Hello Kitty：不只是一只猫

2014-12-05文/MichaelFitzpatric

新东方英语 2014年11期

文/Michael+Fitzpatrick+译/宋怡秋

After Japan， Singapore was the first to suffer an outbreak. The infection？ Hello Kitty mania1）. In 2000， a shortage of toys displaying the beloved cat at one of the citys McDonalds restaurants led to the unleashing of darker， violent instincts when a riot ensued. Seven people were injured and three taken to hospital for treatment. That was just the beginning.

Now， what is left of our species， children and adults alike， have succumbed， making “Kitty chan，” as she is better known in Japan， one of the most recognisable graphics on Earth. Hello Kitty turns 40 this autumn， and we can now see that she was the Trojan Horse2） that led to the global domination of Japanese “cute culture，” From Marrakech to Honolulu， the ubiquitous red-ribboned cat now stands top-tier in any toy display. Googling Mickey Mouse reaps about 23 million results. Search Hello Kitty， however， and youll find the kitten， which is basically just a narrative-free， trademarked drawing， garners 10 million more.

Kitty-shaped guitars and even Hello Kitty tombstones abound. The famous feline， originally drawn by designer Yuko Shimizu3） to appeal to kindergarten children， has been adopted as a style icon by the likes of Lady Gaga. Remarkably， such world-domination has been achieved with little advertising； relying instead on word-of-mouth. Now Hello Kitty appears on over 50，000 products that are sold in more than 70 countries， and is a brand worth $7bn. The company that holds the copyright， Sanrio4）， makes around $759m in annual revenue off5） the cat alone. So， why have we all become such pushovers6） for the feline？

“Kittys appeal is that shes an emotional blank slate. As one of her designers told me： ‘Kitty feels like you do，” explains Roland Nozomu Kelts7）， the author of Japanamerica： How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US. “We project upon that mouth-less， expressionless kitten， making her the perfectly interactive toy or doll or marketing tool in an age where interactivity is not only desired， its expected.”

Cat Power

“Hello Kitty represents the deep desire among all people， regardless of nationality or race， to feel joy and happiness， without having to qualify it at any deep intellectual level，” Sanrios public relations manager Kazuo Tohmatsu tells BBC Culture. “Hello Kitty doesnt judge. She lets you feel how you feel without forcing you to question why.”

Sanrio made its fortune licensing the character to a slew of8） other businesses that produce merchandise. “Hello Kittys many easily-accessible products make it easy to incorporate her into our daily lives and experience the ‘cute culture that her brand represents in different ways，” says Michelle Nguyen9）， who licenses the character for her Chubby Bunny Accessories. Thats why Forbes magazine has called Hello Kitty one of the best-selling licensed entertainment products ever.

So successful has Kitty been that she was chosen to be a Japanese diplomatic envoy， the official tourism ambassador to China in 2008. All part of Japans drive to bolster its soft power globally through a state-backed campaign dubbed Cool Japan10）. Promoting manga， anime cartoons and other aspects of Japanese pop culture， its an initiative that came about when Japans perennially11） uncool bureaucrats had a vision that cultural exports could help plug the economic gap created by the near collapse of Japan Inc12） in the 1990s.

Out went promoting wabi sabi13） and tea ceremonies. In came the countrys pop culture as flagships of Japanese enterprise. Older， less cute merchandise， would only remind the Japanese of their hubris14） and their bubble economy that burst， taking macho hi-tech Japan with it. Since the 1990s many in the nation have wanted their culture to get in touch with its feminine side， hence the new love of all things kawaii （means cute）. Cute is also an important social lubricant15） in cities where many desperately seek a comfort blanket， a buffer against exceedingly tough urban lifestyles. Japanese companies now take special care in projecting their kawaii image， says Yasuko Nakamura， president of Tokyo-based marketing company Boom Planning： “Japanese products are made to be kawaii so that they are liked by women. In Japan， women hold the spending power.”

But why has Hello Kitty made such a foothold in Europe and the United States？ Perhaps it is because the western democracies in the past decade have encountered problems similar to those Japan has faced since the 1990s： deflation， more work for less pay， and an ageing demographic. Even the once hard-bitten16） British are falling for Hello Kitty and Osaka-based musician and cultural commentator Nick Currie thinks he knows why. “Hello Kitty represents the irresistible idiocy of consumer culture， hardwired17） to our neurological system. We shop with almost the same reflexes that make us stretch out to stroke a big-eyed， fluffy kitten.” That may be a universal impulse.

But the West and certain minorities in Japan are not all about the ascendance of commerce. Pockets18） of resistance to Kitty tyranny do exist， while savvier cartoon characters from Japan are now poised to possibly eclipse the reign of this most babyish of icons.

Kitty Hell is one of a number of web sites that aims to thwart the ubiquitous feline. The blogger puts up examples of his Japanese wifes—and others obsession with the mouthless one. He posts items such as Kitty-shaped face tattoos and suggests， tongue-in-cheek19）， that “Sanrio has invented a Hello Kitty virus that makes people do things like this.”

“All I really do is point out the absurdity of the fans and all the products，” the anonymous blogger tells the BBC.

Meanwhile， the genius Japan has demonstrated for creating likeable characters has spawned another Pan-Asian hit in the form of a chat service called Line20）. Much of the apps popularity rides on one area where Japan has an unassailable21） lead—the design and playful use of emoji （Japanese emoticons）. On the Line app they have grown into fully delineated characters such as the enigmatic Moon22）.

Now the company behind Line is gunning for23） equal success worldwide—recently the Spanish have also fallen in love with Lines impish24） and much more cynical， adult-oriented mascots. Could it be time to say “Hello Line” and “goodbye feline”？

继日本之后，新加坡成为首个感染暴发的地区。人们感染的是？Hello Kitty热。2000年，在新加坡的一家麦当劳餐厅里，印有这只备受人们喜爱的猫咪图案的玩具供货不足，随后引起骚乱，人类本性中较为阴暗、暴力的一面突然被释放了出来。事件导致七人受伤，三人送院治疗。而这只是个开始。

如今，我们这些劫余之人，无论大人还是孩子，都已拜倒在“Kitty酱”（这是她在日本更为人熟知的称呼）的脚下，使她成为全球最具知名度的平面形象之一。Hello Kitty今年秋天满40周岁了，如今我们可以看到，她就是让日本的“萌文化”征服全球的特洛伊木马。从马拉喀什到火奴鲁鲁，在任意一家玩具店里，这只无处不在的头戴红色蝴蝶结的小猫总是被摆在最显眼的位置。用谷歌搜索“米老鼠”，你会得到约2300万条结果；而搜索“Hello Kitty”，你会发现这只小猫得到的结果比前者多1000万条，尽管她只是一个商标图案，没什么故事可言。

Kitty形状的吉他甚至Hello Kitty样式的墓碑都随处可见。这只有名的猫咪最初是设计师清水侑子为吸引学龄前儿童而创作的，现已被Lady Gaga等人用作时尚的象征。值得一提的是，Hello Kitty如此风靡全球，却几乎没做什么广告宣传，而是靠口口相传。如今，Hello Kitty的形象出现在70多个国家销售的5万多种商品上，其品牌价值高达70亿美元。拥有Hello Kitty版权的三丽鸥公司每年仅从这只小猫身上获得的收入就大约有7.59亿美元。那么，为什么我们所有人都会迷恋上这只小猫呢？

“Kitty的吸引力在于她是一块情感的白板。正如Hello Kitty的一位设计师告诉我的那样，‘Kitty感受着你的感受，”《日系美国：日本流行文化如何入侵美国》一书的作者罗兰·佐佐木望·凯尔茨解释道，“在这个不仅渴望且期待互动的时代，我们把自己的情感投射到这只没有嘴巴也没有表情的小猫身上，使她成为一个可以和人们进行完美互动的玩具、娃娃或营销工具。”

猫咪的力量

“Hello Kitty体现了所有人——不分国籍和种族——内心深处的渴望：感受快乐和幸福，而不必从理智角度给出任何深刻的理由，”三丽鸥公司公关部经理等松和夫告诉BBC文化频道，“Hello Kitty不做评判。她让你感受自己真实的感受，而不会强迫你去深究个中原委。”

三丽鸥公司通过向其他许多生产产品的厂商进行形象授权而获利不菲。“许多随手可得的产品上都有Hello Kitty的形象，这让她很容易就融入了我们的日常生活，也让我们方便地通过不同方式去感受她所代表的‘萌文化。”米歇尔·阮说，她的“胖胖兔”饰品店就获得了Hello Kitty的授权。这也正是为什么《福布斯》杂志称Hello Kitty为有史以来最畅销的授权娱乐产品之一。

由于Kitty是如此成功，她当选为日本的外交使节，担任2008年中国的官方旅游形象大使。日本努力通过一场由国家支持、名为“酷日本”的运动在全球推广自己的软实力，Hello Kitty成为外交使节也是其中的一部分。推广漫画、动漫和其他日本流行文化事物——这项积极倡议的出台是因为一贯保守的日本官僚们认识到，文化出口可有助于填补20世纪90年代“日本公司”濒临“破产”所造成的经济缺口。

推广寂和茶道已经过时了。流行文化正成为日本企业的王牌。比较老式、不那么可爱的商品只会让日本人想起自身的傲慢以及泡沫经济的破灭，随之走向没落的还有日本的大男子主义和高科技产业。自20世纪90年代以来，日本国内许多人希望本国文化能体现其女性化的一面，其结果是一切“卡哇伊”（意为“可爱”）的东西成为人们的新宠。在城市里，可爱也是一种重要的社会润滑剂，这里有很多人极度渴望寻求一种温暖的慰藉，来缓和城市生活方式的巨大压力。现在的日本企业特别注重塑造自身的可爱形象。总部设在东京的营销公司Boom Planning的总裁中村恭子表示：“日本的产品做成可爱的样子就能博得女性的青睐。在日本，女性是消费主力。”

然而，Hello Kitty为什么能在欧洲和美国取得如此稳固的地位呢？或许是因为在过去十年中，西方民主国家也遇到了与日本20世纪90年代以来相似的问题：通货紧缩、工增薪减以及人口老龄化。连一度铁石心肠的英国人都爱上了Hello Kitty。在大阪工作的音乐家兼文化评论员尼克·柯里认为他了解其中的缘由：“Hello Kitty反映了消费文化的愚不可及，这种愚蠢难以抑制且深植于人类的神经系统。就像我们会忍不住伸手去抚摩一只长着大眼睛、浑身毛茸茸的猫咪一样，我们在购物时也会做出同样的本能反应。”这种冲动或许是全人类所共有的。

不过，西方国家和少数的日本人对这只猫咪的巨大商业优势并不以为意。拒绝被Kitty征服的零星群体的确存在，而一些更聪明的日本卡通形象现已做好准备，可能会盖过这只最幼稚的偶像的风头。

Kitty Hell就是众多旨在抨击这只无处不在的猫咪的网站之一。站长列举了许多例子来展示他的日籍妻子和其他人对这只没有嘴巴的猫咪的迷恋。他发布了一些Kitty形象的面部文身等诸如此类的东西，并揶揄道：“三丽鸥公司发明了一种Hello Kitty病毒，会让人们做出这种事。”

“我真正要做的是指出那些粉丝和所有Hello Kitty商品的荒唐之处。”这名未透露姓名的站长对BBC说。

与此同时，日本在创造可爱形象方面所展现出的才华催生了一款名为“连我”的聊天服务应用，从而掀起了又一股席卷全亚洲的热潮。这款应用的流行很大程度上依赖于日本人在设计和灵活使用“绘文字”（日语中的表情符号）方面无可撼动的领先优势。在“连我”应用中，表情符号已经发展成为被完整刻画的卡通形象，神秘兮兮的“馒头人”就是其中一例。

目前，“连我”的运营商正力求在全球范围内取得同样的成功——最近，西班牙人也爱上了“连我”上那些顽皮、更具嘲弄意味、更适合成年人的吉祥物。现在是否到了该说“你好，‘连我”和“再见，小猫”的时候了呢？

1. mania [?me?ni?] n. 狂热；癖好

2. Trojan Horse：特洛伊木马，源自古希腊神话，喻指（潜藏于内部的）颠覆分子。相传古希腊人在攻打特洛伊时，设计将士兵藏在一个空心木马中佯装退兵。特洛伊人将木马当做战利品拖回城内，却在夜间遭到希腊伏兵的偷袭。

3. Yuko Shimizu：清水侑子，Hello Kitty的第一代设计师

4. Sanrio：日本的三丽鸥公司，全球著名的造型人物品牌发行商，成立于1960年，旗下的知名卡通形象包括Hello Kitty和美乐蒂兔子（MyMelody）等。

5. off [?f] prep. （某物）得自……；从……获得某物

6. pushover [?p?????v?（r）] n. 容易被说服（或受人影响）的人

7. Roland Nozomu Kelts：罗兰·佐佐木望·凯尔茨，美国作家、编辑，是一位专门研究日本文化的学者及社会评论员。

8. a slew of：许多，大量

9. Michelle Nguyen：米歇尔·阮，美籍日本人，“胖胖兔”饰品店（Chubby Bunny Accessories）的创始人

10. Cool Japan：日本政府大力推行的“酷日本”战略，即通过向全世界推广多种多样的日本文化（包括时尚、动漫、音乐等）来提升自己的外交形象和国际影响力。

11. perennially [p??reni?li] adv. （尤指问题或困难）永恒地，持续地，亘古不变地