Isle of Dogs and Japanese culture: Riff, love letter, or appropriation?
by Lynn Lee
A friend on Facebook recently asked me, after I posted a positive response to Isle of Dogs, what I thought about the controversy over Wes Anderson’s alleged cultural appropriation of Japan. My initial answer was that it bothered me a little bit, but not enough to mar my enjoyment of the movie. Later I realized that I’d just implicitly accepted the charge that there was cultural appropriation and, as an Asian American, felt mildly guilty that it didn’t bother me. But on further reflection, I’m not sure either of those knee-jerk reactions was warranted. It’s more complicated than that.
The question of cultural appropriation can be broken down a few different ways...