BJDs in American Culture

Yes. It’s only a matter of time!

Honestly, I think that stuff only shows up in TV shows and movies if it’s enough of a staple of pop culture to instantly recognisable, or it’s paid product placement. Dolls aren’t going to feature in films unless they’re generic items dressing the background or one-offs made for the show.

Maybe one day we’ll see a BJD-inspired mini-robots in a sci-fi series!

Oh yes! I remember her posting a video when she got the doll, back when she was primarily a blogger! I think that was during the brief period when there was a physical shop in the US!

 

I don't know about America, but I've seen bjds in a Korean movie that I didn't watch because it is horror (the kind I'm assuming will give me nightmares for years) and a kdrama which I did watch (it was horror too, but not too scary. I could handle it. Although, i covered my face for a lot of the scary scenes.) that was called the master's sun. In the kdrama my absolute boyfriend, I don't know if that is the exact title it is a remake based off of the manga absolute boyfriend, they have bjds in it. I didn't watch the drama even though it has jingoo in it because Japanese remake dramas that are based on manga that are adapted as kdramas tend not to be made as well as other kdramas.

So the titles of the works that have bjds are:
The doll master
The master's sun
My absolute boyfriend
On Netflix I think another show has bjds in it, but it is not American it is Asian not korean drama. I forget the title and which country it is from. I didn't watch.

That book title sounds really familar. I just looked it up I forgot i had this book! I think I need to purchase it again! I must have left it somewhere back home or my family threw it out or donated it without asking me they do that a lot.

I sort of think it is a good thing it is unknown or niche in the western world. They might corrupt it like they did with korean mukbang which was wholesome in korea, but became this strange corrupted whitewash version on youtube such as that YouTuber nick avocado. Mukbang began because people were eating less with families and becoming more isolated. It helped create a connection and help with eating alone. I actaully watched mukbang because I had no one to eat with, but didn't want to eat by myself. Mukbang helped me feel less lonely as I ate. Does that make sense? Now I watch mukbang because i can't get some foods I want to eat in the area I live in and I can't recreate those dishes, since I can't cook. It helps to lessen the craving for the food when I see others eat the food and it feels like I ate the food while i am also eating my disgusting food I set up for myself to eat. I am probably being harsh with how I view the American interest in bjds, but too many Asian stuff have been used or corrupted by them and not properly told to the public it is asian. I feel like asians people have to hide instead of being proud of being asian, and expected to give up their culture, identity, and heritage to be seen as true americans. Why can't asian
people be both asian and american. White americans can be both ameircan and european desendants. No one questions them. With the attacks on asians in America I almost feel like America shouldn't have anything Asian related since a lot of bjds are Asian made. they like Asian stuff, but hate asians or use asians stuff to profit off of. Does that make sense? What I mean is I don't think bjds should go mainstream in America just yet. It's fine to buy it for collectors, but i don't think mainstream America should have bjds on their media. Who knows they might mock it or somehow twist it. I don't mean all Americans or all of the western part of the world like europe. I feel like I am being too harsh and offensive maybe? I feel like America takes what they like from others cultures and profit off of it because they can, but if it is made by an asian company people expect to be cheap, inferior, or should pay less than if it was designed by an American company. For example, a set pj can cost from an American brand on a high range such as $70 to $ 100, but I saw on Twitter for a bts pj that is a set and good quality designed by the artist himself and design by an asian company there were people complaining it wasn't worth the cost that it was priced at. They didn't seem to complain when bts merch designed by American companies sold merch for a high cost. The double standards are annoying. It's not just for Asian stuff too. They take things from other cultures without really understanding the significance or the history of what they took and are selling. For example, there was a new company from the west that claimed they invented dalgona and etc. There was a lot of backlash. They were selling it for a premium cost. Dalgona is cheap and i don't think a Korean company can get away with pricing a dalgona instant coffee for such a high price if they pulled off such a stunt like that western company. I forgot my point after I think I am ranting. Anyway, i just don't think American media will portray bjds in a positve light. They might portray it as weird or something. I would also l like to apologize in advance i feel like my post is offensive and rude and i should have kept my thoughts to myself. I have a bad habit of oversharing and not being certain of what I can say and can't say. I hope i wasn't rude, offensive, or hurt anyone's feelings. I don't know how to delete posts either so I can't delete this if it offended anyone. Also they like Asians or Asian stuff, but are racist to asians which is weird. For example, ateez I heard had a fan who was racist to asians, yet liked kpop and she was attracted ot korean guys. I'm going to stop editing my errors on this post i keep getting off topic and forgot why I even mentioned all this. One more thing they think slanted eyes are cool when non asians do it for a look, but asians get made fun of for having slanted eyes which not all asians have slanted eyes. A feature they find cool desirable for one look is a look that is permanent for someone else. I would talk about other features that are considered not acceptable among other races, but suddenly becomes desirable because I don't know a Kardashian decided it was desirable feature.

 

I think this is the core of what you are saying and that you are making a reasonable point in as respectful a way as you can.

Because America very intentionally positioned itself as the beating heart of global capitalism starting in the early 20th century, "mainstream" in the context of American culture has come to mean "products of the culture industry," culture that is mass produced by corporations for sale at a profit (Hollywood, Disney Princesses, the Superbowl, etc.)

While the culture industry has produced a great many wonderful things (most of the cartoons I watched as a kid turn out to have been pure garbage, but I still think the original star wars movies are pretty great), there are a lot of things it can't do because they wouldn't be as profitable. So, if representing bjds as creepy and weird sold more copies, that's what we would get. I actually think bjd Disney princesses for aging fans would be more likely.

This is not to say that there isn't still "authentic" American culture, or that other cultures don't suffer the same fate, just that America has turned its culture into saleable commodities first and most "successfully," which is also why America has dominated the space of "global culture" for so long.

I don't think Americans have a monopoly on racism. I think perhaps American racism is more visible precisely because it tends to dominate global culture and because part of that very visible mainstream American culture is some Americans calling out other Americans for being racist.

I do think it's worth thinking about the flip side of this, though. If bjds aren't part of the mainstream culture industry (yet), what are they for Americans? They are closer to being avant garde art, but they are also niche luxury items. This is the dilemma art has always had: it needs wealthy patrons because artists need to eat, but those patrons are often wealthy because of the poverty of a great many others. Art should be for everyone, but often it isn't because of the price tag.

 

I think the closest I've seen to BJDs breaking out of the like, doll containment zone is an article Kotaku published about the... I think it was Genshin Impact doll that Volks made? Where the writer was like "ewww who'd buy a creepy doll - a doll - for that much money?" Painfully obvious they either hadn't done much research into ball-jointed dolls and the community around them or generally held them in disdain.

Which reminds me of a different article I saw about off-topic dollhouses and someone who got into restoring/repainting(?) them during quarantine. Even though she was meticulously taking care of these dollhouses and interacting with the people who'd been in the hobby for years, she held herself at a distance from the "other, weird" doll collectors.

 

This is one of the reasons I sort don't want BJDs to get too mainstream or known-about... There are a lot of people who are, in my opinion, performative in how much they dislike or don't get dolls. I'd rather be niche than have to see even more comments like the ones you just described.

(My personal soapbox is that I think many people aren't as scared of/creeped out by dolls as they say; "creepy dolls" have just become such a trope that it seems like they should be creepy. To say nothing about misogyny and women-dominated/-marketed hobbies! I'll stop now LOL)

 

I've seen a miniatures magazine online that had a picture of a Fairyland Real Puki in one of the articles. Just an overlap with another niche hobby, I guess, but it made me happy. There was no comment about the doll in the magazine (I think), but it was being portrayed as cute rather than creepy or weird.

 

Those are good points. I'm not that smart, so i think i somewhat understood what you wrote. Sorry I can't focus my dog is licking his fur very loudly while making snorting sounds. He's normally very noisy, but he doesn't bark too much. He just snorts, grunts, and sometimes he sounds a little bit like a cute pig. He snores really loudly too. I think I haven't slept in two days which is making it hard for me to comprehend what I'm reading. I think it's been two days... no I think I'm not that smart. I'm
not that knowledgeable or learn as well as others, but somehow get good grades... my dog won't stop making huffing sounds, since my sibling brought a second dog into our lives. Is he unhappy? Sorry I getting very off topic. You might like squid game and parasite. I agree with the America not having a monopoly on racism, since all humans can be racist because we are all flawed beings. I think humans have to fight the corrupt nature within themselves and work hard to put their best selves forward. For the America racism being more visible is probably because they are sort of loud about it. Does that make sense? I am terrible at expressing myself. I don't really think like others. From what I have experienced America tends to have the more violent type of racism towards others and some people seem short tempered making things escalate into a horrible situation. Someone tried attacking my sibling when grocery shopping. I had someone try spitting on me before the pandemic. I had water thrown in my face and called things I don't care to repeat while minding my own business. This was all before the pandemic. I been told i was dirty. Some random old grandmas wiped her pee hands on me and this happened so many times. I didn't understand why it kept happening until recently. In school there was this one person always begging for quarters, i felt bad for him and i gave him what i could everyday for a year, and at the end of the year he screamed for everyone to hear a racist thing. at the time i didn't know it was racist because i was too young to understand. I guess i made him feel bad. I just pushed it all to the back of my head. I thought if I was polite to people they would treat me the same, but most of my life that hasn't been the case. Sorry I am being very negative. It would be nice for bjds to go mainstream in America too. Growing up I didn't now why others kids could cry at school (in a predominantly Caucasian school) and people would comfort them, but when I cried I got in trouble and was told to grow up. There was a really uncomfortable situation a random man forced a hug on me invading my space making me confused. I believed I could fix myself then I would be treated well, but i think if the problem is they don't like me for being a specific race then I don't think I can change myself for them to treat me well. I think I try to hide what I like because I had to hide myself to try not to stand out, so I don't let others know I like doll collecting or other non-mainstream stuff. I pretend I like the same stuff as others. I forgot why i was talking about this. I got hit a lot on the head in school, so I think I tend to get off topic and ramble a lot. Sorry about that. I think i could imagine bjds though being on American TV as some sort of cursed doll out to kill people. I could see bjds being used as a horror prop in an American movie. Somehting seen as sinister that harbors an evil soul out to just kill and make a gory movie. I can imagine another movie scenario where bjds are used as a prop for a lonely schoolgirl to be friends with and she will be seen as weird. the movie will head in a weird direction like I don't know maybe the she wants revenge on her high school and kills everyone with a cursed supernatural doll. Besides that I'm not sure if I can imagine bjds in American media. I have seen bjds in korean shows such as flower of evil (only one short scene), the master's sun, the doll master (I haven't watched this), and my absolute boyfriend (I haven't watched this). I think in the master's sun the bjds were used as a ritual for two ghosts for a marriage. I can't exactly recall. For flower of evil the bjd was a toy for a rich child she hits the main character's daughter because she touched her expensive doll. For my absolute boyfriend I only saw a short clip I think it was an eccentric rich heiress who Likess bjds. For the doll master I know bjds are in it, but I'm too scared to watch it. A Japanese anime with bjds I watched called Rozen Maiden is about bjds, but I watched it some time ago. I don't recall it much. I know there is a Netflix show from another Asian country that has bjds, but I don't remember the title. I havent watched it, so I don't know what it is about. I know it is hard to believe and i don't like to talk about it. I noticed stuff like this can get dismissed that others had it worse and it somehow becomes a competition of which minority is suffering more. I think that is stupid because even if the frequency and intensity of what happens to someone is different everyone feels suffering the same way. I don't make sense. The good thing about dolls is even if they look like a specific race they are still loved and cherished because they are just dolls. In a way it would be nice to be a doll. I do believe sharing bjds to the mainstream would foster a tiny bit of understanding and acceptance. A little exposure might create an acceptance to doll collecting or it can completely turn into ridicule... for now, I'm just glad I am part of the doa community. that makes me feel somewhat safe and accepted which is a rare thing for me. I love talking about dolls and other stuff I'm interested in.

 

@Forever We Are Young

I'm sorry you've had to deal with being treated so badly. It sounds awful.

I didn't mean to excuse racism in America, only to say that it happens elsewhere too.

Let's all agree it shouldn't happen anywhere and hope that everyone is able to find happiness in whatever way they can.

 

Okay, thank you for informing me. Oh I forgot I was going to test Quote, but ended up replying again. Sorry about that.

Sorry, I responded again to your post. I was trying to test out quotes and figure it out, so i used your post to test it out.

No, don't apologize it isn't your fault what some bad people do. There are just bad people in every country and race. Humans are prone to hate easily, I feel like. It's easy to hate, but hard to care about everyone.

It's my fault for letting it hurt me and bother me. I don't think you're excusing racism at all. I understand your point of view. I was just on a sleep deprived rambling on some thoughts that I didn't even know I had in my mind.

I didn't realize all the stuff was stuff I was bottling up. Your post actually helped me. Although, I don't make much sense. I'm not an eloquent speaker or great at writing.

Sorry I wrote a super long essay length post to comfort you and stuff since I felt like i was rude, but i was so upset it got deleted because I spent an hour writing. I just wanted to say don't feel bad. I'm still upset about my draft not saving. I thought there was an autosave on the draft. I am still unsure how it got deleted. I wish I knew how to get the draft back.


Ugh I wrote such a long post and it got deleted how do I get my draft back?

 

I have never met another person in real life who knows or likes BJDs, I've never seen them in movies or known any artist who collects them. All my friends look at me like I have 2 heads when they see my dolls.

The feeling I get from most people who see my dolls is "I don't care" a few of them say they're creepy but most don't really care.

I feel very lonely because I have no one to share my love for dolls with. No one in my family cares, not even the young ones. I'm the only one who likes BJDs.

It's still rare for adults to collect dolls but I don't care, this is the best hobby I've been part of and BJDs are the most beautiful dolls I've ever seen. I don't care if others judge me or if BJDs are not popular in America or if I will always be alone in this hobbie. I'll collect dolls until I die.