Okay, this is beginning to bother me quite a bit. To students at my high school, I am no longer known as Herman. I'm known as Bobby Ologun. Every time I go to school and teach, I get at least one "Oh - Bobby!!!" from a student, whether its in class or in the hallway. You know what - it's not even limited to my school any more. While I was walking home from the train station the other day, these three high school-age punks on a bicycle yelled "Bobby!!!" in my ear as they were riding by. (I still can't figure out how three high school boys fit on a bicycle - another one of the mysteries of Japan.)
For those of you who don't know, Bobby Ologun is a K-1 fighter from Nigeria turned Japan television celebrity. Fame-wise, he hit the big time in 2005 and was all over TV, so most Japanese know who he is. That was bad news for me, at least as far as my work at high school goes.
Now, usually this stuff doesn't bother me. I take insults better than most people. In middle school I was called Steve Urkel. My first year of college, old white ladies said I looked like Tiger Woods. Heck, even last year, when I started work at high school, the kids called me Kevin Lyttle. I took all that in stride. But for some reason, this whole Bobby Ologun thing has really got under my skin.
First of all, I look nothing like Bobby Ologun, besides the fact that we both have dark skin. I can see the comparisons with Tiger Woods. I can even see Urkel. But I don't see this at all.
But I can be lenient on that. Maybe the real reason is because I don't like the guy at all.
If you've seen the guy, the way he acts in public is an embarrassment to black people everywhere, whether African or African-American. He's a straight up goofball, who acts stupid all the time, speaking botched Japanese (my GF says it's obviously on purpose - apparently Ologun has pretty good Japanese skills). It's good entertainment for some Japanese, but can you imagine the stereotypes that are forming in the minds of a people that hardly interact with blacks? Goofball. Stupid. Can't speak Japanese.
Of course, I shouldn't get too hot under the collar about dissing by high school punks that'll be pumping my gas someday. Nobody other than these students have called me Bobby. So I'm not trying to say that Japan is racist toward blacks or anything like that (Little Black Samba situation aside). But I'd be lying if I said the whole Bobby thing hasn't bothered me at all.
Herman, that sucks. Chalk it up to living in such a homogenized society, I guess. Micheal Crichton was pretty critical of Japan in Rising Sun, but every Japanese student I've met has been pretty cool about it. It stinks that your students are doing it, though. They should have more respect for you.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with O'Reilly Auto Parts? Their commercial jingle says "O-o-o-O'Reilly," and I get that now and then from my students. One student keeps calling me Kip for some reason, and I thought it was a reference to Kip from Napoleon Dynamite, but maybe he's talking about Kip Pardue from Remember the Titans. Neither really makes sense, though.
I cringe every time he comes on the telly. I actually get people telling me I look like Bobby's previous co-star Thane Camus all the time (and in fairness I can see a vague resemblence around the jawline), so I should probably count my blessings that next to Bobby he seems the epitomy of splendor and dignity.
ReplyDeleteHis broken japanese on television is most certainly fake.
ReplyDeleteI had this exchange student friend in japan who was interviewed for a program about foreigners in japan. It turns out that her japanese was really good, and the staff from the program was continuously re-doing scenes, and asking her to use certain phrases, and more childish japanese.
Looking at the wikipedia article, no way someone who really doesn't know japanese would do those mistakes - specially the one about messing the name of the sensei: to do that one needs to know his kanji quite well.
But then again, I think that could be said about television wherever in the world.
Cheers!