If you have this series on dvd Derridata, could you pl spin it my way at our next meeting? At this rate I'll have to sign up to Twitter! (lol!) Looks like just what I need when trying to also track down Richard Calder's Dead Girls i.e. obvious parallel themes of male protagonists falling victim to their technologically mediated consumption habits which are facilitated by a kind of "pornocracy" (c.f Videodrome).
And yes, of course, there is plenty of scope for feminist critique of Calder, as well as by queer theorists, who fault him for only considering the consequences for heterosexual characters (check the listed reference on Wikipedia). Notwithstanding such critical remarks, the process of being swallowed by this desire for consumption is interesting in terms of how Calder consciously draws parallels with vampirism (Rob Latham comments on this in his study of vampirism and the consumption of youth culture).
Returning to Welcome to NHK for the moment though, this next scene is an outrageous, surreal mixture of horror and humor, which might possibly be used to illustrate Kellner and Best's point that, "Paradoxically, today we find the atrophy of the senses in their hypertrophic extension throughout the sensorium of the spectacle and its images and commodity empires":
This "paradoxical effect" also seems comparable to the theme of vampirism Calder explores, as described by Latham.
In any case, Derridata, if you can find a way to incorporate this into one of your Japanese popular culture seminars, without violating copyright or offending community standards too much, please do so: it is guaranteed to generate a strong reaction from your students! Let me know if it eventuates, although I realise it's probably just wishful thinking on my part.
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