Close Knit Movie Analysis

Looking at how femininity is expressed in Japanese culture from the perspective of the movie Close Knit we are given a specific focus on femininity and gender performance, motherhood. This is played out in two main forces in the movie that are in conflict with one another, as well as one that is an intersection of the two, but also distinct in its’ own way. The first is Rinko, who was born male but had completed the transition into female before the beginning of the movie. Rinko participates in many aspects of stereotypical female gendered roles. From her purposefully coordinated movements and mannerisms, to even her job as a caretaker for the elderly; Rinko embodies a lot of the traits that we would associate with women and femininity. From creating adorably cute bento boxes for Tomo, braiding her hair, and teaching her knit, she is everything that Tomo’s mother isn’t. She portrays an ideal mother and things we would associate with this role, though she
herself cannot physically have children. To contrast this, almost every other mother in the film is originally biologically female and in some way lacking as a mother.
Kai’s mother, Naomi, who holds herself above Rinko, disallows her son from interacting with Tomo and general disapproval of any perceived form of “otherness” that drives her son to attempt to commit suicide. As well as, Tomo’s mother, Hiromi, from what we gather from conversations within the movie, has a history of abandoning her child for months at a time, and when home, still has very little actual interaction with her. Their overall mannerisms are also in contrasted when compared to Rinko’s, who comes across as passive and soft-spoken, often letting others speak her and rarely protesting or arguing over a situation or treatment. The one instance she does is when she is trying to make her case to take in Tomo permanently to Hiromi, and even then, she is very polite and apologetic. Whereas both Naomi and Hiromi, are quite argumentative, and at times, just blatantly rude, usually to
Rinko. The outlier of this film is Rinko’s own mother, Fumiko, originally biologically female, is the momma bear archetype; which is also seen as a positive representation of mother-figures. She is also the cross-section between Rinko and Naomi/Hiromi; she’s originally biologically female and has some social abrasive behaviors and qualities not typically associated with femininity, such as, openly threatening Tomo to respect and be kind to her daughter upon their first meeting, and also being very open about physical development to/about Tomo. While also displaying more traditional thought “motherly” behaviors, mostly seen in flashback scenes, like being protective and understanding to her daughter and even knitting her—her first breasts. When thinking about what femininity looks like in Japan within the context of the movie, it is greatly tied to how motherhood is portrayed and is also broken down into three categories. Rinko, who actively coordinates her mannerisms down to the way she holds and carries herself is portrayed as hyper-feminine, encompassing every different aspect of femininity in order to socially “pass” as female. Her performance of motherhood is also the same, often focused on the stereotypical-idealized motherly duties. She is the example and perceived ideal of femininity, as well as the female gendered role and performance of being a mother and caretaker. Naomi and Hiromi, though a depiction of femininity in Japan, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum when compared to Rinko. Though they are mothers, from the viewer's point of view, they aren’t seen in a positive light. They’re actions often hurt their children and they are never shown participating in traditional acts of mother-like behavior. They’ve also never had to think about the effort to appear or act feminine because they’ve never worried about it. Finally, Fumiko, who is once again a sort of bridge between the two, as well as, a reminder that when it comes to both femininity and motherhood behavior, it is not one or the other, but many times a mixture.