1. In the film, I believe the virtue of aimai was reflected in the scene where the principal addressed the teacher in an ambiguous way that he should take out the empty desk from the classroom. By doing so in this way, he showed respect towards the teacher by allowing him to come to the conclusion himself instead of saying it outright, which would embarrass him.
2. Aimai is used in the bullying by not physically tearing down the students. It's more of a sarcastic way of breaking down the person and leaves the offender feeling they did nothing wrong. A good example of this is when they discussed how exactly they bullied the student, and how it was just them pushing him to steal from his parents.
3. Bullying in the United states isn't as Suttle as it is in Japan. However, it still has very similar psychological effects. I would even argue that they are one in the same with how cyber bullying today has taken over. The nature of people in the US is to want to fit in, and if you don't have what is in or don't like the right things, you are a target for bullying. In this way Japan and the US are similar for its about people who are in ganging up on those who are out of a group.
4. If you look at the concept of Uchi and Soto as applied to this situation, it becomes very clear how it plays a role. Noguchi was not part of the Uchi for a few reasons, one his family only recently moved to the area, two he was a little different, hyperactive, and three he seemed to always be super happy. Everyone else would've been considered in the Uchi, and due to this cultural aspect where the Uchi closes off to the Soto, they didn't treat Noguchi the same way as they would anyone else. This led to group bullying for the desire of the individuals to not want to become part of the Soto.
5. The way the males and females interacted with each other in the classroom was very interesting. The females seen to be timid around the males and rarely spoke up or made eye contact with them. Even the adult teachers had trouble talking up to their male coworkers. Over, it seemed to be more male dominant, and the males knew it.
6. The reflection paper that they first wrote was the school trying to cover their butt after what had happened. Overall it had no feeling, but was essentially what the school wanted everyone to say about the incident and how the school wanted them to change in the classroom. The second paper was for their own personal use, to help them truly put down their thoughts on what had occurred, so they could learn from their mistakes. Thus would allow them to never forget, which was really important for them to move on in their lives.
7. I feel the stuttering teacher showed the students many things. First it showed that you can be different and still express yourself earnestly. Second he showed them that trying to let go of the past will never truly fix the situation, you have to face it and learn how to deal with it. Last but not least, he showed them that it is not necessary to express yourself through anger to get your point across. Silence is just as effective, if not more so.
8. The third person he wrote in his will was "everyone else."
9. Bullying is when you trample all over someone and never notice their pain. When you just go on like nothing is wrong. He told sonobe that it is cowardly to move on, and that it is more responsible to remember.
10. I really enjoyed the film. I have looked into the problem of teenage suicide rates in Japan before and I feel this film is really necessary for teens in Japan to watch to understand what they are doing to their fellow students. I never feel like I was bullied but I know plenty of people who have been and for that reason it made me appreciate this film even more. I didn't not quite understand all the cultural references but over I got the message.
11. In order to watch this movie I had to both read and watch the scenes at the same time, I think it makes for a more active Watching experience and it allows me to comprehend the whole movie more than I would normally. I'm not sure if this is a difficult concept that the movie explained well, but I am confused on the structure of the classroom and the day to day activities. The multiple semesters, the daily bowing and duty chart stuff just all is very foreign to me. I definitely want to learn more about it so I can better understand the classroom dynamics in Japan.
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