A Samurai Defeats Stuttering Stereotypes in Cinema

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This video essay discusses the portrayal of Takayoshi, a minor character who stutters in the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai. This portrayal is contrasted with earlier portrayals of stuttering in cinema which perpetuate false and negative views of stuttering as a sign of weakness, fear, or malevolence.
For more information on stuttering, visit www.stutteringhelp.org

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9 янв 2024

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@arsonopossum1120 4 месяца назад

I used to have a friend with a really bad stutter, it would take him 5 minutes to finish a basic sentence. he was incredibly sweet, smart, and funny but his stutter made him look socially awkward and by the time he would finish his sentence, any point he was trying to make would be lost to the people listening to him. I remember the annoyed groans of our classmates whenever he was chosen to read something out loud. I never cared much for the way he spoke and i always gave him time to speak his mind, occasionally I'd tell him to take his time and to not make himself frustrated. at the end of the 8th grade, the last day of school, he came up to me and thanked me. i was confused about why he was thanking me and he explained that i was the only person in school to whom he felt comfortable talking. he said i was the only person that never gave him shit, made fun of him, or got upset with him for how long it took him to stutter out a sentence. at that point, I felt so horrible, because, in 8 years of school, he had only one person treating him like a normal human being. all because it took him a few extra seconds to say a word. Love you, Michael. hope we can hang out again someday.

@SamaiyaMiller-lol 4 месяца назад

Your a great friend

@WaterCanoe 4 месяца назад

What happened to him? :0 Did he switch schools or smth?

@arsonopossum1120 4 месяца назад

@@WaterCanoe we just drifted, we're both in different highschools and dont share common interests anymore.

@Tunanunaa 5 месяцев назад

The dignity with which Blue Eye Samurai portrays its disabled characters is honestly so refreshing to see. They cover a wide range of them in a variety of contexts and clearly show how their disabilities affect the characters and their perspectives. The writing also does not moralize their disabilities by portraying them as undesirable traits or by infantilizing the characters with them. This is the first piece of media I've seen addressing any aspect of this and I really appreciate it!

@galaxypotato1286 5 месяцев назад

It also portrays women in a beautiful way to me. Which is odd seeing its accuracy to the time. But it feels so much more dignified

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

@@galaxypotato1286 How so??

@galaxypotato1286 4 месяца назад

The depth of character given to them I think? @@elongatedmanforever1252

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

I disagree ringo & the swordsmaster are kind of meh, we dont learn Anything about who they are If they had their disabilities All their life or if they have Relationships with other Characters, or what they Beleive in or care about both seem To only exist Jusr to be a cheerleader For Mizu & why they Arent given the Men bad label Because of their "Disabilities" & Being on mizu's Side.

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

@@galaxypotato1286 I watched the show they Had the same cringe Girlboss nonsense from Most modern shows.

@Nyx_404 5 месяцев назад

I'm so happy you made this analysis, my favorite part of her dynamic with him is, during the NSFW scene, she's in control, but she's having him read to her, instead of how it was presented in the brothel, this shows both that she's powerful, but also that he has the same level of prowess that she has, she just happens to be leading, and sets the two as equals, which is both a powerful message in the feminist sense that a man and a woman are at equal level, and also in the sense that his disability does not inhibit his wisdom from being equal to hers

@bouncycow3010 4 месяца назад

I never quite understood when people say “ooh I loved seeing X ethnic minority or X person with a disability” in a piece of media until watching blue eyed samurai. As someone with a pretty noticeable and annoying stutter, it really opened my eyes to the importance of representation. Like after finishing the series I sat down and went: wait a second, that’s one of the first times I’ve seen someone with a stutter being represented with actual respect for his character, and in a really real and human way. It felt really really good… I’m still not one for movies and tv series being diverse for the sake of being diverse like a lot of Disney and other Netflix shows just love to do, but blue eye samurai did it amazingly. But yeah, your right, whilst confidence is a factor, stammering is such a complex thing that has been absolutely failed to be portrayed correctly by modern media. Great vid!

@VibingMeike 4 месяца назад

The most important difference seems to be respect. Of course, every studio wants money, but Disney like you said often uses diversity as a marketing tactic and a crutch instead of a way to show a different perspective, mixed in with the story itself of course.

@flux.aeterna 4 месяца назад

Representation is validation!

@jackxiao9702 4 месяца назад

But the writing has to be good. If the writing sucks, all the audience will see is representation being shoehorned in and come to resent it.

@itspice8737 5 месяцев назад

I was just thinking about how rarely characters with stutters are rarely powerful or confident in media

@SamaiyaMiller-lol 4 месяца назад

@VTPPGLVR 5 месяцев назад

06:29 I don’t have a stutter, but I used to have a noticeable stammer. (Now it’s more noticeable when I’m burnt out.) I felt so embarrassed that I couldn’t talk normally sometimes, until I finally told my mom how I felt. She told me kind of the same thing (“You just have so many ideas in your head they’re all trying to get out at the same time!”) and encouraged me to slow down so I can say what I want to say. ❤

@markblanchard2280 5 месяцев назад

There is only one thing wrong with these language and film analyses.... there are not enough of them.

@RainyLS 5 месяцев назад

I'm really grateful that my mother and teachers actually made an effort to normalize disability for me and my siblings. We had a friend with a stutter, and my mother pulled us aside and just explained it to us. The guy ended up being a really good family friend who would always play horsey with us

@smathew8810 4 месяца назад

I think humans have a tendency to be cruel to perceived weakness. And it’s not limited to those who stutter.

@Sootielove 4 месяца назад

Blue Eye Samurai suffers in some aspects (I think mostly with Ringo's narrative role) but it is unique in how it make sure to treat every character as a person, not just a facet. Mizu, Akemi, Takayoshi, Ringo, each of their stories are focused on how they react to society's treatment of "what" they are but it's a personal reaction. Akemi's story is motivated by her being a woman: how people treat her and what she's expected to be, but it's Akemi's personality of stubborn determination, kindness, and cunning that makes it *her* story. She learns that her identity being defined by others is wrong, but she can also use it to her own end. In another show, Takayoshi's stammer could be a symbol of her husband actually being a weak man she can now puppet and speak for, however Blue Eye Samurai goes out of its way to show that while Akemi does want to use her power as his wife, she also relates to how he's been silenced (for a disability rather than gender) and encourages a genuine relationship

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

@@jachyra9 Well he feels like only a comedic Releif character & a plot device & we learn nothing about him.

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

@@jachyra9 i did, all i know about him is he worships mizu & wants To be like her & helps her When its convienient.

@Sootielove 3 месяца назад

@@jachyra9 Ringo's probably the character treated with the least respect by the narrative. He definitely has his depth but the show doesn't do a lot to establish a genuine relationship between him and Mizu before he leaves her, which leaves his impact on her feeling a little unearnt. He's a frequent comic relief which also makes him stand out and bring some needed levity to the show, but it does leave a lot of his lines as "Ringo says a one-word punchline" rather than doing much himself. It does go to show the quality of the show that he's still a well-written character despite this weakness.

@90Kirame 5 месяцев назад

I personally didn't see Akemi "bonding" with her husband. Earlier in this same episode she'd been told that if she controls her husband she controls her own life. As well as she will learn to win and turn the tables in her favour. When she realizes her husband stutters she saw his weak spot and took advantage of that. I kind of hope that's not the case and she would genuinely learn to love and care for him, but in my eyes she saw an opportunity to get power and took it immediately. As soon as her husband fell asleep she tells the maids she can no longer be bossed around and walks away with her head high because she knows she now has more power than her mother-in-law. I always saw his stuttering as his weakness, something he and his family are ashamed of. It makes sense he would favour Akemi for not making fun of him and that's what she was counting on, too. Madame Kaji told her that if she controls her husband's dick, she controls him. I hope these two will form an actual, loving relationship later in the series when we learn more about him (although she told Taigen THEY should stay at the palace, implying Taigen would stay close to her even if she's married), but as things are right now I saw their shared time as Akemi's manipulation.

@MsSarahJosephine 4 месяца назад

I see it a bit more nuanced than that - I do think she's learning to manipulate and is influencing him to a (strong) degree, but to me the look she gives when she hear's his stutter and sees him vulnerable for the first time looks like one of genuine concern/care. I think she does care for him AND is also learning how she can get what she wants/survive. It definitely felt at the end like they were setting her up for a path of becoming more.... Cutthroat/power seeking - especially now that her (true) Father figure/mentor/moral compass is gone. It'll be interesting to see.

@ana.8262 4 месяца назад

I feel like she can manipulate him to control her life and also feel empathy and connect with him. These things are not conflictant with one another. She will not love him nor have any romantic intentions towards him but she can surely have respect and care about him even with the manipulation, I suppose.

@footlong7980 4 месяца назад

I didn't read her telling Taigen she didn't want to run away with him as her wanting him to stay with her. I genuinely got the impression she was basically "breaking up" with him and choosing to pursue the path of power, where she can decide her own fate in society instead of constantly running away like she had always done before. As for her interpretation of the Show woman's advice and her subsequent relationship with the Shogun's son... what I got from it is that Akemi finally internalised the pieces of advice she gained and lessons she'd learned throughout her journey, including the ones her True father-figure/guardian had told her time and time again: to stop running away from unfavourable circumstances and instead open her eyes to the all the ways she could take advantage of them and make the best of what she had, one of such ways- when the chance presented itself- being choosing to love and connect with her husband/Takayoshi instead of antagonizing him. I don't think her empathy for Takayoshi upon discovering his disability was false, even though it is true that the chance for it came through an opportunistic window. This, along with the fact that Akemi is naturally kind hearted even as she is stubborn, makes me believe she had positive feelings towards her husband (even if they might not necessarily be romantic/sexual love).

@gorb688 4 месяца назад

@@ana.8262I think she was going to when she though he was an ass who hated her but when she realised he was actually just a nice socially awkward guy she stopped trying

@snittykitty1 5 месяцев назад

You explained dis-fluency perfectly, as a speech language pathologist it is much appreciated and I so agree with how beautifully they portray this character- well all the characters, the show is an outstanding work of art.

@LanguageFilm 5 месяцев назад

Thank you! I’m an SLP too 😁

@daylilyblake 5 месяцев назад

Absolutely love the video and love the representation of stuttering in Blue Eye Samurai. I love how disability is portrayed in multiple characters throughout the show. This isn’t necessarily a complaint but I will say that the argument that emotional trauma can’t cause a stutter is not 100% true. My PTSD directly caused a neurological disorder that makes me stutter, and the treatment was actually therapy. I’m absolutely not saying that most stutters are caused by trauma, far from that, I’m just saying the claim that trauma NEVER causes a stutter is not entirely accurate

@LanguageFilm 5 месяцев назад

I should have clarified that there are different types of stuttering, and I was talking about the “developmental” kind. Thank you for pointing that out. Yes, there can be neurogenic reasons too. I appreciate the positive feedback, and I’m glad that you were able to get yours addressed!

@iantophernicus6042 3 месяца назад

My apologies. I didn't realise that section was on developmental stuttering before I made my comment. I'm exceptionally grateful for your video and the message at the end about showing patience and compassion to people who stutter. I hope you have a beautiful day.

@doopdoop1601 4 месяца назад

This video is incredibly validating and understanding. As someone who has a speech disfluency(stuttering, repetition of words or even having to start over entire sentences to complete them), seeing this analysis has made me feel so seen. For those like me(though I can’t speak for everyone of course), I have to constantly think of my sentences before hand and practice them in my head before saying them out loud. Like there’s a disconnect between my brain and my mouth. I’m way more eloquent when I text or write but the moment I open my mouth people will always assume I’m of lesser intelligence because of my inability to communicate verbally. I rarely see people make any sort of videos or discussion about these sorts of disabilities in media and how they’re represented. Because no one really takes the time to think about how speech just, is. It’s supposed to be natural, something that just happens. So for you to bring this to light and acknowledge it, genuinely, from someone who has a speech impediment/stutter/disfluency, thank you.

@Realgaps 3 месяца назад

I have a minor stutter, and friends and family have made jokes at my expense for it. I can't imagine how horrible it must be for someone with a constant stutter.

@footlong7980 4 месяца назад

I was surprised not a lot of people were talking about this character and this aspect of Blue Eye Samurai, so it's good to see a video about it now (even though I'm 3 weeks late)

@ScreamingSturmovik 5 месяцев назад

i just finished BES (partly because of this vid) and in no way is the "Princess" and the shoguns son "equal", he has already the "spare" to the heir, demonized (everyone says or thinks he is abusive) for no reason, had a failed marriage (possibly due to his stutter) and the "princess" was told by the mistress to seek out his weakness and leverage it to her benefit, she is deliberately manipulating him for her own sake, we just don't know if he is aware and or accepting of the "pit of vipers" he was raised in also both the smith/sword father and the apprentice are far better examples of how "disabilities" may not be as disabling as they may seem

@thetallestofhobbits4466 4 месяца назад

I'm gonna be honest ... I really thought this portrayed her taking advantage of him BECAUSE of his stammer. I don't think we even know enough about him to say whether or not he is a strong character. Maybe it's my own bias but the stammer combined with his obedience to his mother, then Akemi, seems like he's being characterized as pliant. We also see how quick Akemi is to think on her feet to get what she wants ... I don't know if I'd call it showing him compassion so much as saying what he wants to hear. How does Akemi taking advantage of him characterize his stammer as empowering for him?

@tobisonbrown 4 месяца назад

Amazing…i have been working on my stammer my whole life and this was a joy to watch. I also can’t recommend blue eye samurai enough. So much dignity and respect paid to its characters. Thank you for this.

@idknemore525 5 месяцев назад

This video is almost as amazing as this show. Excellent work.

@devereal4229 3 месяца назад

as someone who used to stutter heavily he ended up being one of my fav characters even if he did only show up briefly.

@newkidman101 5 месяцев назад

Wonderful video! I missed this but it’s just another reason to love the show. Subscribed!

@anhelina2726 4 месяца назад

I watched it in polish voiceover and didn’t notice the stutter in the original track. So this video was a revelation. Thanks❤

@izmeyael 5 месяцев назад

Loved your analysis!

@LanguageFilm 5 месяцев назад

Thanks! 😊

@begonefools3911 3 месяца назад

This is a great video tbh massive respect to you

@bryns5978 5 месяцев назад

Fantastic video!! Thank you for spreading stuttering awareness :)

@mazzy713 3 месяца назад

Absolutely loved Blue eye Samurai, all of the characters were so wonderfully complex, I'm desperate for the next season

@BlackReaper0 2 месяца назад

Very good points!

@flux.aeterna 4 месяца назад

Re what @Nina-kt2jh said. Couldn’t agree more! In its own way BES not only portrays disabled people with dignity, but also shows how disability and its stigma is so often socially constructed - from Takeyoshi’s stammer to Ringo’s limb differences to Mizu’s “deformed” blue eyes (& hell, even Mizu’s identity as a woman) - these characters suffer more from the socially constructed ideas, judgements, and the subsequent consequences made about their disabilities by other people than from the difficulties they face themselves.

@ScreamingSturmovik 5 месяцев назад

isn't the point of many of these characters to bring a part of reality into the art? it's not a matter of "should" but a matter of "is" and to have a sympathetic character to empathize with and a bully for the audience to direct their ire and a clear reason to rally to them?

@ScreamingSturmovik 5 месяцев назад

@@jachyra9 i don't think you can blame media for imitating reality, not all LGBTQ are serial killers but a disproportionate number are, not all blacks are violent gang bangers but a disproportionate are, as much as people say "there is no representation" that is false as "proportional" representation still leaves them overlooked and those who fight now are fighting for 50x proportional representation which is obviously not realistic also as shown in the video there is a reason WHY those people are there and it's not because they are inherently evil it's because they are oppressed and forced out, i.e. a character in the first Fast and Furious is self taught on mechanics software and a boarder line genius but would fail at M.I.T because he has ADD so is forced into gang life, the point is they maybe "evil" but society made them that way

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

@@jachyra9 The problem is having a certain -identity Being the same & having strict Roles, like only gay People & women can be Heroes & men & white People villains everyone In all walks of life can Be different & complex Media makes everything Woke & 1-dimensional.

@Shamino1 3 месяца назад

The 'Closing Off' period of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the immediate end of the Sengoku Jedai left tens of thousands of able bodied men, women, and children physically destroyed through the nature of warfare. Tens of thousands more psychologically wounded. I, too, immediately noticed the grace in which this mini series was able to weave the those with mobility/function issues and the able-bodied. Whereas Veerhoven's 'Starship Troopers' utilizes disability as a stark and grim foreshadowing to the protagonists, Blue Eyed Samurai uses it to the opposite effect, even though it's ultimately a melancholic sort of way.

@noahjohnson935 3 месяца назад

the King's Speech has the limitation of using methods of the time. Also paired with the fact that Albert's stutter was made worse by the constant anxiety and judgement from society and his family.

@TempleofBrendaSong 3 месяца назад

Princess Akemi is the closest us weebs will ever get to see the great Brenda Song, peace be upon Her, wearing a kimono.

@milagroshernandez9351 4 месяца назад

It's not a sign of fear or insecurity, it's not something that can be gotten rid of by getting over anxiety because it's not caused by those things, it's neurological it can cause a person to be anxious with how people might react

@scolveldynasty 5 месяцев назад

do you think you will make a video on Anatomy of a Fall?

@LanguageFilm 4 месяца назад

I will look into it! There needs to be some language-y aspect to analyze

@scolveldynasty 4 месяца назад

@@LanguageFilm it’s a very good bilingual movie. The subtitles are very well done aswell

@HandleMyBallsYouTube 3 месяца назад

I think you're forgetting a pretty important aspect here right off the bat, which is that people who don't have a stutter, will sometimes stutter or stammer *when nervous* and that's a pretty huge part of why we associate stuttering with the things we do, not solely because it's some kind of an insidious thing society has been brainwashing us to do. Societal norms will absolutely play a part in these situations, but our brains are also already wired to react to this in a certain way even without that being a factor.

@limonsoda 3 месяца назад

Excellent animation. Agree with the matter of stuttering, should be better represented. Having said that, "the king speech" is mostly based on a real life event. The then king actually did had speech therapy, before his famous speech, to reduce his stuttering.

@000Dragon50000 4 месяца назад

Blue Eye Samurai has so many disabled characters, and always, always, puts in the work to try an approach them from a sympathetic and nuanced position. Sometimes they stumble and fuck up at that, there're a few missteps with Ringo in particular, but that is so much easier to forgive when, firstly, he's not the only disabled character in the story, so he isn't bearing the burden of being their sole representation, and secondly, those other characters all show that the story as a whole is making a genuine effort.

@daniellefreeman6291 4 месяца назад

You know what is ironic? I’ve always found stuttering attractive. I’m serious! I’ve always found it cute in quirky like way. I remember I had a substitute tutor who had a stutter and I remember asking him to explain problems I already knew how to solve just to hear him talk.

@attackofthecopyrightbots 5 месяцев назад

1:30 im sure there will be eventually nowadays

@antithoughtpolice7497 5 месяцев назад

And not in a flattering way 😢

@cillianthestupendous6093 3 месяца назад

"Voiced by brenda song?" I´m sorry, did you mean "WATCH THIS SHOW RIGHT NOW!"?

@tadesubaru1383 4 месяца назад

I play DND once as a troll who had superhuman intellect (like, supercomputer levels of smarts) and their brain worked so fast, that their mouth couldn't keep up, so they stuttered their way through trying to explain what was going on in their brain. My DM keps asking whether the character was autistic and r*tarded and other such horrible questions, just because they had trouble expressing their thoughts. Again, SUPERHUMAN INTELLECT. But since they stuttered, DM incorrectly assumed they had to be mentally challenged!

@sapateirovalentin348 3 месяца назад

Thats neat,also i think there is also another issue rhat would hinder your character than simply thinking faster than they speak,which is thir language being less smart thzn their thought.after all,common or most other DND languages were made for well...common people and could not be more complex than they made it so a glados level genius would probably be severely limited by its lack of vocabulary.I think tvtropes had a mention of this concept in a section about non human being turned into humans

@jackwilkins7972 Месяц назад

I never even realised Takayoshi stutters until I watched this video. As someone who stutters alot when I am scared, I feel represented. I'd be nice if we get a homosexual character in the new season. I am curious how they were treated back then in Edo Japan.

@seanbehnisch6185 4 месяца назад

@jamesalexander8193 3 месяца назад

Open all hours is a show were arkwright the shop keeper has a very noticeable stammer, BUT the stammer is just part of his character not his core. At his core he is a greed, scheming, cheapskate, with a love for the nurse across the road with a hate for her mother. The stutter is played for laughs as it is a comedy but arkwright makes most of those jokes himself, the only other person to make fun of his stammer is his nephew who in turn has own jokes at his expense that he also plays into.

@FormulaZyn 4 месяца назад

Are you the fake UCLA professor in the Daniel Larson zoom lessons?

@karolinakorona1584 4 месяца назад

I disagree. I used to stutter as a kid and it was certainly associated with my lack of self esteem and anxiety. Once I got rid of it and stopped being ashamed of my stutter it just went away. And honestly it was so difficult to speak I felt grateful to people who would finish my sentences :/ I never stuttered while reading though

@h-pp9uo 4 месяца назад

Bro upload more you can actually make it big on youtube

@LanguageFilm 4 месяца назад

Thanks! I haven’t quit my day job yet…but I may be close 🤔

@iantophernicus6042 3 месяца назад

3:20. I'm afraid I must disagree. 'No incident or experience can cause persistent stuttering'. I was bullied for a number of years at various schools, but I didn't start stuttering until August of 2011. There was one particular nasty event at home and I was in the next room, hearing everything. When I left, it was like I was trapped in my thoughts, unable to speak two syllables without another twenty latching on. I was exceptionally grateful that The King's Speech released on DVD around this time and helped me enormously, but I absolutely agree that stuttering should be explored more fully through multimedia storytelling, rather than being tacked on as a shorthand for labelling someone as weak or untrustworthy.

@awb37 Месяц назад

Stuttering is so atractive

@-beee- 4 месяца назад

I wasn’t planning to watch this show because it seemed too dark and misogynist, but this makes me want to consider it

@elongatedmanforever1252 4 месяца назад

Dark & misoggonist?? Its more like cringe & misandrist more Like it.

@jelliefishr2336 3 месяца назад

it is dark, but its less so misogynistic as it is an accurate portrayal of the ingrained sexism of the time and the ways that affects women. all of the women in the show are realistic and complex, and one of the main themes of the show is how each of the female characters struggle with sexism in pursuit of their own personal goals. i really appreciated the show for how it didnt shy away from those ugly parts of history, but it might not be right for everyone

@elongatedmanforever1252 3 месяца назад

@@jelliefishr2336 bruh it was 1-sided at best & pushing the same narrative From multiple other shows its not really breaking new Ground here.

@-mokerly-5984 3 месяца назад

Why hello there, elongatedman, i think I remember you sulking in the comments of almost every video about this show from around when it came out. Given you're still at it after many months, I hope it pays decently.

@elongatedmanforever1252 3 месяца назад

@@-mokerly-5984 i just dont see why people Like it, i knew it was bad Since i saw the trailer people act like mizu is the Best female main character That ever existed when Shes anything but, her Story was simply kids Bully me so im going To go & take lives The show says she Was discriminated Against yet she really Has nothing bad happen Because of that other Then bullying nothing Else, mizu never realizes its the culture is why she Has a bad life & instead Blames her being born Mixed by a white father i doubt she will ever grow from that in Season 2. Mizu's story & wanting revenge No sense Her mom was never taken from her & She could of just Had a life far from Others this show is just nhilistic & Especially the messaging is annoying, akemi is by far The most annoying female Character since she hulk She just goes around being a girlboss & its so tired The show is just more Tired tropes & pandering.

@elongatedmanforever1252 2 месяца назад

i honestly dont like this show to anybody who enjoyed it, im happy For you but at least realize this Show is far from good quality & is awful in making good Characters especially women They are mostly mouthpeices For "the message" & act nothing Like women in edo japan would act in that time period, the show is modernized & is 1-sided with saying women are the only one Wronged by history pitting men & Women against each other By making them 1-note villains Who say cringe, like akemi's dad "You breath cause i allow it" i almost died with Cringe Hearing that bs.