In a world full of ever-changing, unrelated generalities that begin articles and essays, one thing remains constant: White people, especially American white people, find the Japanese at large to be remarkably entertaining.

Decades after Pearl Harbor, the devastation caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb, and countless centuries of assuming that all Asian people look the same, Americans continue to experience unabated elation upon watching Japanese people get excited or hurt.

In the last few days alone, we've been captivated yet again by two excellently Japanese videos: 'Japanese fans interview Harry Potter and Ron Weasley' and (slightly less obvious) 'Dog with eyebrows in Japan'.

The first one follows classic suit: little Japanese girls getting really worked up about something. This will inevitably make you smile for no apparent reason.

The latter is a unique case but also a strong example of the stretch we are willing to take in order to make it about this obsession: No matter how adorable that eyebrowed dog may be, the Japanese atmosphere via the laughing fans and the announcer are at least half the fun. Even here where we are presented with a freak of the natural world in dog form, the Japanophile in all of us remains easily distracted. Additionally, in both cases, there is an air of 'authenticity' that these original Japanese productions carry, a sense that cannot be recreated on the Western front.

Little American girls screaming about Harry Potter characters would immediately be deemed overactive bitches-in-training, and the dog video would automatically be seen as just another stupid American trying to peddle their latest scheme.

This concept of authenticity extends and is reified by larger-scale productions as well. FOX's recent attempt at the Japanese mega-hit 'Hole in the Wall' was a predictable failure. The original offered good-intentioned Japanese people trying to squeeze their precious bodies into the shape of a hole in an oncoming chunk of wood that would otherwise toss them into the pool of shame if they didn't make it through. The FOX remake was a complete flop-- no funny Japanese people getting hurt = no good. The same undeniably holds true for American twists on the original Iron Chef or Takeshi's Castle. Sure, dub English voices over the Japanese announcers and you've got yourself a winner, but take out the Japanese contestants and you can forget about that Emmy.

So one of the final questions in examining whether or not this malevolent love will ever die must be to ask ourselves why the Japanese, instead of some other 'Asian' people that we mistake to be Japanese on a daily basis, have captured our hearts in this sick manner? Simply put, the American mindset is, understandably, as follows:

China has the history, the emperors-- Japan has the Samurai... but Tom Cruise was the last Samurai.
Korea has South Korea which is totes pro-American-- Japan hearts Hitler.
Other small Asian nations are too small to be worth identifying-- Japan isn't included in that list.

Add that to the South Korean bitterness towards Japanese colonial rule and the Chinese hatred stemming from, at the very least, the Rape of Nanking, and you've got a bunch of confused Americans who are pretty certain that laughing at Japanese people is fair game.

So in that sense, the Japanese stand alone, they are an identifiable enemy and their forms of entertainment are just so damn funny to watch.

Will this always be the case?

From an academic standpoint, Frank Wu, author of 'Yellow: Race in American beyond Black and White', refers to the Asian as a 'perpetual foreigner'-- no matter how many generations their family has been in America, the question of 'Where are you from' when posed to an Asian-American does not seek the answer of 'New York' or 'California' but rather 'China' 'Korea' or 'Japan'.

So on all levels the answer seems to be a resounding 'no,' this will not end.
Oh yeah, and don't forget anime.
Besides, did you see those little girls in that Harry Potter video, that shit was f*cking hilarious.

-Jeff Luppino-Esposito

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