How “Perfect Blue” is Relevant To Today’s Culture
“Perfect Blue” is a masterpiece that was adapted into a film by Satoshi Kon. Here’s why the movie’s dark futuristic theme is very relevant and represents modern fan culture.
Trigger warning: Mentions of eating disorders & suicide
Satoshi Kon has previously made movies, with surrealism, and a range of colors to bring the story, as well as the characters to life. From “Tokyo Godfathers” to “Paprika.” A film of his that in my opinion requires more recognition is Perfect Blue.
Perfect Blue is originally a novel written by the mastermind Yoshikazu Takeuchi. The novel was later adapted into an animated film by Satoshi Kon, brimming with a type of surrealism. This is evident in parts of the film where we see our main character, Mima Kirigoe, in a state of depersonalization.
There coloring of the film used to tell the story has also been analyzed many times, due to the fact that we never really see the color blue but more the color red; especially in the moments where Mina feels disconnected from her own reality. The color red is almost used to symbolize the feeling of disconnect that Mima feels from her own reality, as she falls into almost a state of madness by constantly wondering who she really is.
We can use this example to look at the way today’s social media influencers project themselves to their audience. Some of them, unfortunately, fall into this state of “madness” due to what they project in order to get more followers, fame, and recognition. More often than not, these influencers are so consumed by their desire for fame, that they fail to sometimes differentiate between reality and the persona that they’ve created of themselves as a result of their online presence.
One scene in the movie that I find particularly interesting is where Mima is confronted by her “popstar” self. She is completely degraded by that version of herself, causing her to feel disgusted and fake because, in reality, she is not the innocent or sweet girl that she is portrayed to be. Later on in the movie, this is also the reason why she is almost killed by her stalker because he does not believe that Mima is who she says she is. Instead, he believes that her “popstar” self is the real Mima, and this person in front of him is a doppelganger.
From experience, I can say that sometimes, you do fall prey to your online persona, and once you realize that it’s not real, it is almost frightening because this persona becomes a huge part of overall identity to the point where you almost feel lost without it.
Some people online do have the self-awareness to differentiate what’s real from what isn't, but unfortunately, that percentage is very small.
What I love about the overall theme of the movie, is that it was ahead of its time. Perfect Blue was made in a time when Facebook and Myspace didn't exist. The concept of your real self and what you project online is almost always going to be two completely different people.
Digital Depersonalization
According to PsychologyToday.com, there is such a thing called Digital Personalization. This is when you lose yourself between reality and the internet. This can affect a person with what they post, to how they talk. It can cause them to act completely differently from how they usually are in real life. This can cause a lot of problems for people, and can also lead to a disconnection from their actual selves.
This is why taking social media breaks is essential. Social media of course can be a positive aspect for people to have a few laughs, promote their business, and get their name out there, but at what cost?
A perfect example of Digital Depolarization are K-pop groups and idols. More often than not, there’s strict management to be found behind K-pop groups, who are constantly telling them if they need to eat less or smile more. Sometimes these managements are known to curate whole public personalities for these idols, that are completely different from who they truly are, and enforce extremely strict rules on them. The pressure that is enforced onto these idols often leads them to develop mental disorders. In 2017, Kim Jong-hyun, a member of the Korean Boyband SHINee, tragically ended up committing suicide because of the pressures of fame and depression that ‘consumed’ him. IU, a K-pop singer admitted to dealing with an eating disorder and even shared her disturbing diet, which consisted of 2 potatoes, an apple, and a protein powder drink.
This is an example of the way people look on social media, compared to what they mentally go through to get there.
Mima’s Downfall (Red)
Mima decides to take a risky chance and becomes an actress. This would mean for her, that she would have to move on from her popstar group and start acting full-time. Getting serious with her acting career proves to be difficult for Mima due to the fact that the public had already put her in the box of being just a pretty pop star. But her self-motivation is stronger and this allows her to push forward. But at what cost? To prove to herself and everyone else that she is more than just a pop star, Mima forces herself to take part in scenes that she isn’t comfortable with, losing herself in the process.
This is where her stalker comes into play.
Mima’s stalker is seen to appear at almost every place she visits, causing her fear, and making her scared. But why is he after her? This man believes that Mima is not who she says she is and instead was replaced by someone who looks like her. Mima’s first public pop star persona was bright, bubbly, and the main character. The fact that she decided to rebrand herself, created an obsession within this man.
This is also when Mima wonders if she’s even real because, in her head, her past persona is haunting her, making her question her own existence. You start to see a lot of scenes with red in them. At first, they’re just small flecks of light, like the reflection on her goldfish or the places that she visits are lit up in red. But as the movie progresses you see the color red more frequently, making it seem as if Mima is drowning in her own depersonalized state.
Main Character Mentality
If you observe closely as well, we can see that Mima is almost created as a “perfect girl.” Her face is beautiful and symmetrical. Almost as if she’s the main character, which of course she is. You can also see that the actors & celebrities in the movie, have pretty features that line up with beauty standards, compared to the fans, or the “regular people” in the movie. This same concept applies to the stars we see on tv in real life, glamourized, with a face free of imperfections, looking perfect. This perception we have of them can alter their mentalities and can cause them to be harder on themselves than they need to be. Mima starts to struggle with this exact issue and starts to isolate herself. At the end of the day, we need to remember that these “celebrities” are just people who have to deal with a lot of emotions that they can’t openly express.
Recently, there has been a lot of conversations on the “main character” mentality. The advice is good-spirited, but can sometimes cause the person to feel “not real” and that is shown in a multitude of ways in the film.
Fans that inpersonate
Another thing that we can see in fan bases is how certain fans work and put in the effort to physically look like their idols. This is commonly seen withing the Ariana Grande fandom. One particular person that has been seen imitating the singer, from the way she speaks to the way she does her hair and makeup is Paige Neimann, a 17-year-old girl on TikTok. This young lady has been accused of impersonating the artist but has denied the many claims thrown her way. Meanwhile, the similarities that are visible between the two are almost scary.
This is issue was also depicted in the film, where a person impersonating “pop-star Mima” tries to kill the real Mima. The impersonator turned out to be Mima’s manager, who had become obsessed with Mima’s past image to the point where she even made her apartment look completely identical to Mima’s.
Satoshi Kon’s film created almost a futuristic outlook on social media and fandoms today, and how obsessive, dark, and even scary it can be. It really is one of my favorite movies that was truly ahead of its time.
