Death Note is tame, and every kid has a black book of enemies

Apparently, one of the Death Note movies (yawn, old news) is coming to US theaters at the end of the month, and conservative parents are flipping out. One of my biggest pet peeves is the western world's often skewed view of all-things Japanese (let's talk about how much I hated Lost in Translation). Here are some highlights from a recent Wired article about it (emphasis my own).

Death Note Manga Spawns Movie, Crime Wave
By Lisa Katayama 05.19.08 | 5:30 PM

Okay, really, CRIME WAVE? Not exactly...

It wasn't until the anime was distributed outside Japan that the copycat crimes began. The first Death Note-related controversy took place in China in 2007: Students took death notes to school, prompting the government to ban products and conversations related to "scary magazines based on popular Japanese stories."

"Copycat crime?" Kids everywhere like to buy show paraphernalia. Hell, when I was watching the show, I wouldn't have minded having my own sleek Death Note to use as a daily notebook.

A few months later, in a case local police like to call "the manga murder," two human thighs and a matching torso were found on a Belgian hiking trail next to a handwritten note that read, "I am Kira" -- a phrase used in the original manga. Some suspect a serial killer was involved; others call the incident a grisly prank played by med students with access to spare body parts.

I don't really see what this has to do with any of the deaths in Death Note, just a tag that shows that the person involved is a fan. BIG DEAL. It has a broad following - some of the followers are guaranteed to be crazies. It has even less to do with "manga" as a whole, so I hate that they call it "the manga murder."

Then, students in South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama were suspended for carrying around death note replicas that listed their enemies.

Some parents and teachers are furious that such a morbid idea is being marketed to children, and some have called for Death Note, in its various incarnations, to be banned in the United States.

Alright, I can see how this might be worrisome, but it's not uncommon for students to have a list of people they hate. I think the Death Note is actually a pretty obvious metaphor for the common notion "he's going in my black book" or "she's going on my blacklist."

I agree that it probably shouldn't be marketed to very young children, but I don't really think it is. The majority of older kids who watch it can handle it. Parents, it is your responsibility to notice if your kids are in the small percentage who cannot watch violence without being adversely affected. If your child is locked in their room watching it all day long, or carrying a "death note" to school, you can then ask the obvious question: "Is my kid a school bomber in the making, or is he just a very impressionable consumer/otaku?" I mean, this goes for any overt obsession with violent media, a la Marilyn Manson or Grand Theft Auto.

To boot, unlike in most violent songs or games, the killer here is morally scrutinized throughout and (SPOILER!) earns his due punishment/goes batty. Also, the way the city shows a polarized reaction to the "killer who only goes after bad guys" is nothing less than social commentary (see Showtime's Dexter).

I do, however, love the final quote from the director, which echoes one of Cher's more brilliant lines in Clueless.

Kaneko, the movie's director, says he thinks it's ridiculous that there's a controversy about the franchise.

"If preventing them from seeing this movie is going to make kids better, then why not prevent them from watching all bad news?" Kaneko says.

Conclusion: If you haven't watched Death Note or Dexter yet, you should.