Part
3 - Taboos and Secrets
Tagame's
comic book style gives him scope to explore the psychology of his
characters and his work is full of men with secrets and illicit
desires ready to be used against them, like the runaway gangster in
'Kodama' who is trapped by his rescuer (see Part 1).
Panty Fetishist caught out in Tagame's 'Maso'
In
'Maso' there is a young man who not only has a fetish for women's
underpants, but also gets a kick out of trying them on at night in
the aisle of the local 24-7 store. Unfortunately his activity is
spotted by the checkout operator.
Bullies at Work in Tagame's 'Maso'
Rather
than calling the police and exposing the panty boy to public
humiliation, the checkout operator decides to bring in two buddies.
They strip the fetishist and put him through a series of painful
trials utilising commonplace items on sale in the store.
(The
characterisation of the bullies in this image is very Yaoi-like
especially the spiky-faced character in the centre.)
Beating Scene from 'Maso'
The
bullies degradations include shaving the victim, pissing on him and
inserting objects into his backside. This torment is briefly
interrupted by a fierce belt beating (above) whose intensity Tagame
simulates with frightening success using impact patterning and a
blurred effect to convey the violence of the attack and the confusion
of the victim. It makes Bound Gods seem quite tame!
There's
too much sexual involvement by the attackers for this little sketch
of homophobic bullying to be truly lifelike but their cruelty and
contempt are all too believable. However, at the very end it
transpires that the whole thing is a set-up and the victim has
actually enjoyed it, regretting only that his assailants declined to
fuck him. In the final frame of the story, the chief 'bully' turns
out to be his (controlling) boyfriend. This last minute
'sanitisation' doesn't really neutralise the abuse but merely slants
it in a different direction.
Tagame's
clever choice of a much-derided, feminising fetish, (a minority group
within a minority group), allows him to lure readers who see
themselves as 'normal' into the bullies camp. Obviously, it's not
meant to be a morality story and he lets their consciences off the
hook at the very end, but it gives some insight into the
thoughtfulness of his story telling.
The
writing of this story features two stylistic devices which are often
used by Tagame. The surprise ending (or reveal) closes the story
with a satisfying(?) twist that causes the reader to backtrack and
look for the 'evidence' he missed (like the fact that the victim
appears to have donned the panties without removing his trousers).
The other sophisticated feature is some selective time shifting back
and forth, which he uses to disguise the true motivation of characters. This trick enhances the quality of his story telling,
but unfortunately makes his stories even harder to decipher without a
decent translation.
Associating
homosexuality with being female seems to be as common in Japan as it
is elsewhere in the world, but Tagame says the negative connotations
are an importation from the West and sets out to prove it in 'Inaka
Isha'.
The Doctor's Ceremonial Shafting from Tagame's 'Inaka
Isha'
A
gay Doctor recently transferred from a big city hospital to a remote
country village strikes up a casual relationship with an agricultural
worker. In the respectability of village life, this homosexual affair
with a married man transgresses a host of conventional taboos, not
least the social gulf between the Doctor's professional status and
that of his bit of 'rural rough'. His fear when his secret is
discovered turns to shame as he stumbles into further, increasingly
sleazy, sexual encounters, threatening his standing in the community.
As word of his promiscuity spreads, however, the men of the village,
in an unexpected but bizarrely logical outcome, decide to recruit him
as their official, collective concubine. In the scene above, the
happy villagers sing their traditional wedding song as the Doctor
formally accepts the post (so to speak). This somewhat one-sided
expression of commitment is freely adapted from the more usual 'ring
on finger' tradition - but is rather more embarrassing to perform in
front of a large congregation. The Doctor finds this humiliation
outweighed by anticipation of pleasures to come.
The
ingredients of this humorous story – conventions, taboos, secrets,
self discovery and acceptance - mirror the journey of all gay men.
Interestingly, even in Tagame's Utopian vision of a non-judgemental,
accepting community of simple folk, the Doctor's promiscuity still
causes him to be set aside and (in effect) exploited – albeit
kindly. Hmmmm.
Looking
purely at this artwork, it's a good example of how the comic book
'commentary' (which is simply singing and sound effects) diminishes
the impact of what would otherwise be a powerful image. The
unfamiliar costumes are an obstacle to westerners too, but I guess
that's our problem not Tagame's!
The Husband's Remorse in Tagame's 'Gedo'
Tagame
turns the shame of failing to conform back against the straight world
in 'Gedo'. This simple image conveys the humiliation of the impotent
husband as he grovels naked before the disapproving family and it's a
very erotic moment for us as on-lookers. It's easy to take nudity for
granted in scenes like this (less so if you reach it via Tagame's
scene-setting) but you only have to imagine doing this before your
own family to realise how difficult and embarrassing this act of
exposure and contrition would be. Transfer to the Orient with it's
heightened traditions of position, responsibility and 'face' and you
can see how such a punishment would be scarcely less painful than the
beating meted out in 'Maso' (above).
Loosing
face is also the theme of this image although the victim is the last
to know about it. I don't have a translation of this story (or it's title even! Help!) but the
mature man shown tied and blindfolded appears to be a politician, his
long hair perhaps suggesting academic or reforming leanings, a pillar
of society in other words. He also has a taste for sadistic young men
and here he is being offered up by one to his political
colleagues/enemies who gloat over the revelation of his secret and
the power it gives them. Thankfully he has a better body than your
average politician!
Kazuma Undressed in Tagame's 'The Trap'
(read frames in normal left to right sequence)
The
forcible undressing of this bewildered young man in a scene from 'The
Trap' layers fear, uncertainty and power play over the most basic of
erotic acts – exposure of the naked body. The multi-frame comic
format is ideally suited to depicting progressive disrobing of
course, but size restrictions on frames and the need to vary the
image lead to a detail-snapshot approach which seems tantalisingly
incomplete when viewed at leisure. The ideas in frames 1, 3 and 6 are
good enough to form the basis of more substantial images and this
tells you how much creativity is consumed by these works. The
cartoon-y style creates an ambiguity about the age of the youth.
Tagame flirts with this from time to time, but of course it is
unwelcome (nay taboo!) these days. I'd prefer an older looking man
anyway, which would make his loss of power more compelling - (see next image!).
Tormented Hero in Tagame's 'SIPOW'
If
physical coercion plays a major part in Tagame's repertoire (and it's
implicit in any bondage scene) he does occasionally depict men who
voluntarily submit to abuse for altruistic reasons, like the prisoner
in SIPOW (South Island Prisoner of War) who surrenders to the sexual
demands of the Camp Commandant in order to obtain medicine for his
sick comrade. This hero is one of Tagame's more appealing creations -
handsome, muscular, hirsute, positively oozing masculinity – and in
his scenes with the sick man - touchingly compassionate. His story
is not Tagame's most inventive S&M-wise but does feature some
interesting twists.
Enema Test from Tagame's 'Pride'
(Read the frames from right to left)
It
seems appropriate to conclude this section on psychological plot
ingredients with a reference to pride, which comes before a fall and
is quite a different animal to the fear and anxiety which drives many
of Tagame's stories. It also happens to be the title of one of
Tagame's best works, mentioned previously in Part 1. This page from
the story shows the besotted student undergoing an enema cleansing so
that he might be fit to receive his master's tool for the first time. Tied up in the lounge of the Professor's luxurious flat,
the torment of having to retain the fluid needs little imagining.
In
the sanitised world of modern porn, enema waters always run clear. Not
in Tagame-land though, where the follow-on, emptying of bowels is
depicted in graphic detail. I won't test the mettle of my readers by
reproducing that here. The revulsion it usually causes is shared
equally by the victim of course and that's exactly why a forced
public performance is such a powerful humiliation. The perpetrator
and witness is the Professor, who the young student victim looks up
to and desperately wishes to please. A more telling chastisement for
his sin of pride is hard to imagine.
Tagame uses this device frequently in his stories in order to put his men in their place, but thankfully he doesn't usually pursue the subject in greater depth than I have described. For example, it is this procedure (which I alluded to in Part1) that is inflicted in 'Kodama' on the gangster, without warning, by his rescuer, an otherwise perfect stranger. You can imagine the shock and bewilderment that would follow for a grown man, a hoodlum used to bossing lesser men.
We
could debate the validity of Tagame's willingness to shock, he does
place his atrocities in a thought out context but I know it must
deter many readers from the whole of his work, which is a shame. In
the final part of this series I will present some lollipops to sooth
the nerves.
See
more of his work at Tagame's
website
For
previous articles in this 'mitchmen' series click on the A-Z label
below
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