University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 7-2020 New Flesh Cinema: Japanese Cyberpunk-Body Horror and Cinema as Catharsis in the Age of Technology Sarah Henry University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons, and the Visual Studies Commons Citation Henry, S. (2020). New Flesh Cinema: Japanese Cyberpunk-Body Horror and Cinema as Catharsis in the Age of Technology. Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3805 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. New Flesh Cinema: Japanese Cyberpunk-Body Horror and Cinema as Catharsis in the Age of Technology A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication by Sarah Henry University of Arkansas Bachelor of Arts in Communication, 2017 July 2020 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _________________________ Russell Sharman, Ph.D. Thesis Director _________________________ _________________________ Ryan Neville-Shepard, Ph.D. Frank Scheide, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Abstract This thesis provides a critical analysis of a specific group of films that combine the subgenres of cyberpunk and body horror which I call New Flesh Cinema. Films of this subgenre counter fears and anxieties of technological advancements by re-imagining the rise of technology and its societal effects as a transitional process through the illustration of literal and visceral depictions of the necessary alterations people will have to undergo in order to transition successfully into the new world. To contradict apocalyptic fears of advancing technology, these films offer a vision of a “New Flesh.” I argue the films share three important commonalities: they depict technology as a mediator of our actions, interactions, and perception of reality, they stress the importance and discomfort of adapting and transforming, and they address technophobia by revealing a fascination and fear of technology as well as the need and inevitability of a new flesh for a new world. The analysis develops over three case studies of five New Flesh Cinema films: Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988), Shinya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Shigeru Izumiya’s Death Powder (1986), Shozin Fukui’s 964 Pinocchio (1991), and Fukui’s Rubber’s Lover (1996). Through these case studies, I shed light on the social significance of New Flesh Cinema as a cathartic medium for an anxious society facing social changes. This contributes to a larger conversation concerning media and society’s cyclical pattern of influence. NB: A note on Japanese titles, terms, and names. If the title of a film varies from its English translation, I provide a Romanized version of the original title in parentheses. Japanese terms are italicized with their English translation in parentheses. Names are given in the following order: given name first, family name second. Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank Dr. Russell Sharman for his guidance and encouragement throughout my academic journey. It has been an honor and pleasure to discuss and study film under a gifted scholar and filmmaker. Despite his aversion to horror films, especially gory ones, Dr. Sharman remained supportive and intrigued by my thesis. Always upbeat, patient, and available for questions and consultations, Dr. Sharman’s leadership and insights made this thesis possible and contributed to my budding interest in film. I also want to thank my committee members, Dr. Ryan Neville-Shepard and Dr. Frank Scheide. Through his enthusiasm for academia and constant eagerness to guide his students, Dr. Neville-Shepard showed me the benefits of furthering my academic career and the optimal ways to approach research and writing. Dr. Scheide’s extensive knowledge in film and film history played a major role in my understanding of the importance of film in society and history. I feel blessed to have had access to so many brilliant academics who were always willing to help and encourage their students. Of course, I was always encouraged by my family and friends, especially my mom, Linda Henry. Even though we were far apart, my most discouraging and frustrating moments were met by continuous love and compassion which pulled me out of every mental funk and pressed me forward to pursue my goals. Finally, I want to give a special thanks to my peers, Mathias Merriwether, Valeria Pierola Suzuki, and Aaya Sakaguchi. Valeria and Aaya’s insights to translations of the more obscure films eased the stress of my research, and Mathias was always willing to brainstorm and work through ideas with me. I treasure our time together and look forward to the future of our friendship. Table of Contents New Flesh Cinema: Moving Beyond the Body 1 Chapter 1: Enlightenment of the New Flesh 34 Chapter 2: Metal as the Medium 58 Chapter 3: Physical Transformation; Mental Anguish 85 New Flesh Cinema: An Extension of the Body 128 References 142 Filmography 147 New Flesh Cinema: Moving Beyond the Body In a secluded warehouse crammed with scrap metal, a lowly recluse uses a small blade to cut open his inner thigh amongst gushes of blood. After grinding a ribbed pipe between his teeth, he slowly inserts the piece of metal into his gash. Images of athletes burst into flames. Sweating profusely, the recluse unwraps bandages around his leg to find maggots festering in his wound. Screaming in terror, the man whimpers and runs through the streets before he his struck by oncoming traffic. We are then introduced to the New World. The description above is one of the most gruesome scenes from Tetsuo: The Iron Man, a Japanese film that belongs to a special category of science fiction horror films of the 1980s and 1990s. This unique intermingling of cyberpunk and body horror, what I call “New Flesh Cinema,” served as a kind of cinema of catharsis for a nation wrestling with its identity in a boom of technological innovation and new-found wealth. While these films range in production size and reception, their shared style of conflating cyberpunk with body horror through shocking and disturbing visuals marks this section of Japanese cinema as an area worthy of a more in-depth study. New Flesh Cinema finds its roots in one of the first and most prominent genres in cinema, horror. Despite its long history, horror is often discounted as low entertainment designed to make an audience jump, shriek, or cringe. They are rarely the products of prestigious studios and rarely receive more than superficial analyses (White, 1971). But many film scholars would argue that the genre provides important insights to the fears and anxieties of society as a whole, expanding the potential of horror films to provide “insight into not only a culture’s dominant ideologies, but also those multiple subject positions that question or contest the status quo” (McRoy, 2008, p. 17). However, as James Marriott (2004) states: “Horror’s true interest is in providing a set of oblique strategies for dealing with anxieties” (p. 2). 1 These “anxieties,” including isolation, madness, transformation, and other traumas, are often centered on the human body, giving birth to a subgenre of horror known as body horror. Body horror portrays, with unapologetic excess and brutality, the transformation, mutation, or mutilation of the human body. While the distinction between torture porn or snuff-like films and body horror is often muddled, the former typically feature people committing violent acts against one another or against themselves. Body horror, on the other hand, focuses on a character enduring severe physical alterations through means that range from scientific experiments gone awry to reasons left inexplicable or ambiguous to viewers. In addition, body horror further distinguishes itself by focusing the bulk of the film on the character/s transforming and adapting to their circumstances rather than trying to overcome their condition as if it were an obstacle. But it is science fiction, even more than horror and its subgenres, that enables audiences to process what is arguably modernity’s most significant form of collective trauma, the fear of social change brought on by technology. What does it mean to be human? How has technology altered the fabric of society? Are the changes imposed by technology favorable? These are all questions, among others, that science fiction attempts to answer. While science fiction, on the surface, is often seen as a simple equation of spaceships + planets, science fiction author and scholar Adam Roberts (2006) notes that science fiction is, in actuality, a reflection of the present. Daniel Dinello (2005) concurs, adding “science fiction not only reflects popular assumptions and values, but also gives us an appraisal of their success in practice,” serving as a “social criticism and popular philosophy” (p. 5). When it comes to technology, Dinello states “science fiction imagines the problematic consequences brought about by these new technologies” as well as the “existential questions they raise” (p. 5). In other words, technological depictions in science fiction