Coats; Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue is one of those movies that really makes your head hurt after a while. It’s a psychological thriller that blurs the lines of dreams and reality while following MIma, the pop-idol from the J-pop group “CHAM!”. As many musicians do at some point in their career, Mima decides to leave the pop-group to become and actress (i.e. Will Smith). Mima manages to land a role in a show called d Double Blind, but this sudden change in persona and image upsets her some of her fan base, even to the point of MIma receiving an anonymous fax calling her a traitor. It also seems Mima has upset her internet fanbase, as she discovered a website called “Mima’s Room”. This website contained very personal information about Mima, as well as diary entries describing her life in great detail. Upset and confused, she turns to her manager Rumi Hidaka for advice. Rumi, being a former pop star herself, advises Mima to just ignore the website. Mima continues on with her acting career on the set of Double Blind, and even lands a larger part on the show; the part however, is of a rape victim at a strip club. Rumi insists that Mima turn down the part, saying that it would ruin her reputation. Mima, however, ignores her manager’s wishes and accepts the role. As the scene is filmed, it is apparent that Mima is traumatized by the intensity of what is being film, so much that she begins to blur what is real and what is not. Now, I’d like to talk about a few things here.

This image was taken from here.

First off, this film comments on some of the problems in the film industry, related women and what they “have to do” to become famous in that industry. Mima becomes so desperate in her aspirations to become a famous actress, that she subjects herself and her previous reputation to that of a rape victim because she thinks that will jump start her career…or something. Now, I’m not a woman, but I personally find that to be slightly degrading, that the girl would rather fake a rape scene rather than actually be good at acting on camera. This also leads to another issue the film comments on, and that is the idolization and commodification of celebrities. In today’s society, this issue is very prominent with the constant monitoring of celebrities through paparazzi, twitter, magazines, online articles, news coverage, etc. It seems that most of the world today is more worried about the image and lives of their favorite celebrities, rather than their own lives. And that leads to the last issue this film touches on: the loss of personal identity and self-image. In the film, Mima loses touch with her perception of reality once she makes the jump from small film actress to a leading role rape victim. Then, when she discovers that her online identity has become further tarnished through the website “Mima’s Room”. She becomes distraught and begins to lose her sanity and can’t tell when she’s dreaming or when she’s awake. It isn’t until the end of the film that she discovers her manager Rima is the mind behind her false-self, and of course, they battle. Mima overcomes Rima, and Rima is sent away to a mental facility. Mima is then left to live her life on her own, and begins to regain control of her sanity and self-image.