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Beckii - A Cruel Way To Raise A Child
nokes22
Posts: 1,763 Forum Member
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Being a fan of all things kitsch and Japanese I tuned into BBC3's documentary 'Beckii: Schoolgirl Superstar at 14' about Rebecca Flint, a 14 year old Manx schoolgirl who found fame in Japan via YouTube videos of her dancing in anime clothing to Japanese hits. What I imagined to be a light-hearted and fun programme looking into this extraordinary phenomenon became something, which I found to be far more unsettling and unnerving.
Initially, Beckii attracted subscibers to her YouTube account in Japan because of her interest in Japanese anime, manga and cosplay. Along with dancing, Beckii sang along to popular hits like 'Django' and soon gained notoriety to which she capitalised upon and was flown to Japan to meet with her manager a number of times and appeared on Japanese TV under the guise of 'Beckii Cruel'. Gaining millions of fans in the Far East, she's still relatively unknown in the UK, a haven from which she escapes the madness of her excitable fanbase in Japan.
There were a number of disturbing aspects in this show, possibly the most obvious one being Beckii's involvement in a seedy Japanese sub-culture that celebrates 'Lolita' style depictions of young teenage girls and with which the majority of fans are middle-aged men. News enough to make parents of Western children discourage their child's activity and interest, however Beckii's parents, (in particular her somewhat creepy Father) saw it as a "window of opportunity" for his daughter to make the most out of. Ironically, her Father was in the police force and therefore all too aware of how important it is to protect vulnerable children from predatory behaviour.
What was quite staggering, despite the understanding of clever TV editing, was the focus the Father had on turning his daughter into a 'cash cow' at all costs. The price on his daughters head, according to her weird Father, was "50,000 for each year of her education" and he likened it to children going up chimneys to work in days gone by. Hmm....I thought child labour was abolished in 1889 when the NSPCC came to fruition along with The Education Act of 1870 meant the end of child slavery and exploitation? The irony of what he was advocating obviously had escaped him!
Sadly, this isn't the case for Beckii. Not content with her success in Japan, her Father orchestrated a meeting with two UK music moguls to discuss making her a household name in her own country. Despite being only 14, in the middle of a crucial time in her educational life and not having any obvious singing ability - the trio set to work with a worn-out Beckii falling asleep after many gruelling hours spent in the recording studio. She also during this period had a single released in Japan with her Japanese manager and had spent months visiting Tokyo at the expense of her education and a normal teenage life back home in the Isle of Man.
Disturbingly, her Mother was also a keen collaborator in this charade. As Beckii received bizarre and inappropriate gifts from a sinister male admirer, dubbed her "Number 1 fan" it was revealed coyly that he was "much older than Beckii" and it was ok because, "he knows nothing will come of it". Beckii was encouraged to have contact with this man and to thank him for his presents, despite her own reservations that he was too involved with her family and was making Beckii feel uncomfortable in the extreme. What kind of parents would allow this kind of conduct to continue? Parents who obviously equate success with money, putting their daughters welfare at stake for a piece of fame and fortune, selling their morality for cash to allow exploitation and manipulation of their underage child!
Oddly enough, Beckii seemed the sensible voice in this frenzied circus of insanity. She was the one who wanted to persue her GCSE's, make time for her own friends, felt that this was a short-lived thing and didn't want to end up as a washed up celebrity like many other child stars. Whilst her Mum was busy scouring her Facebook page for comments regarding her alter-ego Beckii Cruel, Rebecca Flint was busy unwrapping her birthday presents from her genuine friends at home and seemed disinterested in her online presence.
You see, that's all Beckii wanted.....a normal life with a bit of excitement thrown in. I daresay it was fun to begin with, dancing in front of the camera and attracting millions of hits on her site but now the novelty has worn off and reality has hit home. The real cost of her parents ambition depends on selling your daughter to the highest bidder, denying her a childhood and persuing questionable morals to make her a superstar. She may very well become a celebrity in this country but I doubt it and like today's society in general, celebrity status is largely meaningless and transient.
There is no 'price' in this game, merely a terrible cost to your child's sanity, both now and in the future!
Rebecca Nokes
Initially, Beckii attracted subscibers to her YouTube account in Japan because of her interest in Japanese anime, manga and cosplay. Along with dancing, Beckii sang along to popular hits like 'Django' and soon gained notoriety to which she capitalised upon and was flown to Japan to meet with her manager a number of times and appeared on Japanese TV under the guise of 'Beckii Cruel'. Gaining millions of fans in the Far East, she's still relatively unknown in the UK, a haven from which she escapes the madness of her excitable fanbase in Japan.
There were a number of disturbing aspects in this show, possibly the most obvious one being Beckii's involvement in a seedy Japanese sub-culture that celebrates 'Lolita' style depictions of young teenage girls and with which the majority of fans are middle-aged men. News enough to make parents of Western children discourage their child's activity and interest, however Beckii's parents, (in particular her somewhat creepy Father) saw it as a "window of opportunity" for his daughter to make the most out of. Ironically, her Father was in the police force and therefore all too aware of how important it is to protect vulnerable children from predatory behaviour.
What was quite staggering, despite the understanding of clever TV editing, was the focus the Father had on turning his daughter into a 'cash cow' at all costs. The price on his daughters head, according to her weird Father, was "50,000 for each year of her education" and he likened it to children going up chimneys to work in days gone by. Hmm....I thought child labour was abolished in 1889 when the NSPCC came to fruition along with The Education Act of 1870 meant the end of child slavery and exploitation? The irony of what he was advocating obviously had escaped him!
Sadly, this isn't the case for Beckii. Not content with her success in Japan, her Father orchestrated a meeting with two UK music moguls to discuss making her a household name in her own country. Despite being only 14, in the middle of a crucial time in her educational life and not having any obvious singing ability - the trio set to work with a worn-out Beckii falling asleep after many gruelling hours spent in the recording studio. She also during this period had a single released in Japan with her Japanese manager and had spent months visiting Tokyo at the expense of her education and a normal teenage life back home in the Isle of Man.
Disturbingly, her Mother was also a keen collaborator in this charade. As Beckii received bizarre and inappropriate gifts from a sinister male admirer, dubbed her "Number 1 fan" it was revealed coyly that he was "much older than Beckii" and it was ok because, "he knows nothing will come of it". Beckii was encouraged to have contact with this man and to thank him for his presents, despite her own reservations that he was too involved with her family and was making Beckii feel uncomfortable in the extreme. What kind of parents would allow this kind of conduct to continue? Parents who obviously equate success with money, putting their daughters welfare at stake for a piece of fame and fortune, selling their morality for cash to allow exploitation and manipulation of their underage child!
Oddly enough, Beckii seemed the sensible voice in this frenzied circus of insanity. She was the one who wanted to persue her GCSE's, make time for her own friends, felt that this was a short-lived thing and didn't want to end up as a washed up celebrity like many other child stars. Whilst her Mum was busy scouring her Facebook page for comments regarding her alter-ego Beckii Cruel, Rebecca Flint was busy unwrapping her birthday presents from her genuine friends at home and seemed disinterested in her online presence.
You see, that's all Beckii wanted.....a normal life with a bit of excitement thrown in. I daresay it was fun to begin with, dancing in front of the camera and attracting millions of hits on her site but now the novelty has worn off and reality has hit home. The real cost of her parents ambition depends on selling your daughter to the highest bidder, denying her a childhood and persuing questionable morals to make her a superstar. She may very well become a celebrity in this country but I doubt it and like today's society in general, celebrity status is largely meaningless and transient.
There is no 'price' in this game, merely a terrible cost to your child's sanity, both now and in the future!
Rebecca Nokes
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Comments
OK, pushy parents perhaps but I think I would be the same if I had a daughter that wanted to make a success of herself. I didnt think the father was "creepy". You say she is being "exploited" , "manipulated" and akin to "child slavery"! But I simply didnt see that at all in the documentary! I saw a teenager persuing a dream with her parents encouraging her.
You also call him a "sinister male admirer" - but who is to say the guy is sinister except you? Where's your proof?
We have one here in TV and another in General discussion...
Where was her ambition to be a celebrity? She was far more interested in getting a good education and going to University, which is as it should be? All I saw was the behaviour of money-grabbing parents out to exploit a child with very little talent.
You obviouly didn't look beyond the facade and have succumbed to media manipulation yourself!
Or maybe you have succumbed to media manipulation. Some clever editing, taking things out of context and a bit of imagination...!?
OK, maybe Becki didnt want to talk about "the fan" because she feared the neagtive reaction of people like yourself. Lest us not forget the culture differences in Japan, where the these "Lolitas" are idolisded and admired. Only you have used the word "obsessed" to describe the fan. Succumbed to the media manipulation perhaps? How do you know he was obsessed. We all hear of people counting trains as a hobby. Surely sending gifts to an artist you admire is no weirder than that? Could it honestly not be as innocent as that? At 14/15 years old, I would be more worried about guys in her school playground than some older guy who likes her music a lot.
To be honest, the documentary didnt reveal where exactly her ambitions lay: school or her singing. I would like to think that with the intelligence I saw in her, she was capable of deciding for herself. I could be wrong, but I just dont buy your hyperbole of "child slavery" and "exploitation". She is 15 years old. not 7.
The fan, in Beckii's case was obsessed, She even said so herself that he seemed to involved with her family. The child was 14 for God's sake not an adult able to deal with all this and the context of it. Maybe as an adult you might not want to be party to a sub-culture that attracts middle-aged men to view young girls in a fetishistic way. I might add that the same men are known to buy girls knickers and view Hentai and Ecchi to gain sexual gratification.
For her parents to turn a blind eye and dismiss all this is deeply worrying. To turn this into a viable career move is crazy beyond belief. You're complying with something that is very disturbing indeed, not to mention setting a child up for a fall. The streets of showbiz are littered with the 'bodies' of young stars who gained fame too early and couldn't cope. It's the most damaging 'industry' of them all!
You didn't read properly what the Father said about his daughter working. Equating it to working up a chimney speaks volumes about his perception of what is acceptable for his child. Education is sacrificed for money and fame - a lethal cocktail that leads to mental and emotional ill health in later years. He slipped up on many occasion by concerning himself with how much Beckii could make for "us".
It's simply not worth it if you love your child and want them to reach adulthood a without the trauma of dealing with fame and making a fortune at a young age!
Is that in reference to the fashion of 'Gothica' Lolita? Because if it is you have it all wrong, don't get me wrong the whole thing surrounding Beckii was creepy but that had nothing to do with the Lolita clothing fashion. The fashion has nothing to do with book I know the name makes you think it does and even the clothes make people think that but it really has nothing to do with the book and it isn't seedy, it's a fashion trend and the people involved in it has nothing to do with been "sexual" objects for middle-aged men.
Loli clothing is mostly influenced by the Edwardian, Victorian and Rococo eras.
The reason why the Japanese are attracted to Beckii is because she looks like an anime character nothing at all to do with Lolita fashion trend.
I know people who are reading this are thinking I'm crazy and that of course there must be some link to Lolita fashion and pervy men, but if you ask people who wear Loli clothing none of them got into the fashion to resemble anything to do with the book they like the fashion because it's elegant and modest and the clothes are basically pretty. Sorry I just felt I had to pipe up in defense of the fashion because it just didn't seem that you did actually any research when making your blog post.
Lolita, the book by Vladimir Nabokov is a dark satire on U.S. morality and sexuality and is a brilliant book. Sadly, this has been distorted and now 'Lolita' has become something aspirational which it clearly isn't. Lolita in the novel is an abused and disturbed child, both engaging and seductive according to Humbert Humbert. She dies tragically in the end and there's nothing appealing about that apart from the twisted mindset of some who seek to revere her image for fetish purposes.
As with most of these things, the appeal and promoter of such bizarre and warped imagery are men. Middle-aged men at that, who believe ogling underage girls is ok!
Second
How's that any different to the "singers" we get from X Factor and BGT? =/
For a start it's a completely different culture, what they deem as acceptable and normal doesn't seem right to me, but I wouldn't call it wrong either.
Her parents were clearly looking out for her. Her mother was at that photo shoot checking all the clothing she was wearing was suitable for her.
The "Obsessed fan" was in contact with her parents and she spoke to him through her it seemed, he only met her at fan events, and only met her with her family. She was constantly looked after by her manager and mother in every scene we saw.
How is her education suffering? She's going to Japan during school holidays, I'm sure she still has some time to study.
Why not stop looking at the negatives and look at all the positives from this. 14 year old girl spends time learning about a new culture rather than being a xenophobic lout on the streets, she's travelling the world and seeing new things many 14 years could only dream of. She's got the fame many people crave, but managed to do it whilst also living a quiet life on the Isle of Man for about 80% of the year.
Her dad was hardly creepy, if anything I thought he came across as being severely uncomfortable with the whole Japan thing, and rather than take the opportunity away from her, was trying to create opportunities within the British culture instead!
Some of it was slightly uncomfortable viewing, but as I say I think this is cultural thing that happens in general rather than uncomfortable things happening to Beckii. Her parents seemed to be fully in control of what was going on, her manager seemed a genuine guy and after all she started all of this.
OP is putting words into her mouth that she didn't want to be doing it anymore and it had gone to far, she looked like she was having an amazing time, did you miss her excitement when her photobook arrived? Sure she looked a bit bored at the EA promotion, but that was when she was sitting waiting for everyone else, during the actual promotion she seemed fine and happy.
You criticise her mother for looking at her facebook, how many parents of 14 year olds know what is going on on their child's facebook? How many of them probably ought to.
OP just seems very cynical and narrow minded to me.
You know been patronising doesn't make you intelligent. I know full well what the book is about I've read it and I also know what the loli fashion is about I've been fan of the clothes since I was 14 I'm now 20, I'm into different alternative fashions now but I feel I still have to stick up for the fashion when it gets labelled as seedy!
I'm sorry you should actually go onto a forum and ask people who wear this stuff that it has nothing to do with fetish infact theres a great livejournal group which will tell all about it if you ask. The girls and women who are into this fashion don't wear it for men or to look like child prostitutes, it's such a f*cked up world when you wear clothing where the dresses don't go above the knee is seen as provocative!
Most of the Japanese girls who wear this stuff don't know what the Lolita book is and the western girls who wear really do not aspire to have anything to do with the book infact most detest it because of flipping name they have to share with it and they have to explain everytime someone asks them about it.
There is child-like aspects to Lolita especially Sweet Lolita but so what!? Most of the people who wear sweet are between 12 and 17, they are children!
The fashion started out as a street fashion and was popularised by visual kei bands, the clothes at one point were much longer and I have seen pictures of when they were floor length it's only been since the ninties where they've went knee length, though one or two brands do longer.
There are so many styles of lolita that to label the people who wear them as people who are into fetish or want to look like child prostitutes is unfair! There are boys and girls who wear dandy and ouija lolita which is heavily based on victorian mens wear.
There so many styles in the subculture in it's self, theres punk, gothic, pirate, princess, classic, country that to class the people who wear this as fetish is stupid and ignorant.
This fashion isn't just popular in Japan, it's popular in the U.S and UK and the only males I've seen in the forums and livejournal communities are usually interested in the ouija style or are crossdressers not pervy men who ask pervy questions and gaining pervy answers. Yes there will be pervs probably reading but should people stop wearing what they want because some middle aged man get there kicks because if so then next we should be telling women who wear short skirts to cover up there legs , heck why not go the full burka!
Edit-Sorry for any spelling mistakes I'm on a crappy dongle so I can't use spell checker without it taking another five minutes and I have to download something to use the DS one and I can't because it will then take two hours to download, so I have just had to try spell things right and if not I'm sorry for been thick.
Cosplay and dressing up is fine if you're FULLY aware of the dynamics of what it means, what's involved and what message dressing up sends out to society. Whether you like it or not, a girl dressing up in anime clothing will attract dubious people. Young adults can do what they like if they choose to be involved with that scene. A 14 year old girl wouldn't not be able to understand or comprehend what she's getting into. I'm not saying she shouldn't do it in the privacy of her room but to make a career based on this is wrong....just as it's wrong to milk a child by putting them on the X Factor or Britain's Got Talent.
You've endorsed the point yourself that the people who dress up "don't even know who Lolita is" - maybe they should then they'd have an idea as to whether they wanted to depict themselves in this manner?
We seem to be afraid these days of saying "NO" to our kids and want to be their mate at all cost!
Be parents, be responsible, that's your job!
http://micster.com/2010/08/13/bbc-threes-traverse-into-lies-of-the-weeaboo/
Lolita clothing is modest I have G&L Bibles (fashion magazines which show you whats in style in brands and what stuff costs) and I have seen pictures of muslim girls wearing this stuff along with their headscarves because it modest clothing and most of it covers up arms and legs, thats why I liked it because I didn't feel comfortable wearing the "nice" short stuff what my peers were wearing, when I was twelve my cousin tried to get me to wear her blooming boob tube for a school disco, she was the same age as me! So I don't get you when you say lolita is sexualising people, it's not a fetish and so unless you are saying that the modesty in itself is provocative?
So if you don't think 14 year old girls been able to dress up in loli then surely you don't want them to dress in any trend or subculture at all? That means any ounce of fashion is out of the window. I agree about parents not buying or giving their children everything they want and if they don't like lolita then they have a right not to buy it obviousley.
I said Japanese girls usually don't what the book lolita is and they don't care because they are not looking at it as a perversion but as a fashion just like all the other odd fashions in Japan, most Western loli's if not all know what the book is mainly because it's always been discussed and argued. The book has nothing to do with the fashion, the girls and women who are involved in it wear it because they like it, they like the look of the clothes, they like the quality and the way the clothes were made, they like the accessorising they basically like it the same reasons Steampunks and Rockabillys like their clothes. It's just a fashion!
Personally I think you've seen loli and connected dots in your head without asking people who dress in it why they do it and what they think about the scene.
I'm a feminist, from what i have seen in the western loli communties so is every blooming loli there a few planks who want to live their lives like a princess and wish they could make tea and cakes everyday but I think most of them just want to show off. Dressing in dresses doesn't make you any less of a feminist.
Beckii Cruel has nothing to do with loli, the reason the Japanese like her is because she looks like an anime cartoon. She doesn't even dress in it.
Anime does not equal Lolita.
I didn't watch the show, but surely each viewer is entitled to their own opinion? Having read all the comments in this thread, I would say that GreenJellyJam's views are just as valid as yours.
Why has this particular programme got under your skin so much when there are other programmes that show child exploitation too?
How negative and pessimistic.
So a kid can't make something of herself, even if it's just for fun and only temporary?
If she's getting paid and getting to travel, I think it's an absolutely brilliant life experience for her.
Unbelievable, even more so when you consider her father is a policeman. At best, her parents are naive. At worst, they know exactly what is going on and are happy to string the older male fan along as long as he keeps sending expensive gifts.
Amazingly it's only Beckii herself who is candid enough to see her older male admirer for what he is.
Even the Japanese manager himself advised them to cut off contact with obsessive fans.
http://morigirl.blogspot.com/
Absolutely agree grey_squirrel, it was completely innapropriate behaviour. The guy may have been ok for all we know but his conduct spoke to the contrary. Befriending anyone of any age is perfectly harmless but when the child is involved in fetishistic activity and the man is going over and above 'normal' fan behaviour then there's something not right.
If some older bloke started hanging round your underage daughter, I daresay it would ring alarm bells with the parents but because they've sold the child down the river and are merely out for what they can get, then morality is the first casualty.
When dealing with children, you can't send out those sort of mixed messages!
I agree with you on this point, the parents are being irresponsible and seem to be purely thinking of how much money they can wring out of the situation.
I don't think Becki's no.1 fan is a paedophile or anything like that, its wrong to automatically assume that as some people do. From what Becki says (and from the parent's description of him as shy), he sounds like a lonely "Otaku" who is living in a fantasy world, perhaps to escape his loneliness. He seems like a nice guy but one with an unhealthy obsession which he needs to snap out of.
The parents, by stringing him along, are doing harm to both Becki and this man. As Becki says, he needs a "reality check", and needs to focus on his own life instead of living in a make-believe one, by allowing him to send her gifts, etc, they are fuelling his delusion.
It's his money and it that's what makes him happy so what?