BLog: Don’t Call Me Dirty
[image error]Don’t Call Me Dirty
Story and art: Gorou Kanbe
Translation: Christine Dashiell
Publisher: TOKYOPOP
Release Date: January 7, 2020
Shouji is a young, emotionally volatile gay mess working at his internet-addicted father’s liquor store, while also often looking after neighbouring Old Man Kaji’s convenience store next door whenever the octogenarian(?!) increasingly falls asleep on the job. After a devastating breakup from his straight-curious boyfriend, Shouji finds himself comforted by Hama, a tall, quiet, honorable neighbourhood homeless man who pops by Kaji’s Convenience for cheap noodle cups.
Don’t Call Me Dirty is a slice of life one shot that draw parallels between Shouji’s homosexuality to Hama’s homelessness–or, rather, it examines perceptions of shame between the two. Shouji, kind, generous but sensitive, especially in light of his boyfriend’s rejection after sleeping together, is stuck worrying about the shame of people’s judgement towards his very open, lifelong gay identity. In a similar way as he gets to know Hama he finds himself panicking at the slightest sign of judgement of his new friend’s literal dirtiness, the sneering, moral judgments as Hama moves about the world. Hama, it turns out, doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, it’s Shouji’s own judgement and social anxiety about “dirtiness” he’s projecting on the homeless man.
The world of Don’t Call Me Dirty subverts Shouji’s anxieties in a transgressive, playful, often laugh-out-loud way. The places you’d most expect to find homophobic judgement–the Greek chorus of neighbourhood children, his gruff, grumpy father who’s constantly typing away on social media–instead support and even cheer on his tumultuous relationships; as he commiserates with the neighbourhood children about getting dumped, one of them comments, “He sure knows how to pick ’em.” When Shouji worries about Hama coming into his father’s liquor store, there’s an especially poignant moment where his father points out several people in their lives who are or at some point have been homeless or dealt with physical dirtiness.
When Shouji’s relationship woes go viral after his internet-addicted father live tweets about it, Shouji’s cheered on by several people in the neighbourhood. Does it reflect real life? Probably not. Is it adorable and wholesome? Absolutely. This is the idealized, almost utopian backdrop (minus the homelessness) that lets the story explore perceptions of internalized shame instead of actual, real life social oppression. That’s not a bad thing, it’s a more interesting choice than if everyone in his life treated Shouji as disgusting or dirty.
A genuinely enjoyable read with a lot of surprises and a level of social awareness I wasn’t expecting in a BL I grabbed almost at random. Shouji is a unique character in terms of the BL I’ve read. Not overly sexualized or sex-obsessed, not perfect or idealized. He’s a strange, anxious, sensitive little guy with a big heart, with a lovable cast of characters swirling around him. A deus ex machina in the form of a family friend just might get him and Hama the happiness they deserve. Just don’t call them dirty.
Level of Problematic: Woke Twitter Dad; really cool, surprising explorations of homelessness, and a playful, genuine depiction of sexuality without relying on tired tropes and stock characters
Level of Adorable: Several neighbourhood children reading sweet, slightly sexy BL at Old Man Kaji’s convenience store; a little bit of nudity, but nothing you’d get in trouble with mom or dad over
Level of Spiciness: Unnecessarily plastic wrapped; brief discussions of sex and sexuality, a couple of kisses, a couple of bedroom scenes, I’ve seen worse on DeviantArt
