The Friendship Punch
The Friendship Punch is a technique The Girl with Black Hair learned from her mother to deal with “utter fools and rotten friends”. During a flashback her mother compares the fist (four finger wrapped around the thump) to the warm paw of the Beckoning Cat. A fist that is no longer able to convey true feeling of hatred. Therefore being freed from the chains of violence, the fist is used to bring harmony into this world.
Following that description the Friendship Punch seems to be framed as a tool to teach lessons—to make the world a better place—not as a tool of punishment or used in self-defense. The Girl with Black Hair uses the Friendship Punch at several occasions:
She’s going out to a bar, on her own—for the first time in her life. In an beautifully animated sequence she declares her love for alcohol. Her fantasies of a rum-filled-pacific-ocean are being interrupted by an old, drunk man (Todo-san). When he first invites her for a drink, she specifically says “NO!” Todo-san, then lectures her about liquor and finally—while talking about his daughter, whom he let down and never sees and not to leave out any cliché about old, drunk men at bars—gropes her.
In a repulsive attempt of justification he utters: “A grope here or there ain’t gonna hurt anything.” BUT IT DOES HURT AND IT DOES MATTER! The situation is being put into perspective by Hanuki, who shows up immediately after the incident. She encourages her, compliments her on a “hell of a punch” and calls Todo-san out for being what he actually is: a gross old pervert, a piece of shit from top to bottom.
Unfortunately the film follows another narrative. The groping isn’t depicted as what it is—an assault—but as a reoccurring joke and the sex offender is ultimately granted redemption. The Girl With Black Hair even thanks him for introducing her to a wonderful way to view life. He gropes her a second time after she wins a drinking contest. This time the incident is left without any comment!! He’s depicted as sad rouge, as a lovable fool, who’s violent demeanor is just a small character flaw that can be excused. It’s being played down and depicted as humorous, which is consequently normalizing encroaching behavior, especially that of men toward women. When The Girl With Black Hair visits him while he’s down with the flu as well, it seems as if forgiveness is part of her worldview or her positive attitude towards life. This reinforces the questionable narrative around women having to change their behavior to deal with assaults. It’s definitely not the obligation of women to insightfully teach men how to change or to forgive or ward them off! It’s disappointing, that this movie, which emphasizes the perception of a female characters and structures it’s narrative around her journey, falls back on such a harmful comedic cliché.
FILM SCENES & SCREENSHOTS:
- 00:04:39 – 00:09:33 At the bar/flashback friendship punch/Hanuki’s encouragement
- 00:24:47 – 00:25:18 Winning the drinking context/2nd assault
- 00:25:25 – 00:25:39 Punching Senpai, because he appears behind her without wearing pants
- 01:09:45 – 01:10:43 Visiting Todo-San
- 01:21:59 – 01:23:09 Fighting off Senpai’s clones