Anime and Human Trafficking: More Harm or Good?

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-06-13 09:00:00 UTC
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Move over Pokemon, there's a new anime star in town: human trafficking.  Award winning Chinese actor Zhang Hanyu will star in the upcoming MTV anime film "Intersection," which will look at human trafficking from the perspectives of a brothel owner, a trafficker, and a victim.  The film been called "both humorous and darkly depressing".  MTV specifically chose anime as the medium to appeal to young Asian audiences and stir up conversation among anime fans.  In which case, anime can do a lot of good.

I find this choice interesting, since anime and a related medium, manga, have been specifically criticized by a number of activist groups for promoting the sexual exploitation of children.  While most anime and manga are harmless cartoons of superheros and the like, there is a sizable portion of manga for "mature audiences".  These cartoons famously depict drawn images of children nude and engaged in sexual acts, and there has been controversy over whether these images are child pornography.  If it is, anime can do a lot of harm.   

I have to wonder if MTV chose anime as the medium for it's new film because of the controversy or in spite of it.  Is this a McLuhan moment where the medium is the message, or can anime be used to combat exploitation and trafficking even as it is accused of promoting such abuses?  MTV seems to think that anime is the medium which can reach Asian youth, warn them about the dangers of trafficking, and inspire them into action.  And quite frankly if anime can do all that, more power to it.  It would be a moment of beautiful irony if something accused of promoting human trafficking ended up preventing it. 

Image from freefever.com

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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