MovieChat Forums > Azumi (2003) Discussion > crossdressing villians in asian cinema?

crossdressing villians in asian cinema?

posted 15 years ago by russdaren
11 replies | jump to latest

What is the deal with cross dressing villians in asian movies? In Azumi we have Bojimori (sp?). But many more come to mind such as East is Red's main bad guy/girl "Asia" (played by the awesome Brigitte Lin). Or even to stretch a little, Simon Yams bad guy in Ringo Lam's "Full Contact". Though not a crossdresser is obviously meant to be gay.
I wonder if it points to some cultural archetype us yankees have no clue about.
Or maybe finds its root in the asian yin/yang concept of all things having duality? A cross dresser inverts the duality of sex roles so they gain "great martial arts power" (in dubbed kung fu villian voice).
Or is this just an instance of titilation by yet another wacky subgenre of asian cinema?
discuss...

[–] bogwart-1 15 years ago

Discuss yourself.

There's a big difference between a transvestite and a gay. Most crossdressers are heterosexual. Simon Yam in 'Full Contact' is quite obviously gay and not a transvestite.

[–] russdaren 15 years ago

um yeah, I know that. I said I was stretching a little. And I know a lot of totally queer crossdressers. Most of the crossdressers I know eventually get some sex reassignment surgery actually. But thats digressing into a discussion of sex roles. I am way out of college and sick to death of liberal arts Bs like that.

[–] bogwart-1 15 years ago

With an attitude like that I can see why you would need to increase your chances.

[–] thetrev 15 years ago

Might have something to do with Yin-Yang but there's also the spiritual element of being between worlds and so a little supernatural. In some cultures shamans often cross-dress.

From a martial arts point, the idea might lie in being able to access the soft and hard aspects more easily and so be harder to predict in a fight.

Just a thought.

[–] jinx1337 15 years ago

It's just a Japanese pop-culture (manga/anime) thing to make the villains have both a masculine and feminine side. It just makes them more scary and vile when they're both androgynously beatiful yet horribly violent and evil.

Google "bishonen" for more info.

[–] yduric 15 years ago

Well, stop scratching your heads, you people, it's just Kitamura's inherent crappy homophobia: don't you forget that you also have in 'Azumi' a scene where an obviously effeminate homosexual grabs the balls of the crossdressing vilain ans asks him 'How much do you pay for that?' This is a stinking scene that definitely brings nothing to the film. Moreover, if you check his filmography, you also see in his film 'LoveDeath' (2006), an obviously effeminate homo yakuza who asks his boss (whose penis has been previously cut off by accident) 'How does it feel to be without cock? You know, boss, I'm interested, because I'm thinking about becomîng a woman' This is DEFINITELY NOT typical japanese stuff, and, anyway, you can check in his filmography that Mr. Kitamura has studied cinema in Australia, and aknowleges influences from Russell Mulcahy and George Miller, he is therefore NO JAPANESE 'filmmaker', in my opinion, he is just an opportunistic prick who has imported nauseating TYPICALLY WESTERN stereotypes into Japanese cinema, and does therefore not deserve any consideration. He would be much better off working with Mr. Right-Wing Mel Gibson, instead of polluting Japanese cinema with his obnoxious clichés!!!

[–] alucardvenom 15 years ago

He's not gay nor transvestite... He's modeled by Japanese fighting games characters.

He's a brilliant character. He looks almost femine, has red rose, dressed in white dress... yet he is total psychopath who just wants to kill (scene where he finally flips and start killing ALL AROUND, allied and enemies, is just brilliant and it's a great contrast between his looks and personality)

[–] yduric 15 years ago

As for the crossdresser, I assume, since I do not know about these fighting games well enough, that what you say may be true.

Yet, this is no explanation for the guy grabbing his balls and asking for the price, and this doesn't explain why, apart from 'Alive' (2002) (well, maybe he just forgot) that piece of crap of Ryuhei Kitamura always adds that sort of obnoxious scenes in ALL of his so-called 'films'. As for me, I'm definitely done with that degenerate and fascist 'director'.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] AtheistRevolution 13 years ago

Who knows?The Japanese like crossdressing for some reason.

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.

[–] ardinsalim 9 years ago

 nobody know about kabukimono?? when Tokugawa rule japan peacefully a lot of samurai became ronin then they start joining gangs called kabukimonos. Kabukimono were noted for wearing loud, gaudy kimono and otherwise violating fashion norms (many wore women's kimono) and engaging in wild behavior, including loud conversation, and singing, dancing, and brawling in the streets.