a short film
fiction / gender / drama

Lonelinessby social bias comprehension

– About people who try to become something different that is not understood by people –

Subconsciously, humans are creatures that have a desire to be understood as individuals and to be socially accepted. However, for those who have experienced loneliness that does not accept them socially, society can be a very painful place. For sexual minorities in particular,everyday life where they cannot feel that they belong is stressful every day, and at times, many people even commit suicide. There are also actual data on cases of rape by others or family members for sexual correction. Some people flee from such an un-understanding environment and choose to become homeless.

On March 8, 2021, the White House announced that it would promote sexual equality in response to the numerous LGBT-related incidents that have occurred in the United States so far. Far from improving, an FBI report shows that the number of incidents related to sexual orientation and gender identity prejudice has increased from about 1,300 in 2021 to 2,389 in 2023, which is only getting worse. Most of this refers to an increase in incidents due to hate crimes. In other words, the increased awareness of the LGBTQ+ community has allowed perpetrators to act based on prejudice. This has resulted in the normalization of harmful stereotypes about LGBTQ+ individuals, leading to individuals being isolated and not understood, and the reality is that various new sexual genders are on the rise because individuals want to be understood as individuals.

Increasing socially understanding you sounds like a good thing, but it can also mean the death of understanding you as individuals. I believe that this creates a spiral formation in which people have expectations of society and are betrayed by society through hate crimes, which makes them feel even more lonely, which in turn strengthens the gender they identify with.

This isolating self-consciousness is not limited to gender, but also extends to areas such as race and culture. Even people who identify as men are different, people of the same race are different, and people of the same culture are different. I have been living in New York for over five years since moving from Japan. I am a racial minority. I feel a strong affinity with this sexual minority. Naturally, I have no hometown, school, family, or anything, so it’s very rare for me to meet people outside of filming, so like many people living in New York, I feel lonely every day. Even if I’ve lived here for a long time, I always feel like I have a place to belong, but I don’t. In particular, as a minority who is Japanese, and as an immigrant from Japan, the feeling of loneliness I feel in New York is based on different foundations such as language and culture.

I personally felt that “xenogender,” which is also the general term for LGBTQIA+, has a commonality in that it asserts that “there is no place where you can be yourself” and “you don’t want to be categorized so that others can understand you in a way that is convenient for them.” At the base of it all are various complex factors that intertwine, such as family environment, way of thinking, sexual orientation, and current mood.

What I want to convey with this film is by no means the common idea of “respecting diversity and understanding other people’s sexual minorities.” Rather, understanding an individual with general information that is socially recognized will make that individual feel even more lonely. This is the same for gender, culture, and race. And that loneliness will continue to accelerate,leading to a desperate attempt to become someone absolute, which may eventually lead to the individual’s death.