The
Pornography of Suffering!
(2:30) 2002
The Pornography of Suffering is based upon a moment from teh Japanese weekly talk show Utaban, on which two members of the JPop group MiniMoni (also of Morning Musume) hit each other in the crotch, to utter hysterics of the audience.
The moment is repurposed through temporal elongation to play upon techniques of media spectacle utilized by mass communication, as well as repetitive themes seen in pornographic video. Little Ai smacks Mari in the crotch again, and again with slow-motion instant replay to a bluegrass soundtrack (notice the bizarre fluorescent Wstern attire) with hilarious effect. A lite version of dismemberment with a laugh track. You can't help but laugh at the pain!
Such repurposing lays bare the pornographic nature of Western mass media by deontextualizing a moment on numerous levels and relocating it within a given structural format.
What does this mean? Is it playful horseplay, public humiliation, mass media softcore pornography, or a psychedelic martial arts hoedown?
