[jurhoonee]

After living in Tokyo for 12 years and having watched Lost in Translation, I can tell you that the events that happened to the characters actually does happen more often than you think. Not quite to the same lengths that they go to but still pretty close. The movie was actually based on someone's experience in Japan (forget who but I think it was the person who either wrote it, produced it, or directed it). I agree that it's not about Japan and that it is more about being immersed in a completely foreign culture. I experienced some of this but not nearly to the same extent since I'm Korean and can blend in with the rest of the crowd. My mom on the other hand, who is caucasian, saw more of this and after watching the movie, she felt that it was a good representation of what a foreigner feels while staying Japan. Yes, American celebrities do get asked to make a lot of strange commercials (Leo DiCaprio was in a car commercial that consisted of him saying "GO! Wagon R!" and speaking in Japanese, Charlotte Church singing "Pie Jesu" while holding a CG globe of the Earth in her hands and a commentator talking about some sort of organization I couldn't figure out).