Connections Despite Differences

Ping Pong had an interesting effect on me to say the least. I had never seen a movie in another language so I had no idea what to expect. I must admit, I did fall asleep through segments of the film (because I was tired, not because it was boring); however, the parts that I was awake for were intriguing. The thing that stood out to me the most in the film was simply the lifestyles of the Japanese. Having been born and raised in the United States, I haven’t had much exposure to the way that others live their lives. Seeing as though this film was a Japanese film, the language was, self-explanatorily, Japanese. However, despite the fact that I didn’t understand a majority of what was being said in the film, I was able to feel connected to the story being portrayed.

Until I saw this film, I felt like Japan was a whole other world; but in reality, it is similar to the United States. Sure, there are cultural differences, but humans are still humans despite nationality. Japanese children go to school, Japanese boys play sports like ping pong, and Japanese people feel emotions such as competitiveness and anger, just like Americans do. I know it might sound silly, but I have always thought that being a part of another culture meant living a completely different way and feeling different emotions, but this film made me realize that we are more alike than I thought.

This film was based around the growth and development of two childhood friends, Peco and Smile, and the effect that ping pong had on that development. The messages portrayed were so universally simple! Peco was competitive and wanted to win. Smile enjoyed the sport and was upset by the amount of pressure placed on him. These are natural feelings and emotions. Just because the film was in Japanese, I was still able to understand the storyline and relate the characters emotions to the emotions that I have felt in my life.

The world is a very diverse place. There are different cultures, different customs, and different languages, but seeing this film made me realized that these differences don’t mean that we can’t relate to people of different nationalities, it simply means that we can learn and grow from each other.