Surreal television
SMAP (the Japanese pop group) has a weekly show where they have famous guests come and talk to them. Often the guest is foreign woman. One member of the band (always the same one) just about always dresses up as a woman, often as the guest.
Tonight was a french woman with the last name Barkin, apparently the designer of the Hermes “Barkin” line of bags. Unfortunately I know these bags cost several thousand dollars.
So I ignored most of the interview, although it was nice background noise since she was speaking french the whole time. At the end, she gave two of the members of SMAP the Hermes bag bearing her name. One of the guys asked, quite seriously and respectfully toned, do you think it would really be alright for a guy to use this bag? At which instant she grabbed the bag, threw it on the ground, jumped up and down on it a few times, then went off to her own bag, grabbed a few hardcover books, stuffed them in. Grabbed a handful of printout papers and stuffed those in. Manhandled the bag a bit more. Punched the bag a few times. Stuffed it in his hands. There she says, use it like this. I admire her attitude, but frankly only in Japan is she correct. I have seen guys on the subway carrying bags far far more feminine than the simple solid-colored rectangular things she gave them.
The other guy then opened his mouth to say something, at which point she grabbed his bag, stepped on it a few times, smashed it around in her hands, punched it, and handed it back to him.
The band has several more members, but only those two had received her bag. The cross dressed one was sitting moping on the floor, having not received anything. She goes over, sits down next to him and says what’s wrong? They translate his response to her as that lately he is often sad and cries. She jumps up and goes back to her bag, and they say what? what? And she pauses and says “J’ai des pillules” (I have pills).
Awesome.