Japan's love affair with Audrey Hepburn
David Chester
Lithe, young, gazelle-like. Swathed in chiffon, dripping in diamonds. Those doe-like eyes, that movie star smile! Pretty as a picture — and dead as a doornail.
Thatfs our Audrey. Audrey Hepburn, that is. And make no mistake about it: in Japan, Audrey is God. Anyone who has read Alan Brownfs 1996 novel gAudrey Hepburnfs Neckh is aware that Japanfs gAudrey complexh pales only in comparison with some of its other gfunh obsessions: mazakon (gmother,h or Oedipus complex) and rorikon (Lolita complex). In other words, itfs sick, twisted, weird — and guaranteed big business.
First, letfs clear up the neck thing: In Japan, where women used to be encased in kimono, the exposed neck became something to wax erotic about. And letfs face it, Audrey had one hell of a stem — silken, sexy and swanlike. Really, itfs a surprise she didnft start a mass movement to join the giraffe women of the Padaung tribe.
Second, with her stick-like figure, brush-stroke eyebrows and dramatic bangs fringing a heart-shaped face, the actress was custom-made for worship here. In a country that goes through idols like a hay fever sufferer goes through tissues, Audreyfs got staying power.
Her flicks are found in any DVD shop, with multiple copies on hand of gRoman Holidayh (the viewing of which seems to be a rite of passage for Japanese sweethearts). gMoon River,h the theme song to her 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffanyfs, is played at more weddings, hotel lounges and hostess clubs than any other standard, except Disneyfs gWhen You Wish Upon A Star.h I know; I had to play it.
Where Audrey really packs a wallop, though, is in Japanfs highly competitive advertising world. Her perfect pre-Julia Roberts face has been shamelessly exploited on posters for Berlitz language schools, Sabrina silk stockings, and a hideous gwhite teah drink — for which the actress was digitally resurrected and placed in a Twilight Zone-esque commercial, where she offers the mucous-like substance to an unsuspecting towheaded boy. Yet her latest reincarnation, for Nicos credit cards, is perhaps the most disturbing.
Audreyfs faithful 20-something female fans — who apparently believe they, too, will be forever frozen in time as thin, pretty, waif-like creatures — can choose cards with scenes from gFunny Face,h gSabrinah and, of course, gRoman Holiday.h Thatfs the film in which Audrey, playing a renegade princess, flees from her evil advisors and has the time of her life making out with Gregory Peck. Hey, letfs face it: Who wouldnft want to do that?
But it isnft just advertisers that have relied on Audrey to inject some snap, crackle and pop into the lives of stressed-out Tokyoites. Major corporations have also tried to siphon off some of the actressf sparkle in order to motivate their slaves. At least, thatfs the way it seemed when I did a temp stint as a glanguage consultanth at a well-known petrochemical corporation. There, inside the main office, staring down on hundreds of Japanese worker bees, was a Tiananmen Square-size poster of Audrey. In her strapless black gown and a string of pearls, gentle messages of love and hope beaming down from her twinkling tiara, she was, in a word, mesmerizing. Bizarrely, next to this almighty likeness was a slightly smaller poster of Vivien Leigh, who, though shefs had her moments (but only as Scarlett), has never achieved the Buddha-like status of Audrey.
While Ifve always liked Ms Funny Face, I never worshipped her, so the poster troubled me. I asked a Japanese colleague what made this famous, dead, Dutch-English actress a role model for supposedly alive Japanese women of the 21st century.
gAudrey,h he intoned, as if he had just finished writing a thesis on her, gwas pretty, but she wasnft beautiful. She was small and thin, like many Japanese women. She wasnft threatening, and they feel they could be her.h
Hmm. Well, maybe they can. But itfs going to take a lot more than waving personalized credit cards in clerksf bewildered faces. A good start would be heading over to the MUFG bank right outside exit B5 of Omotesando station.
There, too, fans can see Audrey — but a slightly different one than the giggly girlish gamine wefve all come to love. What theyfll find is a photo of a frail, thin senior citizen who, in her role as special ambassador to UNICEF, is holding a frail, thin, sick African child. The look of sadness and hopelessness in her eyes shows that Audrey knew life is much more complicated and challenging than just being pretty and going shopping.
So, perhaps being Audrey Hepburn is a step in the right direction for young Japanese women. Maybe they can change the world after all—once they finish paying off the debts theyfll accrue with their Audrey credit cards.
David Chester is a Tokyo-based songwriter, musician and screenwriter.
September 9, 2006