Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:56 am Post subject:
I'm sick of this aggravating trend but read the article and chime in with your own thoughts!
She's 40, he's 20
And his fans are all upset
By Chang May Choon
May 31, 2006
JAPANESE actress Kyoko Koizumi has a new boyfriend. And it is causing problems for both.
Kyoko Koizumi, 40, and her rumoured boyfriend (below left) Kazuya Kamenashi, 20. She is a mature 40-year-old, but her rumoured beau, boy band Kat-tun's Kazuya Kamenashi, is only 20. A mismatch no doubt that led many angry Kazuya fans to scream in protest when the news broke last month. But the older woman-younger guy formula is known to work wonders in Japan.
CONTROVERSIAL
Be it in real or reel life, a controversial May-December romance never fails to create a buzz. Books written about this so-called toy boy phenomenon, fictional or real, fly off the shelves.TV producers pair an established actress with a hot and rising pretty boy, as it grabs headlines and sends the ratings soaring. After all, who can forget Tomoko Yamaguchi and Takuya Kimura as housemates-turned-lovers in the 1996 hit drama, Long Vacation, or Nanako Matsushima and Hideaki Takizawa's teacher-student affair in Terms Of A Witch in 1999? Then there was You're My Pet in 2003, starring Jun Mastumoto, 23, as a 'pet' to the older Koyuki, 30. More recently, Slow Dance had Satoshi Tsumabuki playing an aspiring film director who falls for a boutique owner (Eri Fukatsu) who is six years older than him. Long Vacation scored a phenomenal 36.7 average rating, while Slow Dance did reasonably well at 16.9, considering that ratings rarely hit 20 these days. Uncannily, life can imitate art sometimes, and vice versa. Take Japan's sexiest man, Takuya, 34, who shot to fame after romancing an older woman in Long Vacation. In real life, his wife - singer Shizuka Kudo - is two years older than him. As for Kat-tun's Kazuya, he is slated to romance the older Misaki Ito, 29, in an upcoming drama where they play colleagues in an advertising agency.
It is not known if the producers were influenced by Kazuya's real-life spring-autumn affair, but his refreshing pairing with Misaki has already set the media abuzz. Outside of showbiz, it has also become common - or even hip - for Japanese women to marry younger men. Official figures show that the number of marriages where the wife is at least four years older than the husband has doubled since 1991, reported Josei Seven magazine recently.
CHANGING SOCIAL NORMS
Is this a trend spawned by TV or is it a natural progression as women become more empowered? Josei Seven quoted two novelists as saying that changing social norms and growing affluence have freed women and allowed them to pursue love regardless of age. It could be these women are glued to the TV set, enviously watching May-December romances and wishing they were in the protagonist's stilettos.
Slow Dance will show over E City (StarHub Ch 56) from 6 Jul.
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:17 am Post subject:
But most of those shows listed above are between a 6-10 year difference, which doesn't really bug me if said person is at least over legal age (18 or 21). For Nobuta guy (sorry don't know his real name) it's like 20 years! Ewww. What a way to launch your career off the ground, by seeing a person who could be your mom. _________________
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:21 am Post subject:
MissMonika wrote:
But most of those shows listed above are between a 6-10 year difference, which doesn't really bug me if said person is at least over legal age (18 or 21). For Nobuta guy (sorry don't know his real name) it's like 20 years! Ewww. What a way to launch your career off the ground, by seeing a person who could be your mom.
i'm not tripping sooo much over the specifics when it comes to years (well yeah i am) but it's just aggravating to see the same dayem plot line over and over and over...like on American tv with all the Reality Shows, or CSI copycats like Alias, 24, 48, the Square of 6 or whatever else biter show....
the repetition of plots is lame...
and about KyonKyon and Kame...like I said...at least she can breastfeed the skinny guy...ne needs the milkfat or he might die of malnurishment.
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 2652 Location: The OC Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:25 am Post subject:
Tu_triky wrote:
i'm not tripping sooo much over the specifics when it comes to years (well yeah i am) but it's just aggravating to see the same dayem plot line over and over and over...like on American tv with all the Reality Shows, or CSI copycats like Alias, 24, 48, the Square of 6 or whatever else biter show....
the repetition of plots is lame...
and about KyonKyon and Kame...like I said...at least she can breastfeed the skinny guy...ne needs the milkfat or he might die of malnurishment.
Yea, I don't like how you see the same plot over and over again. That and the whole brother-sister complex. Ew. If you ever watch Korean dramas then, don't watch "Romance." Teacher-student relationship. I guess it's not so bad since it's set in college but still.
Hehehe. Considering how flippin skinny he is, he might need it. _________________
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:26 am Post subject:
Tu_triky wrote:
i'm not tripping sooo much over the specifics when it comes to years (well yeah i am) but it's just aggravating to see the same dayem plot line over and over and over...like on American tv with all the Reality Shows, or CSI copycats like Alias, 24, 48, the Square of 6 or whatever else biter show....
the repetition of plots is lame...
and about KyonKyon and Kame...like I said...at least she can breastfeed the skinny guy...ne needs the milkfat or he might die of malnurishment.
Continuing your analogy, it's a matter of "milking the cash cow". Why try something new when the audience eats the plot for lunch. Throw in a boy band member for good message and throngs of fans will follow.
Take Bollywood films. Why is it that nearly every film has a huge dance/musical number in the middle....even in action films? Because it works. And it is starting to creep into the American cinema (at least that's how I see it).
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 12316 Location: burunto o suimasu ka? Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:37 am Post subject:
dochira wrote:
Continuing your analogy, it's a matter of "milking the cash cow". Why try something new when the audience eats the plot for lunch. Throw in a boy band member for good message and throngs of fans will follow.
Take Bollywood films. Why is it that nearly every film has a huge dance/musical number in the middle....even in action films? Because it works. And it is starting to creep into the American cinema (at least that's how I see it).
a little Bollywood style singing and dancing wouldn't hurt the garbage Hollywood is putting out lately.
Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 8550 Location: California Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:51 am Post subject:
krim wrote:
i'd take random singing and dancing over another Jessica Simpson, or *gasp* Paris Hilton making me want to claw my eyes out boba straw.
I don't remember the last Hollywood film I saw in the theatres....or on DVD for that matter. I did see Ice Age 2, because the tickets were free. Otherwise I would have skipped that.
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 12316 Location: burunto o suimasu ka? Country:
Posted: Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:54 am Post subject:
i remember the last "major release" i paid to see in a theater... Minority Report...
I saw Control Room, but that was a preview screening for NPR listeners and the tix were free.
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on krimogoch..
What a way to launch your career off the ground, by seeing a person who could be your mom.
