Comments on: The bluest eye

By: Vita

Vita — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 18:08:24 +0000

In all probability, a blue eyed girl growing up in Japan during that time would have been considered a freak–not a star. There have been instances of gray, light brown, and green eyes, but as far as I know, not blue. Once again white hegemony rears its ugly head. The book written by a white male inaccurately portrays many aspects of Japanese culture including the blue eye thing. It appeals to western audiences because western culture really loves blue eyes for some reason. Some people including the director say that it’s just a story. Yeah. Hide behind that. IT’S A MARKETING PLOY! People on the ground who aren’t thinking about race from a critical perspective, which are the majority of people who will be seeing this film, see blue eyes and will say “ooh” and thus receive a refresher course in “white is right.” In addition, most of the actors are Chinese and speak broken English in the movie. So it looks like they’re perpetuating more than one stereotype.

By: Lord Byron

Lord Byron — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 06:50:48 +0000

I once met a Japanese girl with a blue vagina, but her eyes were brown.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 17:41:41 +0000

I once met a full chinese girl with jade green eyes.

By: Lyonside

Lyonside — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:37:05 +0000

I read the book, and basically suspended my belief and assumed that maybe her ancestry included Ainu? Or possibly Russian. Or was a possible mutation (partially leucistic (i.e. a lack of pigmentation, similar but not as severe as albinism, although that doesn’t fit the rest of the book).

By: Renu

Renu — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 15:09:42 +0000

C- like Tom said, it’s not so significant other than that her eyecolor is unusual and probably helps her to stand out or be remembered. It’s like her trademark… She’s “The blue-eyed Geisha”.

intraracial fetishism?

By: Tom Adams

Tom Adams — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:16:59 +0000

Only semi-significant. Warning: semi-SPOILERS.

According to superstition, she has a lot of water in her personality. This prompts her to realise a few things she may not have otherwise. And everybody thinks her eyes are pretty, which doesn’t hurt her eventual success.

By: CVK

CVK — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 18:19:51 +0000

Ah… thanks for the info, everyone. Tom, any chance you could elaborate on how the eye color is significant to the plot? I’m curious to know how the book/film treats it.

By: camellia

camellia — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 15:33:46 +0000

well actually it for a reason since in the novel sayuri has blue gray eyes and thats what sets her apart from all the other people.

By: julie the fischer

julie the fischer — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 14:30:21 +0000

the main character is supposed to have natural grayish blue eyes. bullshit.

By: Tom Adams

Tom Adams — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 09:53:56 +0000

Sayuri has blue/grey eyes in the book, and it’s semi-significant to the plot.