Lecture No.5: - "Ninja" as an English word -
Lecture No.5: - "Ninja" as an English word -
"Ninja" as an English word - (summary)
Lecturer: Tosihiro Inoue
Since some Ninja movies starring Sho Kosugi in the 1980s, lots of Ninja have appeared on screen as heroes. However, the three films "Blade (1998)", "Ninja (2009)" and "Ninja Assassin (2009)", produced in the 1990s show us some typical characters that are based on the history of the foundation of America.
America was founded by separating itself from Europa in the 18th century. This aspect itself can be found, for example, in a lot of American novels, which describe the absence of fathers as their theme. The heroes in there three ninja films don't have any good relationships with their father. Especially, the heroes in "Blade" and "Ninja Assassin", who try to murder their fathers, vampire and Master Ozunu. From a historical points of view, these essences can be thought seen as an appearance of rejecting any European elements.
In addition, America has been extending its domain westwards with its so-called frontier spirits and it's the American ideal state to unite the two extremes, civilization and wild nature, and to be superior to both.
We can find some good examples in these movies; the main character in "Blade" is a mixed blood of vampire and mankind, and regarding the main character in "Ninja", Casey Bowman, who can be recognized as a fusion of Asia and Europe/America.
Although heroes in American movies are often white male, these ninja movies from the 1990s have either Black or Asian heroes. This concludes that these ninja movies depict their heroes as a typical image of traditional American heroes, but they also release their heroes from the limitation "hero=white male". Because of their characters, these three ninja movies might have been keeping movie fans attracted.
