Do you agree with Gentaro Araki?

"Dolls are like a lost part of yourself."

That sums up pretty well how I feel about the "lost part of yourself" issue. In addition to that, I think it's similar to writing in another way.... Writers draw from real-life experiences, and from real people they know. And who do I know better than myself? When writing a character, I sometimes draw from an aspect of myself and then embellish that, creating a new unique character altogether. For me, the same applies to my dolls.

"People like dolls because they are lonely."
I feel that this can be true. There are people who've said that that is not the case, and I don't doubt that. Dolls have a lot more to offer than being companions, although that is a plus. They are a hobby, an art form, and at the very least, they're just darn pretty. ^_^

Personally, however, this is the case for me. I don't have many friends, though that is by choice. I just prefer not to be in the company of someone I don't really connect with. Good ol' antisocial tendencies. Anyway, friends, whether or not you have many of them, aren't always there. We all have our own lives, and unlike dolls, a person can't be packed away and subsequently unpacked at our convenience. I don't rely on them, but sometimes when I'm alone, it's nice to dote on my dolls. It's really not that different from seeking companionship in an animal. Except that I don't know anyone who's allergic to resin. O.o

I agree that there is no substitute for human contact. It is a basic need, but when it can't be fulfilled people do make those substitutes, like pets or a little human effigy. I love my friends dearly, but sometimes there are issues. And when I consider all the people who've said things like they just need someone to talk to, who'll be there, or won't judge them, ect., it makes me feel that perhaps that it is a necessity itself.

 

I agree with Gentaro Araki.

Dolls are like a lost part of yourself
For me they are. They are like my lost youth.

Dolls help the owner recreate their existence.
I do find them refreshing and satisfying, and they recreate some past fun in playing with dolls and also my in my doll's relationships I can see some my sisters and best friend when we were younger. I don't think they recreated me personally as in changing my current behavior or way of dress, though they do add a new excitement.

People like dolls because they are lonely.
I am not lonely, but I do miss my best friend from childhood and I am nostalgic about my young life growing up in a house full of girls.

Carolyn

 

I don't feel sorry for Araki at all. He is getting to live an artistic life and create wonderful things! Yes, it seems unfortunate that he is not having more of a social life with humans and chasing real girls, but he seems self aware, and if he wants to make a change in his life, he will.

 

The whole notion of "lonely" has so many facets, so I can see where Mr. Araki is coming from, and I can see why there are so many people who don't see anything wrong with being lonely. It's different from being alone-- there are a ton of people who prefer their own company, and are at peace with being alone most of the time. There are also people who are loners... maybe there's nothing physically wrong with them, they're just shy & nerdy, they have social anxiety, whatever... who do GET lonely, but don't let it ruin their lives, & still choose solitude in the end. Mr. Araki sounds like one of these.

Not having the societally-acceptable medals of Family or Spouse to hide behind, though, these people take a lot of crap from the mainstream. We are Crazy Doll Ladies. Whenever people hear that I live alone AND collect dolls, they automatically ask how many cats I have. ;;

Conversely, there are folks who have lots of friends & family, or are even married, and still feel lonely anyway. They get to hide behind their veneer of acceptance, though. Those are the families that have "hobby widows": i.e. "Oh, Dad's downstairs playing with his trains again" or "Oh, Mom's off buying another Hummel"... even though they got their interpersonal relationships, they're still alone unto themselves, & their love is still more focused on their hobby. To me, if you're one of these folks, it makes more sense to stay single. ^^

paperbot brings up an excellent point! I've never been to a therapist to ask about the significance of when I started collecting dolls a couple years ago: In the middle of a longterm relationship with a wonderful man, I just started feeling lonely, and wanted to BE more alone, and started to prefer the company of my dolls. I still have plenty of friends & human contact, but prefer to be alone at the end of the day. So: Maybe it's telling that I don't feel I NEED therapy at all. I don't know if my dolls are "lost parts of myself", or "different facets of me", or "here because I'm lonely", or "recreating my existence", as Mr. Araki says-- but if they are, I don't see anything wrong with it.

I suppose the point I'm driving at is that I salute Mr. Araki for recognizing that he's a freak, but refusing to feel guilty about it. Good on ye, brother!

 

lol, your recognition of my point brings up another thing I just realized: I haven't had to go to my therapist since I started collecting BJDs. I had gone for a couple of years up until late last year... when I joined the hobby. whether this is actually connected to each other, I have no idea, but I haven't felt the need to speak to my therapist since I fell in love with Unoa Lusis. o__O;

 

I agree with what he said about dolls being a reinvention of the self. In a lot of ways they are what I will never be, vampires (for starters), beautiful, thin, perfect, etc. It's the same reason tv all feature goodlooking people and why people love celebrities. They represent everything we want and all the things we'll never have.

But, that aside they are darn fun to play with!!

 

This quote aligns perfectly with my thoughts. I write fiction, and I think dolls can be used to model characters off of, and vice versa. That's ultimately what I plan to do with my own dolls. I like to be absorbed in creating new things, and dolls are a newly-discovered means to refresh my imagination.

Personally I place a value on solitude and privacy and am content not having a dazzling social life, but I do have a small circle of friends whose company I enjoy immensely. I'm glad there are people on this thread who are the same way!

(Editing again since I'm reading more posts that really hit the spot with me personally)

I agree with that last line . . . alas I learned that the hard way. ^^;; I need to be alone in order to create, and I won't give up writing for anyone or anything. Writing is my husband (or perhaps my doll is? LOL) - if I had a boyfriend it would be the equivalent of having a mistress. :P

I applaud Araki-san for marching to the beat of his own drum! ^__^

 

Well, I kinda agree with the first two questions. As for being lonely, I kinda am.
As for the erotic doll thing, I don't think that's necessarily bad per say, but then again it's not really good either. Eh, what ev.

 

I think a lot of this interview shows Araki caught between two ideals. He goes back and forth between the Japanese idea that a "fake" or "reproduction" (doll) has its own value apart from the original and the Western conception that a fake is a fake and therefor inferior. He obviously loves his dolls- look at the way he fixes the boy's eyebrows -but he is torn between two ideals brought into his life from two different cultures.

I think this is a very common struggle in the minds of doll owners, even if many of them don't really bring it up for public debate, particularly in the context I mentioned above.

I like having dolls around because they are beautiful, so I kind of wish that segment had spent more time on Araki's view of beauty. Been more specific. He's obviously doing something right in the signifying beauty department. I am sure there are people who have dolls as a way to assauge their lonliness. I would not say that is morally wrong or morally right. It is. It need be no more.

RE: realdolls. I would love one too! In fact, I recently freaked out a very good friend of mine by mentioning in a discussion about realdolls that I would. I don't think a person owning a realdoll and, err, using it for its intended purpose, is odd or unnatural, and I don't like that people project so much onto others who do. Oh, he broke his realdoll- he must want to hurt real women! Please. Realdolls are breakable. BJDs are breakable. Stuff happens.

A person can be creepily obsessed with anything. Dolls are just more obvious than say, dirty pictures or stamps. As long as a person is still able to feed themselves and capable of talking about something else for five minutes, they're OK.

 

Dolls have become my lifestyle and perhaps always have been. I agree with the lonely part, dolls have been better friends than many of the people I've met. Dealing with people is hard for me ut the dolls offer unconditional love and someone who listens to me.

 

About his 3rd comment, I think he means the dolls are lonely. If you've ever noticed the dolls seem to need someone.

 

I think this is a LOVELY topic for discussion, thanks so much for bringing it up. I'd like to comment particularly about the below:

I suppose I hadn't really thought about WHEN I started collecting dolls, which is the age at which many of my friends found themselves desperately wanting children. I have my dolls and my pets and between the two of them, I think I satisfy a lot of the things that other people get from having children. Certainly I don't feel this great NEED for children, nor that my life is less for not having had them. However, I do wonder if I haven't subconsciously chosen substitutes that are "less risky" (neither a doll nor a pet is likely to date someone you disapprove of, nor fail math, nor scream "I Hate you!" and slam the door, nor keep you up until all hours wondering if they are dead in a ditch, nor... well you get the idea). So perhaps dolls in some way feel a sort of lonliness that I didn't realize I had, for little children who won't talk back and I can spend as much or as little time with as I feel like. Oh, and no diapers!

Did anyone else think of the story of Pygmalion when reading that? The artist created such a perfect woman that no real woman could possibly live up to it, and so he loved the statue. Seeing Unoas... well, yes, I could see that. Besides the social risks, etc. of dating, Araki has created his own version of perfection and no real person could quite live up to that. Fortunately for us, he's chosen to share his obsession so that a great many of us can also fall in love with his 'perfect woman' that he created.

As an artist, I have to say that I'm a little in love (love/hate sometimes) with everything I make. From my heart and mind to my hands to an object that is put on a shelf or a drawing that's crumpled up and thrown away, there is a little piece of me in every artistic expression I make (some more successfully than others). I think one reason I like painting faces is that it means I've put a little of myself into the doll, and it helps me love it more. So, by extension I can sort of understand the attachment a great artist like Araki could have toward his creations.

H

 

my turn to voice opinion.

"Dolls are like a lost part of yourself." -> this i agree with. When one person wants something to identify with, we feel safer to place or ideas and desires onto an inanimated object. Rae... i don't understand where he comes from me, but feeling lost may be it.

Rae is a lost little boy. I made him that way because I felt and still feeling lost when i got him. But we're surrounded by people who love us, though we can't always feel this. So we're lost in a labyrinth of emotions, i often have that with my characters, surrounded in happiness but still feeling lost. That's how i feel and i agree, it's something i place in Rae as well. Cain is an odd ball in his family, just like me ^

"Dolls help the owner recreate thier existence." -> nope not really, i don't need dolls to tell me i'm an imaginative and creative person. Dolls are part of my artist love, my existence come in the form of my philsophies, my ideas, my creations, my art and my personality.

"People like dolls because they are lonely." -> yes and no. i have a bunch of friends and i hang out all the time. A loving and doting family how can i feel lonely? Yet being in the mist of all that i do feel lonely. I think too much and sometimes even my best friends and mother think i'm insecure.

I have an insecure personality. I'm afraid. i hate being alone but having Rae around makes me calmer and stronger for some reason. Yes i feel lonely yet i'm in the middle of a large group of people that love me. strangely i'm not lonely but rather i'm lost. Having dolls help me (even my plushies) fill up the time between my interaction with other people. They make me feel more secure. LLike someone being beside me and i find my out of my labyrinth of my mind.

(Referring to himself) "I dont think anyone should give credit to someone who shuts himself up...making half or totally naked erotic dolls."

nope neither do i. I don't really like the... realdoll and sex dolls. BJDs are different, they express suppress ideas i think not sexual desires.

Do you necessarily agree with Gentaro Araki? -> answered as above.

Has it ever crossed your mind that dolls could be more than a hobby, but a lifestyle?

Well not very much but then again i always feel the comfort of having a doll or plushie with you. It may have no defence and may be inanimate but it's comforting. So i guess dolls will be part of my lifestyle. I need to have something with me to keep me company or else i get scared easily.

How do you interpret dolls and the role they play in your life?

they are my silent comforter. They're always there. I found my friends are always there when i need them and so are my family. I love having my dolls around me when i feel like being upset by myself. They cheer me up and my emotions reflect on them. Once i have their company and feel i can face the world, i go and tell someone. They're there to give me confidence.

Are they there for fun, or do you bring them to a personal level in your life?

They're personal to me. As all my things are taken to a personal level. But they are there for me to enjoy as much as rely on.

 

As much as I love his work, including a lot of his hentai artwork and figures, I really don't agree with what he is saying in this video because it's such a generalization that may apply to certain doll owners, but not all. It sounds like he is aware that he is considered a societal outcast, an otaku, and that it bothers him a lot though admittedly not enough to change his ways.

I don't collect my dolls because I am lonely. If anything, I like them because they can't be my friend - they can't talk back and have no wills of their own so they expect nothing from me and I have to give them nothing of myself. It's a very one sided relationship, if you will, where I have all the power. I prefer being alone and it is very difficult to explain this people. Like JennyNemesis above, whenever I mention my age, my lack of significant other and ambition to acquire one or reproduce, people think I'm nuts and ask how many cats I own.

For some people, I think dolls are a way to give physical form to parts of themselves, but mine are all silly fun toys to play with based on characters I like. No deeper meaning there, unless I really am a gay, teenaged Japanese boy stuck inside the body of a twentysomething white female....

 

I find one person's opinion never covers the entire populous, its a generalised idea of why others have such hobbies, the thought of one person.

I do not collect bjds for any of the reasons stated by Gentaro, to me they are like a pretty action figure (Cerberus Project make figurines too, like Trigun) or a peice of artwork that is made to my specifications; if I wanted to buy something that cant be changed I just go and get a normal everyday Barbie or painting ect and be stuck with the same thing forever. The ability to dress or change eyes/wigs ect is what interested me in the first place.
If I wanted to escape reality I'd go play video games, my boys are no replacement for people and Im not at all loney as Im constantly with other people and going to places. Even when I want to be alone, I cant be!

As for making bjds ("I dont think anyone should give credit to someone who shuts himself up...making half or totally naked erotic dolls."
) it's just the same as an artist sculpting or drawing, they are doing what they enjoy, if you keep it to yourself or show/sell it to others doesn't make you a shut-in or a sicko, it's a hobby or a job.

There is always going to be someone that has to read more into a hobby/thing then what is really going on, and Im aware that some may actually act as Gentaro says, but still, its a wide generalisation... and those always annoy me to no end, no matter the hobby.

 

I think it's different for everyone, but personally, I do agree with Gentaro Araki.

"Dolls are like a lost part of yourself."
Kiril... is everything that I've ever wanted to be, if he were a real person and not "just" a doll. I think... "If I had stayed in track and soccer, I would have this body" "If only I were born male, I would be like him" "He's Asian, and I envy that" "He's a brilliant bassist, and I try to get better" "He has cool hair, my hair in the same style looks a bit messier"... Things like this.


"Dolls help the owner recreate thier existence."
The doll I'm planning on next is everything I am, inside and out. Not who I "want to be," but who I "am," just male. He represents everything I feel happy about in my own life, and everything that motivates me. Our fashion will be the same, he will have a hair-cut that I did a few months ago, he'll be a singer (I like singing~! just like bass~), etc. He's even short, like I am!!


"People like dolls because they are lonely."
This isn't the sole reason, or even the main reason, that I got into BJDs -- I think they're beautiful and attractive, and hold their own mystique that draws people toward them. They're wonderful dolls, and the "oooh, pretty!" factor comes into play more often than the "I'm lonely" one...
But being lonely IS also a reason -- even though it's one that I didn't really think of at first. (And I'm sure not everyone feels this way)
I'm a lonely person -- my whole family drive and have jobs, except for me.. So I stay at home all the time with nothing to do unless I go to school that day... So it's school, home, and nothing else unless I can ask for a ride to a store or meet-up, or have a doctors appointment... I don't really have very many friends, as I'm just.. not a social person.;; People tend to make me frustrated, and I'm socially awkward - very self-conscious and introverted - I'm scared of what people think of me, so I don't reach out to make new friends (I moved two years ago, so all of my real friends are far away). Kiril is my only friend who is always constantly beside me. He's my best friend here, and can comfort me when I need it and listen when I vent.
Besides "friends" and "immediate family" I do find myself wanting kids, even at my age... So with these dolls, I can dress them and play with them and put barrettes in their hair, like you do with small children, even though I know it's not the same as with real children (I used to babysit )


"I dont think anyone should give credit to someone who shuts himself up...making half or totally naked erotic dolls."
I *think* what Mr. Araki meant when he said not to give him credit for shutting himself up to make dolls is that, he doesn't see anything really extraordinary in his own talent, and maybe that he's embarrassed because he feels someone who could shut themselves up in a room to make nude replicas of people may be perverted (think of how it would feel to sculpt all those parts;; I'm an artist, so I draw them thinking of them as just anatomy and not something "dirty", but I can't stop myself from blushing nevertheless because I know some people find it perverted).


Sooo... That's my opinion: I do agree, at least mostly.

 

Dolls are like a lost part of yourself
Mwa not really,
i own my dolls for the artsy part..
and yes..my art has parts of me in it.
But it is not a lost part ^_^

Dolls help the owner recreate their existence.
Uhm,
nope XB
My dolls are just a new artistic outlet for me,
because i couldn't draw 24/7 anymore..and it had to go somewhere!

People like dolls because they are lonely.
Not true aether.. they don't make me feel less lonely when i am.
But they do give me something to do when i am,
like making them clothing or take pictures.

I don't think anyone should give credit to someone who shuts himself up...making half or totally naked erotic dolls.
(referring to this as..people pointing at bjd's as in...they are lust objects?)
Iek,
i really hate nekkid dolls.
Maybe thats a part of my a-sexuality.. another proof that abjd aren't lust objects i guess.
I even skip nekkid pictures in sales threats and spend hours making my girls detailed bra's because i dislike them flashing me over and over again when i redress them. >_<

Has it ever crossed your mind that dolls could be more than a hobby, but a lifestyle?

Well for me art is a lifestyle too,
for my dolls being a part of my art.. and they have slightly changed my art lifestyle..i guess they are.

Conclusion?
To be short... i disagree i think XB
all i can say is...

I have learned allot from my dolls,

Like good photography.. and to enjoy that.
Nice sewing.. and designing..and drafting patterns!
Being creative with something thats not mine.. just by adding stuff to it!

For all these things i am thankful.. and i hope i will learn more and get better at the thing i learned from them

 

lol Funny answers he has. I had never heard anything about Mr. Araki before.

Personally, I agree, I think. All my dolls are my characters, and all my characters are from a world and story that is a lost part of myself, this unobtainable universe just in my head that can only be expressed through bad writing and my BJDs XD I think if you express art in any way, it IS a part of yourself, not necessarily lost, but it does come from somewhere inside your mind, right? Dolls, paintings, even crafts, music . . .

Do my dolls recreate my existence? I think I kind of answered that above. Yes, they create a part of my existence that doesn't really exist anywhere but my mind. I'm starting to sound insane! But I think writers would understand, hopefully.

Loneliness, this is a tough one. Let's see . . . I am not "lonely", but I am "alone". I have my family, but that's it-- no friends, never any boyfriends, never anything like that. So, if that can be interpreted as loneliness and having dolls to feel less lonely, so be it. Personally, I have no idea, just that I never feel lonely (which could be due to my dolls lol)!

I think what he said about not giving credit to someone that makes half-naked dolls is modesty. When I hear many talented Japanese artists or videogame developers, they usually downplay their talent by summing it up in a comment like this. I kind of thought this was a cultural thing, and intended to be humorous. I could be wrong, though ^^ As for nudity, I am A-ok with nudity, male and female. I think the human body can be displayed with dignity and beauty through art, and I also think that it should be. As for eroticism, nothing wrong with that. Of course, I write fan fiction smut, so no one should give credit to a girl who is shut up writing fan fiction for anime and Harry Potter :p

Finally, I think dolls can be a lifestyle. We're all here on this forum, aren't we? If you have a sincere interest in them and want them to be part of your lifestyle, of course they can be ^_^ Dolly culture! Or not. It depends on what the owner wants.

 

Hm.. when I posted before I was speaking generally, but since a lot of people are speakign very personally, and a few people talked about the significance of when they became interested in dolls... and it made me think of the same thing in terms of myself...

I became interested in BJDs a few years ago... I was in uni and, while I did have friends I was going through a period of despression. I felt, back then, that I almost wanted to be a doll, so that I wouldn't have to think or feel things (haha, very emo of me, only emo wasn't really "in" yet). In that way, I admired dolls and found myself very drawn to them, especially BJDs (and especially Volks Nono, because she was not only beautiful, but happy looking). My life wasn't one big pile of misery, haha, but I did live alone and left lonely at times- especially since my SO was overseas (internet relationship) and while we chatted on the phone and AIM and such, we hadn't yet met in person at that point in time, and even after we did it was only about once a year that we could afford to see one another. That was my state when I became interested in BJDs (and lolita cothing, probably for similar reasons)... but I saw how expensive they were and told myself I couldn't afford one and stopped looking.

Now, a few years later, I am a much happier person, but have returned to my liking of dolls- BJDs and also Pullips, Blythes, and other types I've come across in the years since I first "discovered" BJDs- as well as lolita clothing. While my interest in them years ago was an expression of my sadness, now I see them as things of beauty and also things that remind me that life gets better (because I liked them back when I was miserable and still like them now, perhaps?). But I think a big factor in getting back into these things now is also that I have a decently paying full time job, so I can actually afford them (and my husband makes a good living too so we can hopefully support one another if any bad fortune comes our way...).

I think that I do find I have a connection with dolls in a way, not one that causes me to stay at home tending them instead of spending time with real people, and not a "need" based on loneliness or a desire to be as perfect and beautiful as dolls (or have a partner as beautiful and perfect as dolls are). I guess this gets back to what I said in my earlier post- it is possible to like dolls in a healthy manner, or an "unhealthy" manner, it depends on a person's mental state, and the reasons that they want dolls. I think it's possible to go from one to the other... but that it's probably more due to other changes in lifestyle instead of the dolls themselves. Myself, I think I've gone from "unhealthy" to "healthy" in ways aside from my liking of dolls- I'm the happiest I've been in my life, and the reasons behind wanting to buy a doll are different than they were when I first found BJDs- at one of the unhappiest times of my life. *Shrug*