Train Man

This Japanese love story reminded me of a short lived reality TV show called "The Pick Up Artist" where lonely introverts were coached to improve their social skills, style, and ultimately more self-confidence. This character was just like the contestants on the show and his internet posse gave very similar advice compared with the US reality show. Both stories show mainstream trends applied to achieve more popularity and each culture very similar. In each case the character becomes more noticeable by peers, being asked to a party for instance in the movie and not being overlooked by the girls on the street passing out male hygiene products.

On major cultural style difference was the purse that he carried on the first date. It reminded me on the Seinfeld episode with the man-purse where Jerry is trying ought a new style called the ‘hand-bag.’ He goes through the whole episode telling everyone, “It’s not a purse, it’s a hand bag!” Then finally at the end he has on a strange fur coat by some Kramer related coincidence and someone steals the bag. When the officer is taking the report, he requests a description of the stolen item. Jerry worked very hard to describe it and the officer responded, “Like a Purse?” Jerry then breaks down and says, “Yes, Yes, it’s a purse!” The movie, “The Forty Year Old Virgin,” has a lot of similarities to Train Man also. Age aside, each character is living in they’re own world. They’re living quarters are similar, littered with toys and gadgets in an extremely organized way. As each meets someone special, he uses the advice of co-workers (40-Y.O.V.), and internet group (Trainman). In the end each character forgoes the advice and reverts back to what he is comfortable with.

Transportation is very different with the Train being the center of it all. Public transportation consists of trains, buses, and bicycles. The trend of communication through internet was well portrayed. The internet allows much more frequent and less expensive communication. Technology is a crutch in a way, too. This is represented several times in the movie, where he's using his PDA and an internet cafe. When one of the internet-friends said "you can't buy a ticket to her house on any damn web site!" signified this. The movie shared similarities with the 40 Year Old Virgin also. One interesting thing was the intimate look at the characters. There was more time spent on defining emotions leading me to believe that Japanese are more patient and caring in general comparison to the US.