Why Perfect Blue Is Futuristic

Satoshi Kon has made movies, with surrealism, and a range of colors to bring the story, as well as the characters to life. From "Tokyo Godfathers" to "Paprika." A film that needs more recognition is Perfect Blue.

Yoshikazu Takeuchi is the mastermind behind the novel. The novel was brought to life and later made into an animated film. Satoshi Kon decided to create a type of surrealism, especially in the moments where our main character, Mima Kirigoe, is in a state of depersoanlization.

There has been an analysis of the colors of the film. Mainly because you don't really see the color blue, but more or the color red, especially when Mima feels disconnected from her reality. The red almost seems like a symbol of her falling into her own madness, as she constantly wonders who she really is.

This example can be used for the way influencers today project themselves on social media. Some fall into the madness of what they project in order to get more followers, more fame, and be recognized more, that it can sometimes not even seem real to them. From the pictures they post to their profiles, it only shows the "acceptable" rather than the ugly.

One scene that I find very interesting is the scene where Mima faces her "popstar" self. That version of her completely degrades who she really is and makes her feel like she's disgusting and fake because she's not "innocent" or "sweet." This also is the cause of her stalker attempting to kill her because he doesn't believe that she's real. He believes that her pop star self is who she truly is, and the person who's turned her back and decided to be an actress is a doppelganger.

I can also say from experience that sometimes, you fall into your online persona, and once you realize it's not real, it's almost frightening.

Some people can just be real with themselves, but that percentage is very small.

What I love about the theme of this movie, is that it's ahead of its time. This is before Facebook and Myspace even existed. The concept of your real self and what project online, can most likely be two completely different people.

Digital Depersonalization

According to PsychologyToday.com, there is such a thing as Digital Personalization. This is when you lose yourself between reality and the internet. From what people post, to how they talk, it can most likely be completely different than how they usually are in real life. This can cause a lot of problems for people, and can also cause disconnection from who they truly are.

This is why taking social media breaks is essential. Social media of course can be a positive aspect for people to have a few laughs, promote their business, and get their name out there, but at what cost?

A perfect example of this are the K-pop groups. Those groups have management behind them, constantly telling them if they need to eat less or smile more. Korean management can be strict on them and can cause those singers to even harm themselves. IU, a K-pop singer admitted to dealing with an eating disorder and even shared her disturbing diet, which consisted of 2 potatoes, an apple, and a protein powder drink.

This is an example of the way people look on social media, versus behind the scenes and what they mentally go through to get there.

Mima's Downfall (Red)

Mima decides to take a risky chance and be an actress. This would mean for her, that she would have to move on from her popstar group and start acting full-time. When she starts to be more serious, it's already difficult, because people put her in the category of being just a singer. But her self-motivation allows her to just do it. She even decides to do scenes that she's not even comfortable with, and loses herself.

This is when her stalker comes into play.

Almost appearing in almost every place that she's in, starts to cause fear, and makes her scared. Why is he after her? Because he thinks that she's a fake Mima. Her first impression was being a bubbly pop star who was bright, bubbly, and the main character. The fact that she decided to rebrand herself, created an obsession.

This is also when Mima wonders if she's even real, because her past persona is coming after her, and making her seem like she doesn't exist. Yo start to see a lot of scenes with red in it. It first appears small, like on her goldfish and some places she's in. You later see red, as if she's drowning in her own depersonalized state.

Main Character Mentality

If you observe closely as well, we can see that Mima is almost created as a perfect girl. Her face is beautiful and symmetrical. Almost as if she's the main character, which of course she is. You can also see that with the actors & celebrities, having pretty features compared to the fans, or the "regular people" in the movie. The same thing applies to the stars we see on tv in real life, glamourized, face free of imperfections, looking perfect. This can alter their mentalities, and can also make them harder than they need to be on themselves. Mima starts to struggle with that as well and starts to isolate herself. At the end of the day, those people are just people who deal with a lot of emotions that they can't express.

Recently, there has been a lot of conversations on the "main character" mentality. The advice is good-spirited, but can sometimes cause the person to feel "not real." That is shown in a multitide of ways in the film.

Fans that inpersonate

Another thing that we can see in fan bases, is how some fans can even work to be like their idols. We see that a lot especially in the Arianators. A particular person that has copied the singer, from the way she speaks to the way she does her hair and makeup is Paige Neimann. This young lady has been accused of impersonating the artist and has even denied those claims, but the similarities are almost scary.

This is also shown in the film, where "pop-star Mima" tries to kill her. This also turned out to be her manager, who became obsessive over her past image and even made her apartment look completely identical to Mima's.

Satoshi Kon's film created almost a futuristic outlook to social media and fandoms today, and how obsessive, dark, and even scary it can be. One of my favorite movies and a movie ahead of its time.