I'm going to be honest rn. I would rather bash my head into a wall repeatedly than say I've "ran out of spoons". that being said I'm at my fucking limit

Perfect Blue

“Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.” 

-American Psycho (2000)

I would like to attach a disclaimer, that the analysis of this film as well as the informational link(s) I have provided surrounds sensitive content that may be graphic, upsetting or offensive.

Perfect Blue is regarded as an anime classic, from the creative genius of Satoshi Kon. I’ve only seen one other Kon film, his Tokyo Godfathers. It’d be painfully obvious to say that the two films are as different as two films could be, showing off this director’s range. I would like to watch more Kon films in the future. I can see why Perfect Blue is so well regarded, but it is definitely not a movie I should have started at 1:30 a.m.. 

Perfect Blue tells the story of Mima Kirigoe, a pop idol that is looking to move her career in a more serious direction, with acting. Her very last concert is practically ruined by rude fans, and this starts the film off by drawing towards it’s central message, as the movie makes a biting critique of fandom and celebrity cultures. 

Throughout the film, we see that Mima’s fans have no respect for her autonomy. We see this in various scenes, where her overwhelmingly male fan base makes remarks about what she’s doing with her career, and expect her to constantly keep the pop idol persona they’ve fallen in love with throughout her life. They don’t respect her enough to respect her boundaries, lining up outside of her apartment building, first thing in the morning. When Mima ignores them, they complain that acting has turned her snobby. They don’t bother to think about the fact that Mima may be going through something, or even simply doesn’t like people doing this to her. They make these complaints in front of her because they don’t care about her welfare, and they don’t respect her as a human being-- Mima is just a source of entertainment, and they expect her to be entertaining 24/7. 

The elephant in the room of this movie is the character of Me-Mania, who is representative of this harmful fan base on an extreme scale. While other fans mercilessly criticize her, Me-Mania brings this onto another frightening level, stalking her and attempting to rape her. Although he seems exaggerated, the very caricature of a creepy stalker, people like Me-Mania are all too real, and are a blight on the film and musical arts. In the United States, Natalie Portman has come forward to say that the first fan mail she ever received, at age thirteen (13), was a man telling her about his fantasies of raping her.  

Despite this mistreatment, Mima is brave enough to continue her career. However, her dedicated service to others comes at her own detriment. There are multiple times that she could have stood up for herself or contacted authorities from what she was experiencing, but she did not, out of fear, ranging from the simple fear of being a bother to fear of herself losing her grip on reality. This is something that is relevant to both Japanese and American societies, as women are less likely to report problems, less likely to ask for raises, etc., because of the societal roles that have been pressured upon them. As a result of the pressure from society and fans, we see Mima’s breaking point, when she starts to lose touch with reality. This is her TV show’s rape scene. Even though her co-worker was very respectful, saying he was sorry to be in such an uncomfortable position, Mima was not nearly an experienced enough actress to be putting herself in that sort of situation, even if she was in no real danger. The only one that truly recognized this was another woman, Rumi. However, Rumi didn’t even stop what was happening, it was too late. 

The film isn’t quite clear, as we see things from Mima’s distorted perspective. The pressure set upon her doesn’t cease, as not only Mima, but those around her, become increasingly delusional. Me-Mania has already been discussed, but his terror almost pales in comparison to that of Rumi. I was most surprised by this, as Rumi was the only one I trusted to help Mima in the film. However, at the film’s climax, it is revealed that Rumi has been having delusions of being the “real Mima”, and has actually been the one writing the “Mima’s Room” webpage. She had exploited Me-Mania’s vulnerability to pull him into this delusion as well. Rumi had committed the murders, and even tried to kill Mima as well. 

The events of this film are meant to represent the terrifying, voyeuristic way in which people are treated, just because they sing pop music, act, or other things. This mistreatment comes from not only the fans that are obsessed with consuming, but those managing the talent that are obsessed with producing. Grinded to a powder in the middle is the talent itself (singers, actors, etc.), that are held up to these unrealistic expectations. People ignore the terrible conditions, particularly in J-Pop and K-Pop, that these talents are put under, only seeking to consume/produce. This is why so many of them die young, or have mental breakdowns, and what Perfect Blue is looking to present.