in, but for a few years my mere existence was, to many people, as obnoxious and offensive as the flamboyant man in this video. Does that mean I deserved the hate and discrimination I got? I sure hope not. The fact that this video seems to say don't look different or you'll get what's coming to you, hits a nerve for me because for several years I COULDN'T look "normal" however much I wanted to. I'm just thankful I'm past that phase and people now see me as I see myself, treat me how I want to be treated, and I can live a "normal" life, because if this video is anything to go by then that's the hurdle you have to clear before you've earned the right not to be hated or discriminated against.

Well how else are we supposed to read it? The sympathetic character looks and acts "normal", and the viewer is led to assume that he is straight, with the twist at the end being that he's gay too, albeit a kind of gay that straight people won't find threatening, i.e. just like any other average guy except for whom he dates. After this revelation, the unsympathetic, annoying, obnoxious, flamboyant gay guy turns to himself and says "I'm not oppressed: I'm just an asshole!" In other words, gay people allegedly don't experience oppression and those that feel that they do are probably just obnoxiously flamboyant, like this guy, and hence deserve any negative reaction they get.

Don't get me wrong. I'm well aware that this is just a comedy sketch, and likewise anything even approximating the flamboyant man's behavior would be completely inappropriate in the workplace. But that said, I find it deeply disturbing that the implied messaging here is "if gay people just looked and acted like straight people, except in the bedroom, no one would have any problem with them."

Nice sift... just wanted to say the description mentions Flea as the Chili Pepper's frontman. Not true - he's the bass player (flamboyant he is, but he's not the frontman).

At first, I thought that Aaron Paul "disappears" into his role as Jesse Pinkman, but then when the actor opened his mouth, I got the feeling that Aaron is Jesse, and isn't doing much 'disappearing' at all...
<shrug>>> ^shuac:

>> ^Deano:
It would have been nice to see Esposito get it.

I agree with you. Unfair though it may be, overactors generally get more awards than underactors. An understated, nuanced performance like Esposito's is harder to judge than a more flamboyent role where it's easier to see the "acting". This applies to the oscars too. There are exceptions of course, like Kevin Costner (underactor) winning over Bill Paxton (overactor), but in general it's true.

>> ^Deano:

It would have been nice to see Esposito get it.


I agree with you. Unfair though it may be, overactors generally get more awards than underactors. An understated, nuanced performance like Esposito's is harder to judge than a more flamboyent role where it's easier to see the "acting". This applies to the oscars too. There are exceptions of course, like Kevin Costner (underactor) winning over Bill Paxton (overactor), but in general it's true.

>> ^A10anis:

>> ^Fletch:
>> ^A10anis:
>> ^VoodooV:
Look, I think the video itself is quite annoying because yes, I do feel it's a bit preachy.
but the message itself, is quite accurate.
And if it's so obvious, you won't mind stating why homosexuality is not normal.

I totally agree, the video IS "quite accurate," but I stand by my comment. Gays now -quite rightly - are protected by the law, have civil rights and will soon, hopefully, be allowed to marry. They worked hard for their rights, just as woman, and other persecuted minorities, did. My salient point, regarding the video, is that it preaches to the converted, will not change those bigots who will always hate, and that maybe it's time to enjoy their well earned rights and allow time to change the entrenched opinions of the minority. Sadly, going by the comments, ANY criticism of videos like this is tantamount to homophobia, which could NOT be further from the truth.

You are precisely who this video is addressing. YOU are the reason this video exists. YOU, who think that human rights are something "earned" by a minority, not inherent, bestowed upon the disenfranchised who should just feel grateful for the tolerance and generosity of the majority and kindly shut the fuck up about it. You just don't get it.
And THEN, after immortalizing your ignorance and arrogance in prose by releasing it into the ether, not to mention a worldview that likely extends no further than the windshield of your Prius, you refuse to clarify something that should be extremely easy to clarify for someone so enlightened. Yet, you dodge the question by dismissing the asker as incapable of understanding that which you have failed to explain as not worth your time, when, in fact, you are incapable of understanding the question in the first place, as already proven by your demonstrable inability to grasp the underlying issue/reality.
You aren't fooling anybody but yourself.

How you have managed to deduce from my comments that this video is aimed at me is, quite frankly, beyond ignorant. And if you don't think rights are fought for, you know nothing about history. Your notion of equality being a fundamental right is, though commendable, rather childish. In the real world, minorities fight hard to change attitudes and, as with homosexuality, are making good ground which is a credit to them. Now, try reading my comments again with a more objective view and you may, just, see them for support of gay rights and NOT a criticism of them. Sadly though, I doubt you have the ability to do so. I shall not respond again, as you have exhausted my patience.


Yeah, because that's what all our worlds rotate around isn't it? Your patience. Your replies are predictable and very formulaic. Trolls have followed the same blueprint since Compuserve was one of the "Big 3". Let's try something you can actually relate to...

Ya know what, probie? Your eulogising here has started to get tiresome. I mean, be happy that your ilk are allowed to post comments and all that, but do the rest of us have to have your opinions and ideals shoved down our throats just because you can? I mean, I'm happy for you and all... comment away! Seriously, it's something you are allowed to do, so I don't begrudge you that right at all. It's just that... do you have to be so goddamned flamboyant about it?