I want a documentary that just is about people getting dressed in their Lolita outfits in real time. Like, not to be gross, but just to see the whole process and the nitty-gritty.
People out here on fashion week wearing fucking plastic and this is a strange addiction when the stuff has so much effort and quality put into its design. Lmao
Same with any other fashion in the world its different and collectable. Goth, hippy, hipster, emo etc. If they don't understand it, don't ask and don't research in to it then it's their problem. If they don't like it as it's not for them so what? Big deal but why address this message to people that enjoy it? Because they're jealous morons that can't be happy to be whatever they want, be sad for them I do.
As a goth for over 30 years, I understand the prejudice of looking/thinking different. For lolita they think it's a fetish doll thing or a stuck in childhood trauma, for goth we are supposedly all satanists, into bondage S&M sex, drug addicts and violent. Horrible documentaries are too often presenting a twisted picture of our marginal reality or instead of interviewing a typical lolita or goth they pick the most extreme out of this world specimens who are not representative at all of the cultures in general or entered the marginal world very recently.
The way her mom started to rag on her on a public forum just showed me how abusive and manipulative she was. Venus seems a lot better now that she's minding her own business.
@@venus_envy Long story short, no. Venus lives in Japan with her husband, while her mother lives in South Korea. Venus basicaly cut all ties with her mother and just ignores her.
(Okay so I was gonna comment this on my own but I decided to just reply to this comment) but most of these "documentary" shows take the most extreme people and paint them in a light that is wacky or silly. However, I enjoy watching VICE documentaries because they're non biased. I think they've maybe done a video on lolitas as well. I just appreciate how VICE takes subcultures from all over the world and their interviewers actually talk to these people like theyre human :)
Ok so I am confused Why take lolita fashion and call it living doll when there are actually millions of people who actually want to present them self as a living doll Why manipulate lolitas instead of finding actual living dolls
producers know that using the ‘living doll’ title will catch people’s attention, since the real life Barbie and Ken were so popular - if a person wants to be represented as a living doll, they should explain that it’s their personal lifestyle and that it doesn’t reflect the entire community of Lolita
@@smallpurin8079 This exactly! The problem was that they were trying to construct living dolls rather than look for people who identify as such. They prayed on the lolita community rather than hold open casting calls.
maybe they wanted to touch on lolitas without making the audience focus on the western connotations of the term, but they totally missed the mark by lumping them in with >living dolls
I think besides what the other comments say, some people associate lolitas with living dolls because some of the clothing is similar to doll clothing and it´s easier for people to call them living dolls instead of calling them lolitas and understand the difference between the novel and the fashion style D; Which... Is bad.
The backstory to this is...disturbing. I had no idea how unethical this show’s creators are. How absolutely irresponsible. I remember there being a lot of drama surrounding this “documentary” but I always thought it was just cringe, it’s so much worse tho!
They treat people like freaks on this show. I don't like their "documentaries", because it feels more like they're trying to stick people in boxes, generalise people as a whole and make fun of people for the things they like. It's sad.
I highly look up to you for being so wary back when "that" was offered to you. I remember when I was young and just got into lolita fashion- but also anime and manga, some newspaper lady asked my friends and me for an interview about all of that. Without thinking twice, we agreed and told her what anime and manga is and that lolita is a street fashion and then that theres also cosplay and that we cosplayed those characters (we told her the names of the vocaloid characters we cosplayed). And then the newspaper came out... Manga girls who live in their own world, calling each other with cartoon names and not real ones and our goal is to go to japan. It was just SO cringy and when some people in my school adressed me about that I just wanted to cry. It was full of lies and we didn't even said most of it- the rest was our words, but twisted so it sounds weird enough. At least that newspaper is forgotten now, but how must these girls feel in the video? It's still there for everyone to see.
Oh my gosh... I'm really sorry you and your friends had to deal with that... people will do anything to make a quick buck I'm afraid and often the easiest way is to "shock" people. It's why I don't like shows like this... because more often than not it's all fake and real people are suddenly in the line of fire.
Stuff like this isn't exactly legal in most countries. If something similar happens again, you can try going to the newspaper and demanding a correction. Especially if you are a minor and not famos. Yes freedom of press is a thing, but so is protection of personal integrity.
My Strange Addiction used to be my guilty pleasure as a young teen but I was turned off by it when I saw this episode as well as the furry episode and I realized that they just wanted to gawk at people who were different. It didn't feel so dirty when they criticized people for eating things that could kill them and I convinced myself that the show wasn't immoral because at least they were getting people help at the end. Now I realize that I watched it because it made me feel happy that I'm not addicted to eating rocks etc even though I was so unhappy. But these episodes feel so sleazy because you know that there is nothing wrong with alternative fashion and I realized that this show is targeted towards people who like to judge others rather than sympathize with them.
this was a child underage.... being turned on to things they did not know existed! when I was a kid I felt this way about cutting. ITS WRONG!!! FIND ANOTHER AVENUE!
RIGHT!!! I was thinking about that when I was editing. I didn't notice it while filming because I was so focused but then editing I was like whoa wait a second! I wonder if it's royalty free because the music they use that's also in Always Sunny in Philadelphia is and HECK IF THAT SIMS MUSIC IS ROYALTY FREE IMMA START USING IT hahaha
@@englahimla9451 haha! Hej hej :) nä, inte jag heller men mina föräldrar gillar typ bygglov och bonde söker fru, är rätt säker på att jag hört det i åtminstone en av dem.
Oh man, I remember this episode. I LOVE Venus. And like you, I used to hate Venus. Watching the "old" venus is so painful and then I realized she was sooooo young and so CONTROLLED by her mother!! I am so happy for her now living in japan and becoming her true self. She is wonderful!
I remember hating Venus back in that time and then I realized I was like a 22 year old judging a 16 year old and felt like a complete idiot. She also comes from a very different background and perspective (she's from another country and her mom alienated her) than me and I think that's definitely important to remember. I have so much respect for her staying cute, positive and bubbly after everything she has been through. I would love to meet her one day!
I have venus and always have, and it irritates me that so many peoples impression of what lolita is is from venus. alot of people also have impressions of people who are more neon harajuku or decora (don't have a problem with these) and people who are also weebs who ocasionally wear a lolita peice to be there first impression and that's pretty sad.
@@KarmatheCorgi wow, pointing out the grammer. yeah, because that definitely is never unnecessary and annoying. not everyone can have your master race level grammer! anyways, what I was trying to say that it is frustrating when living dolls get labeled as lolita because it missrepresents both parties.
@@thisotakugirl1017 So... how is that Venus' fault? When it's clearly been shown that she was manipulated and controlled by her mother? You're hating a girl who - for most of her popularity - has been an underaged teenager under the thumb of her mother.
Thank you! I really want viewers of documentaries to remember that the subjects in them don't have a lot of control in what happens but I feel like a lot of the time when we see stuff like this we blame the people in them because who we are seeing. I want to keep educating and sharing to help prepare people who may be in docs and also change the mindset of viewers not blame the people shown so much :)
Someone who identified as a living doll made a comment asking why this was bad but before I could post my response deleted their original comment. I still want to address it because I don't think representing yourself as a living doll in general is bad but this is why this particular doc is wrong incase anyone doesn't fully understand: The production was trying to represent lolitas as living dolls. They went into it asking their subjects to replace keywords like 'lolita' with 'doll' instead. There have been good docs on actual living dolls. Toshi aka Dollfille is a good example, all the docs she has been in have been excellent but this documentary was trying to construct living dolls rather than look for people who represent themselves as living dolls (with the exception of Justin/Ken who I left out because he seemed to be less manipulated and actually fit the theme) In addition by nature, the title and idea 'My Strange Addiction' implies that what the person is doing is abnormal and wrong which is also not a good way to represent living dolls. I don't want anyone to come out of this thinking that I am discrediting anyone who considers themselves a living doll. You are valid and I will cover more positive living doll documentaries in the future!
I remember a few years ago my mom and I were in a mall parking lot and the girl in the car next to us got out and she was in full-blown lolita mode, like the wig, dress, makeup, everything. We were...shook to the core. My mom didn’t know what lolita fashion was at the time but she was absolutely amazed by this girl’s outfit. My mom is a really shy and reserved person, but once she saw this girl’s outfit she was like “WOW I love your outfit you look beautiful!” and of course the girl was like aww thank you, and even after we parted ways my mom was like “that was so cool I loved her outfit so much”. Long story short: lolita fashion is amazing.
Calling Margeret Palermo a "stage mom" is an understatement, she's a horrible person! She's a total narcissist, and controlling to the point of being abusive. and it's really sad to hear Venus's statements on her obsessive mother after all of this happened.
You are right Venus seems to be more herself now. I watched a bit of the down fall when her mom started her shit. I might still be relatively new to lolita but, Venus is also a big part of the Cosplay community. Hearing multiple things like how her mom was cyber bullying her saying she would not last on her own. If not for watching all of Tyler's videos aka LWLN I would have never found out that not only was she cyber bullying venus but, she sent nudes to her daughter to Harass her. The shit Venus's mom pulled is unforgivable. Venus has helped me with styling wigs and I am happy she is apart of both communities.
Vi Merveilles I remember watching this when it aired. Hopefully Margaret is having to work 2 or more full time jobs so she can pay her own bills!! I also think Margaret should have to payback Venus for all the money she had to use to pay bills, etc. I pray that there’s no other children / young adults in Venus family for her mom to do the same thing to.
Actually about Venus (i'm a fan of her btw and i also used to hate her because of her mom), she admitted that her "morning routine" was a lie to sound more interesting and because her mother told her to (at least that's what i can remember) aaaand in an Ukrainian show she also admitted that she wasn´t sure about her youtube channel but her mother insisted so much that she decided to do it and she also said that the youtube channel was Margo's idea D: Also, some people who tried to be friends with Venus while she was in London got bullied by Margo D; Venus was homeschooled and she had little to no contact with other people besides her mom because her mom would ALWAYS cut any chance of friendship Venus had... Also the period she lived in London was the worst for her because she had so much attention and so many people wanting to collaborate with her and wanting to be friends with her but Margo ruined everything calling people names and causing lots and lots of drama for poor Venus ;n; Aaaaand about the Bodyline contest (for those who might want the long explanation)... Venus said that she had practically won the contest prior to that year's contest because Mr. Yan saw her in Hyper Japan and wanted her as a model and made a direct offer to her buuut due to her age and i think Margo not being able to go with her, they felt a bit insecure and didn´t accept, but Venus had a kind of open invitation to be a model for Bodyline and as long as i can remember, if she wanted to be a model anytime after the offer was made, she just had to enter the contest (i guess she had to do it so that it wouldn´t be "so unfair" and to kind of let Mr. Yan know she was ready to go). Also the reaction to the acceptance letter was fake because they already knew she had been chosen some time ago (i wrote this before i saw the part of the video you said she had won the contest before the photoshoot XD)... Poor girl! She went through a lot of stuff!!!! ... I feel kinda guilty for knowing this much about what happened to her.. I mean, all of this was public info but still ;n;
The icing on the cake for this one is that Lolita is being featured along with sometimes life-threatening addictions... like eating comet or mattresses. ( I mean their series in general, not the episode)
Ok, wait, were the enamel pins on purpose to go with this video? Like the teapot for spilling tea and the bear with the knife looks kind of cutting? Or am I just reading too much into it.
The message I got when I first saw it was "The world is a rigid place full of boring people who will crush anything different." The bit with Emily's family especially made me sad because it was just like mine while I was starting out as a goth. They just highlight how threatened people are by it when in reality people all over the world have slowly been becoming more and more accepting. Just think how tattoos and piercings have become so common place, and now there are jobs for people who have so much self respect for themselves, that they won't be squashed down into a box. I guess the other thing is that at the end when Emily's aunt says "Maybe being Luna Lovely will help her feel more beautiful," and I was like YES thank you! My mom hated me wearing black or trying makeup that was not 'normal.' She and people in school were convinced that I did it for attention/to rebel/stand out. But the truth was that I didn't like myself physically and wearing a gothic style made me feel confident and powerful. It had nothing to do with other people.
There's a lolita fashion "documentary" made by The Feed, in case you haven't seen it, it's... questionable, even by the title and description alone. Will you feature it in the future?
This was broadcasted in germany in some shitty celebrity news show and that was the first time I looked at lolita. Obviously I didn‘t know it was lolita yet, but when I started to wear it, I always had to deal with the question „are you like the living dolls I saw in *shitty show*?“ ugh.
When this came out, I was so angry and I felt like everyone around me didn't care and told me I was over reacting. I didn't speak out then because I was not really versed in how to talk about it in an educational way and I didn't want to get in trouble with the production. BUT it's funny cause one time I was out with friends complaining about it and they were telling me to calm down and not 5 minutes later a stranger walked up to me and asked if I was a living doll and then talked to me about the show and I was like SEE!!! SEEE!!! to all my friends who told me I was over reacting.
Oh god, I remember when I first got into Lolita fashion from this. Even then I referred to myself as a "living doll" all because I wanted to look pretty like a doll and these cute girls were into it on the "show". It took me a bit to figure out that Lolita isn't about being a doll but for me as a way to cope and be more confident. I'm honestly disappointed in how I thought but I can't change it. I was like Venus, I was 13 and got into it. So I related to her the most. All I have to say is, thank you for bringing this show up. It was a terrible influence on my life and seeing a popular Lolita bring it up and how bad it is, I'm glad. Thank you
Just clicked on this completely at random but found myself taken in by your intro - I loved the educated, complete explanation you provided in the beginning. I love it when youtubers take a step aside to educate their viewers on how to be their own best advocates. The ethical issues of media rep and how people can get manipulated is so important. Go you!
I got approached for a documentary like this whilst I was standing in the queue of a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu concert. There were 'online personalities' also being interviewed. The questions they asked me made me feel a bit stupid, like they were making fun of me somehow? But in the finished product I only featured for a few seconds, so in the end it didn't bother me. Anyway, they told me they'd talk about KPP and her concert - but it ended up being a fashion documentary. In case you don't know, people at the KPP concert dress in crazy outfits, often from KPP'S Music videos...and this documentary doesn't mention AT ALL that these people, including myself, are dressed up for a concert - they act like it's their everyday fashion.
This stuff pisses me off, if they'd let her say "my cosplay name" alot more people would realize what she means instead of thinking she has an alternate identity as a doll.
I'm so happy to see someone as influential as you, in the Lolita community, finally stand by Venus' side openly, and on TH-cam (!!), and see that you understand how she has been abused all these years. I just really am. My mother is a lot like hers so I have always understood the signs of abuse/an abusive mother-daughter relationship. I'm so happy I could cry.
Honestly the scene where emilie/ luna meets up with her family was horrible. I hated how awful her step mom acted in that mess. It made me so upset because I knew people do have to deal with bs like that from family. I wonder if they coached her mom to say that though.. i kinda hope so.
shortly after this episode aired was the first time I ever went out in a full lolita coord, and multiple times that day I was stopped and asked if i was like those living dolls from that weird show. It was so frustrating for me because people legitimately argued with me that they were right and I was a living doll.
As a cosplayer, this stuff makes me LIVID. I don’t live my EVERYDAY life as a cosplayer. Yes, I go to conventions, yes I have cosplayed in public, no I don’t have a strange addiction. It makes me GAG seeing what these shows do that criticize, irrationalize, and make cosplay look BAD. I’m sick of being ashamed for having a hobby on top of being an athlete, a worker, and a student. Like people need to get their heads out of their butts and listen to us for once! We’re here to have a good time, not to be victimized.
At first I was disappointed that this wasn't about the infamy of "r0ttingd0ll_" aka Jessica Soares...but then I realized that would have only given her a larger platform to spread her racist culture-erasure views on. I've been to a few lolita gatherings, teas, etc and know some of them personally and NEVER ONCE did they act anything like what was shown here. The coaching and overproduction was obvious and, yeah, I cringed a lot.
I do have one recorded that I haven't edited yet. I will after I get back from visiting family for the holidays. It focuses more on the lack of a storyline in the production and less about Jessica herself. I do summarize a little bit of Scarfing Scarves video and my intention for that is to give Tyler/Scarfing Scarves/ LWLN more of a platform because she covered all of that very well. I also want to advise people who may be in docs to give their story direction and also hopes for productions to have more of a direction/purpose/intention and make sure they are giving good people a platform.
@@LovelyLor ...right. The trick I see here is to not allow anyone to reshape your narrative by sticking to your own words because it's YOUR story. All the voiceover stuff was pretty obvious as well; especially the fragments they spliced together as a complete sentence. At least Barcroft didn't try to paint a different picture than the one presented for the most part. My friends and I were SCREECHING at Tyler's takedown of "Poop-chan." We were kinda directly involved since it was two of our Facebook conversations (concerning PoC and plus-size women in Jfashion) she tried to hijack. Tyler is such a blessing! Anyway, you go have a good trip and RELAX! You do SO MUCH and deserve this.
@@ConswaMcGaga ...she has a lolcow. Everything you need to know and more is there. Also, Tyler (aka Scarfing Scarves) recently did an episode all about it.
This seems like a common theme when it comes to a lot of “documentaries” on alternative lifestyles/fashion. It’s nice to see that someone else got as uncomfortable as I did watching this. It doesn’t take much to tell the forced-ness of the questions and answers of the people in the episode. It’s incredibly frustrating when most of these portraits of people who don’t dress/act/live the same way as most people in society are painted in such a negative light. It gives people the excuse to ostracize and disrespect people who are different to them. I’d like to see your opinion on the Refinery videos on Harajuku fashion (especially the one that shows menhera/yami kawaii and I think they also did one on Lolitas in I think Amsterdam). Love the series and appreciate your viewpoint and educational information! ❤️❤️
ive never really liked venus, from what i know of her ive always gotten uncomfortable orientalist vibes. but honestly now i just feel really bad for her, with info about her mom the line about how her mom is her "best friend" is just really sad
@@kaiyuen7883 I think that she used Japan as a form of escapism because she was so unhappy with her mom. So I don't really blame her but it's still a problematic mindset :/
My Strange Addiction is like the modern version of a circus freakshow- lining up people who look different or live outside the norm to be gawked at and made fun of. It’s really shitty.
Hey, I love the way you handled and reacted to this, it's very mature. This used to be a guilty pleasure of mine, but after a few years I realized it was basically just a show that manipulated people (excluding the ones with Pica) to show what "strange" thing they were into and absolute humiliate and demonize them. There are certain communities that are negatively affected by this; the Furry fandom, the Anime fandom, Lolita/Goth fandom, and the Brony fandom. You are such a sweet, kind person who would probably accept anyone no matter what their interests are, and not bandwagon the hate some groups get because of their interests. If you were to do anything like this in the future, I'd love to have your opinion/reaction/commentary on Furries, Bronies, Anime fans, and other commonly hated fandoms, because the more love we spread, the less hatred there is.
For can I just say that I am absolutely LOVING this react series and the fixing your coordinates series. It's so interesting to hear your thoughts on these with professional experience from the documentary/film industry, and you inspire my everyday. Thank you!
I really hope more big youtubers talk about Venus like this. Not calling her the "weeaboo queen who must be destroyed" or saying she is a terrible person who stole from her mother. She was abused and manipulated and it will take a long time for her to sort out the mess it left
I remember the first time I watched the video and I thought, “Why do they keep saying doll?” I was into Lolita fashion at the time and I remember the whole Bodyline competition thing too (oh god so cringey!) But straight up you can tell that they’re being manipulated into saying doll. So not cool, classic My Strange Addiction though.
It's like a lot of fashions, sometimes you go all out (like when you're out with friends, or at events and cons) and other times you either go more casual or wear something else. You wouldn't wear a prom dress to go to the shops, or a tracksuit for a sit down dinner at a restaurant with family. Unfortunately there will always be people who don't understand people who like to wear things or have hobbies that are "different" and don't fall under society's idea of "normal". I'm a cosplayer and although that's a hobby and the outfits are costumes rather than fashion it gets the same reception from people who don't understand it
Ugh I remember someone came up to me at the Venue Angelic meet and asked me to sign a paper letting them use a video of me (I'm the one with the brown hair, straight fringe, and pink hoodie). They were being creepy and saying enthusiastically things like "You're going to be on TV! You're going to be famous!" and I just blankly stared at them like they were crazy and just saying "uuuuhh..." and after a while just ended up signing the paper. The people in charge were creepy and manipulative and it was only a few minutes for me so I can't imagine how uncomfortable Luna was...
I know this is old, but I have just recently started getting into lolita. I've been taking dresses that I already own, and putting a petticoat under them so I get used to it for when I do get my very first lolita dress. I was at the hair salon the other day getting my hair cut and my stylist actually called me a living doll. I was kind of mortified at being considered as such. I wasn't able to refute her statement as she continued to talk, but man is that an experience I will remember
I'm very much into being a Gothic Living doll, However i don't have any dolly clothing yet, mainly because im not rich and there's not a lot of J-Fashion for males. which i love the idea of J-fashion and living dolls but people dont seem to understand that being a Lolita is totally different from being a living doll. Like if you actually look up living dolls, you can clearly tell that its a different sub culture. Living dolls can wear lolita fashion but they usually don't, they usually just wear clothes that are doll like so like pastels or lace and frills. I've never seen a video where a lolita has said that their a living doll. Also the two most popular living dolls Anastasia Shpagina and Valeria Lukyanova usually wear just normal everyday clothing. I don't understand how Lolita's became mixed up with living dolls. If your a living doll that enjoys lolita thats fine, people need to just understand that their different. And thats why i love Lor's videos because she just makes videos to help people understand lolita fashion and make people realize that its not a kink and Lor's great, I've been subscribed to her for years on my older channel.
I'd suggest the episode of Chelsea Handler's show on Netflix where she discusses Harajuku street fashion and its international popularity. In an interview she had with a Japanese lolita, Handler tried to insinuate that Gwen Stefani "discovered" lolita and she was clearly not having it.
Ok I'm officially in loooooove with this series. I'm so happy that you are talking about these things and showing the way that people are being manipulated.
I remember watching this episode and seeing Emily and immediately thinking "wow. She has to be faking this. No way does she actually dress like this all the time." And I remember looking her up and seeing that she was a cosplayer and really thought she faked dressing like that just to be on the show. I'm glad I watched this video because it made me realize she was really just manipulated.
I never really thought about the stuff with My Strange Addiction. Now that I do, it makes sense I suppose, although if people want to watch it and think lolita's are weird, then they can. It's unique and you don't see such a style in your day to day life. It's an odd way of dressing but definitely something special and pretty!
I knew someone in a small "weird" group/community who was asked to be in a documentary when he was 18 and he agreed to it and it ended horribly, now he's a meme on the internet even years later. He's said he really regrets agreeing to do the documentary and allowing them to manipulate what he says/does and stuff, but at the time he was only 18 and they were willing to pay for his name change. I don't blame him one bit and I feel so bad for him. I'm not that close with him so I've learned a lot from this video how they can manipulate people and twist what they say. It's disgusting.
thank you ! I'm grateful for your support! I'm so happy I took the time and investment to repair my computer because it's made me capable of editing a lot quicker and less draining on me.
6:08 she is lying. Tight lacing (lacing your corset tighter for a more dramatic waist) cannot do this. That line is coaching from tlc. Even if you tight lace every single day, it cannot cause your bone structure to change or your organs to move. Because fun fact: the media and Hollywood lies about corsets! Tight lacing is uncommon and wasn’t practiced when corsets were a part of daily clothing for women. If your corset is uncomfortable you’ve pulled it too tight or there’s something wrong with it. If your corset HURTS there is something wrong with the corset or you have some injury and need to go get that checked out immediately.
Hahahaha you made me laugh when you closed the laptop 😂👌 but I understand because I bet you felt so bad how the media is trying to portray Lolita fashion the wrong way
I remember seeing this years ago on TLC. It was the first time I had heard of Venus, and I was very put off by who they portrayed her as. I later learned that she's a really down-to-earth person, and think she's super adorable (in a good way)!
I have recently learned never to trust any show that shows a "character" or person saying something off camera, especially if it reinforces whatever narrative the show is trying to push (such as how these girls should be seen as weirdos being the narrative here,) I have always liked lolita fashion since I was a teenager and I really hope the girls featured in this didn't recieve too much flack for being manipulated by this shady "network/film crew". Thanks for the vid and happy new year!
Oh yaaaaaaaaaay! I love getting misinterpreted and seeing my people getting manipulated by the media to the point where other people get the wrong idea!
Great video! May I recommend reacting to Lolitas Of Amsterdam by Refinery29? I think it's pretty good until the end where the designer is like "I hate rules uwu this my my lolita style" wearing a sleeveless dress with cleavage. Not saying she is wrong for wearing what she wants, but I'm getting tired of people not being able to understand the difference between "x isn't lolita" and "you shouldn't wear x". Like if I am wearing fairy kei while calling it lolita and someone says "that's not lolita, that's fairy kei", they aren't telling me not to wear that outfit or saying that it is bad, they're not policing my style, they are just telling me that it is a different category. Most of "lolitas are gatekeepers" comments seem to revolve around this misunderstanding. I wouldn't have had a problem if she had just said "my style is inspired by lolita". Anyway, sorry for the rambling comment. Your video is great, looking forward to the next one!
Ngl when I saw this doc a couple years ago, it was the first time I had ever heard of lolita fashion. I remember it being during the tea party soon and I was in complete awe of all their outfits. From there I researched the fashion and was able to inform myself about it before dressing in it myself a year later. This documentary is definitely problematic in a lot of regards, but I also owe it for introducing me to Jfashion. (:
Eating disorder & lolita are NOT CORRELATING LIFESTYLES!! AAAAAHHH!!!!!!! T_T" Also, I feel like all that documentary was trying to do was mock lolita and make us look like societal "freaks"! X'C AAHHHHHHHHHHHGGH! D:
I've known growing up that "reality shows are fake". And at first I interpreted that to mean ""the reactions are over dramatic". But it's nice that someone with experience actually points out when there's a voice over or when coaching happens. It helps you spot when something that feels off is actually fake.
And thank you so much for speaking so positively about Venus! There's still a large group of people who don't know her story, or why she acted the way that she did. It's been so wonderful following her over the years since she got away, and watching her really come into her own. I didn't realize that Emily had been so heavily manipulated the first time I watched this (although I really should have known--the "job hunt" in particular just seemed really weird) so it was nice to learn about her a little more. I'm really loving this series, thank you for making it!
Please do a react to Toshi's episode on Love Lust or Run! That show has tried to reach out to many lolitas in NYC, thankfully unsuccessfully. They still did an episode on alt fashion and they sounded very disrespectful to the people on it, although I know that Toshi still continues to be herself and says the experience was positive. The episode doesn't really have anything to do with lolita but it's still very interesting to see mainstream reactions and how people on that show change, but still go back to who they were afterwards.
I was on under cover boss, for half a second, but I still had to talk to the producer and they completely lied to my friends and I about what was going on! When it was clearly undercover boss!
I’m so happy you reviewed this docu with more information! I remeber really disliking this episode and the people in it because it gave Lolita a weird name and made the rest of the community look silly and dumb. I’m glad you cleared up how manipulated the video was and I think this information is super important!
Something that really bugs me with this sort of thing is that partially because of the novel 'Lolita' the word is immediately associated with sexual things. Then, using living doll also often becomes a sexual thing due to the whole sex doll thing. It's all been made into sex and it isn't actually sexual. I can't discuss lolita fashion without my mom bringing up the book which is gross and sexualizes children, something I would never stand for. 'Documentaries' like this make it all seem like a bad thing and I hate it.
god, i remember watching this when it first came out (before i knew much of anything about lolita) and although they tried to make emily look bad, i was still like “wow, she’s so pretty! that’s not weird! i want to look like her!” and i’m now realizing this episode may have been one of the first exposures to lolita i ever had.............. i haven’t seen this since then until now and i can’t believe how cringey it is to me now... even though i still think emily looked adorable in every outfit they showed her in. great job on this video and thank you for all of the advice you gave about what kinds of questions to ask and what red flags to look for if anybody is ever asked to participate in a documentary like this. i know it is going to help somebody down the line.
My friend was on this show (15:06, Ona McDonald) and after it was shot she told me alllllll about how fake and scripted literally every part is. I wouldn't look into it as far as being an accurate representation of the community. It's meant to catch peoples attention and make the girls look "weird". She also said the show was running out of actually strange content which is why they moved onto more mild things, such as lolitas.
Sharing this as a slight funny/amusement, but I actually have a friend who use to do lolita, she was also a mechanic's daughter who worked in his shop. She actually put together this cute as can be little "Riveter girl" style lolita outfit with custom, stylized overalls and traded in the normal flowly lace frills for adorable, but low profile, bows and buttons so she was protected while working but still cute as those buttons she had on that outfit. Granted, that is a totally different situation than what they staged there but, I thought maybe you would like knowing that someone did, indeed, manage to mix lolita fashion with the "blue collar worker" look.
You just went from "neat Lolita lady that keeps popping up on my feed" to "Momma Bear Lolita Lady of Awesomeness" and I have officially subscribed and turned on notifications 😊💕 Keep being awesome and protective ❣️
I remember seeing this on TV. I actually felt really bad for "luna". I also thought she had low self esteem issues or body image issues. Like going into that world of ED! I was also really annoyed that he family didn't accept her. Her style is so artsy and pretty in my opinion. Also - do they not understand the work that goes into that outfit. It's not like a 5 minute dress up thing. That girl was doing that for like an hour or something. Stepmum should try to be apart of prep. XD she'd be like omg. o-o I was also annoyed with the way it was setup because yeah - it's on my strange addiction so someone needed to have an intervention. And tbh - they could've had one more about the dangerous behavior. (I.e. breaking a rib with corsets, or the obsessive habits of like weighing herself.) but like I felt it was weird to call her dressing up as an addiction. There's some people who gotta put makeup on before they leave the house. Is that also an addiction then. o-o
This episode was my very very very first intro to lolita. the next time the word lolita came up was when my bffs sister was geting into lolita and i was like "oh like venus! :)" que awkward silence. I only learned from watching one of your old videos that saying exactly that was super annoying. But on the bright side little me was smart enough to know when shes being manipulated by tv and knew that just because one person thinks and acts a way not everyone in that culture does and so when i found you and a bunch of other youtube lolitas i learnt not just about fashion but about believeing in who your are and haveing the confidence to dress and like whatever i like, its make me a much happier person and I'll never be more thankful for you, this community and cute stuff in general :)
i remember watching this documentary when it came out thinking it was so insightful, thank you for clearing that up and i can't wait to see more from this series x♡♡
Oh this was so painful to watch. I felt sorry for how these girls were used. It's another example of how anything not mainstream and easily understandable is treated like objects to be ridiculed. I now need to bleach my brain.
I remember watching this when I was young and had never heard of Lolita and even then I was just confused as to the depiction of Emily and even Venus though she was painted in a better light (it’s actually how I found her channel). But the message I got was that neither of them “lived” like a doll it was just a hobby. The only one who wanted to be like a doll was the one getting all the plastic surgery and that had nothing to do with Lolita or j fashion / k fashion etc. And sure extreme plastic surgery could be an addiction but idk how they got away with including a segment about style on a show about addiction.
Yes, PLEASE do an episode on "The Doll Life" series! I tried to watch it when it was briefly on Netflix and I couldn't even make it to the end of the first episode. They barely acknowledged the lolita community at all, and people who auditioned to be models got brutally mocked for wearing j-fashion. It was so ignorant and insulting.
I want a lolita documentary thats called "i am NOT a living doll" and shows the real side of all this
yas please
AND LOR CAN BE THE DIRECTOR!!
I believe the documentaries that Lor was in were good. I haven’t seen them in a while though.
Lazy Loser FACTS
I want a documentary that just is about people getting dressed in their Lolita outfits in real time. Like, not to be gross, but just to see the whole process and the nitty-gritty.
Lolita isn't even a "strange addiction"
Lolita is a form of fashion whether you like it or not
It's basically modernized Victorian fashion.
People out here on fashion week wearing fucking plastic and this is a strange addiction when the stuff has so much effort and quality put into its design. Lmao
Same with any other fashion in the world its different and collectable. Goth, hippy, hipster, emo etc. If they don't understand it, don't ask and don't research in to it then it's their problem. If they don't like it as it's not for them so what? Big deal but why address this message to people that enjoy it? Because they're jealous morons that can't be happy to be whatever they want, be sad for them I do.
yeah but its a job. does a policeman wear his work clothes 24/7? no. so she should only wear if for (I agree) a job as a model
@@krystalharwood6359 How is Lolita fashion a job? The vast majority of the people that wear Lolita fashion do it in their free time as a hobby.
As a goth for over 30 years, I understand the prejudice of looking/thinking different. For lolita they think it's a fetish doll thing or a stuck in childhood trauma, for goth we are supposedly all satanists, into bondage S&M sex, drug addicts and violent. Horrible documentaries are too often presenting a twisted picture of our marginal reality or instead of interviewing a typical lolita or goth they pick the most extreme out of this world specimens who are not representative at all of the cultures in general or entered the marginal world very recently.
NoirVelours honestly very well said
It disgusts me that Venus’s mom sees her as a way to make money instead of an individual with their own desires and feelings
Does she even talk to her mom anymore?
The way her mom started to rag on her on a public forum just showed me how abusive and manipulative she was. Venus seems a lot better now that she's minding her own business.
@@venus_envy no she doesn't
@@venus_envy Long story short, no. Venus lives in Japan with her husband, while her mother lives in South Korea. Venus basicaly cut all ties with her mother and just ignores her.
She looks so much like Mary Lou Barebone it's so creepy. Credence Barebones mother....ya know...the crazy one.....that was awful to children...
I hate the way these documentaries manipulate people, and I hate that people watch them without questioning the validity of anything!
(Okay so I was gonna comment this on my own but I decided to just reply to this comment) but most of these "documentary" shows take the most extreme people and paint them in a light that is wacky or silly. However, I enjoy watching VICE documentaries because they're non biased. I think they've maybe done a video on lolitas as well. I just appreciate how VICE takes subcultures from all over the world and their interviewers actually talk to these people like theyre human :)
I question any Documentaries then again I was raised to Question Everything.
Ok so I am confused
Why take lolita fashion and call it living doll when there are actually millions of people who actually want to present them self as a living doll
Why manipulate lolitas instead of finding actual living dolls
producers know that using the ‘living doll’ title will catch people’s attention, since the real life Barbie and Ken were so popular
-
if a person wants to be represented as a living doll, they should explain that it’s their personal lifestyle and that it doesn’t reflect the entire community of Lolita
@@smallpurin8079 This exactly! The problem was that they were trying to construct living dolls rather than look for people who identify as such. They prayed on the lolita community rather than hold open casting calls.
maybe they wanted to touch on lolitas without making the audience focus on the western connotations of the term, but they totally missed the mark by lumping them in with >living dolls
I think besides what the other comments say, some people associate lolitas with living dolls because some of the clothing is similar to doll clothing and it´s easier for people to call them living dolls instead of calling them lolitas and understand the difference between the novel and the fashion style D;
Which... Is bad.
kawaii marshmallow Qatar
The backstory to this is...disturbing. I had no idea how unethical this show’s creators are. How absolutely irresponsible. I remember there being a lot of drama surrounding this “documentary” but I always thought it was just cringe, it’s so much worse tho!
They treat people like freaks on this show. I don't like their "documentaries", because it feels more like they're trying to stick people in boxes, generalise people as a whole and make fun of people for the things they like. It's sad.
seeing the "job hunt" portion made me want to throw up it's so horrible that they put all of these people through this
I highly look up to you for being so wary back when "that" was offered to you. I remember when I was young and just got into lolita fashion- but also anime and manga, some newspaper lady asked my friends and me for an interview about all of that. Without thinking twice, we agreed and told her what anime and manga is and that lolita is a street fashion and then that theres also cosplay and that we cosplayed those characters (we told her the names of the vocaloid characters we cosplayed). And then the newspaper came out... Manga girls who live in their own world, calling each other with cartoon names and not real ones and our goal is to go to japan. It was just SO cringy and when some people in my school adressed me about that I just wanted to cry. It was full of lies and we didn't even said most of it- the rest was our words, but twisted so it sounds weird enough.
At least that newspaper is forgotten now, but how must these girls feel in the video? It's still there for everyone to see.
Thats the most awful thing and that newspaper lady is a monster and waste of air :
Oh my gosh... I'm really sorry you and your friends had to deal with that... people will do anything to make a quick buck I'm afraid and often the easiest way is to "shock" people. It's why I don't like shows like this... because more often than not it's all fake and real people are suddenly in the line of fire.
Im so sorry
Stuff like this isn't exactly legal in most countries. If something similar happens again, you can try going to the newspaper and demanding a correction.
Especially if you are a minor and not famos. Yes freedom of press is a thing, but so is protection of personal integrity.
Thank y'all♡
I'd say I definitely did learn my lesson out of this. But it's not easy reacting right in the wrong situations, isn't it?
My Strange Addiction used to be my guilty pleasure as a young teen but I was turned off by it when I saw this episode as well as the furry episode and I realized that they just wanted to gawk at people who were different. It didn't feel so dirty when they criticized people for eating things that could kill them and I convinced myself that the show wasn't immoral because at least they were getting people help at the end. Now I realize that I watched it because it made me feel happy that I'm not addicted to eating rocks etc even though I was so unhappy. But these episodes feel so sleazy because you know that there is nothing wrong with alternative fashion and I realized that this show is targeted towards people who like to judge others rather than sympathize with them.
DoDa SpaceyThing I agree. People like to hate on any subculture.
oh yeah I think a lot of reality shows do this unfortunately
GuilmonBread thing is
Furries are retarded
I stopped watching when the woman was eating couch cushion..... and the other one with the bleach.....
this was a child underage.... being turned on to things they did not know existed! when I was a kid I felt this way about cutting. ITS WRONG!!! FIND ANOTHER AVENUE!
...why did they use Sims 2 Create-A-Character mode music for this episode? I had forgotten about that...
RIGHT!!! I was thinking about that when I was editing. I didn't notice it while filming because I was so focused but then editing I was like whoa wait a second! I wonder if it's royalty free because the music they use that's also in Always Sunny in Philadelphia is and HECK IF THAT SIMS MUSIC IS ROYALTY FREE IMMA START USING IT hahaha
I was looking for this comment lol
@@LovelyLor I actually think it is royalty free because you can often hear it in reality shows here in Sweden during montages and such.
MyBubbleInSpace Ooh en Svensk! :D Hej hej!
Men jag hade ingen aning om det! Brukar inte se så mycket reality shower däremot...
@@englahimla9451 haha! Hej hej :) nä, inte jag heller men mina föräldrar gillar typ bygglov och bonde söker fru, är rätt säker på att jag hört det i åtminstone en av dem.
Oh man, I remember this episode. I LOVE Venus. And like you, I used to hate Venus. Watching the "old" venus is so painful and then I realized she was sooooo young and so CONTROLLED by her mother!! I am so happy for her now living in japan and becoming her true self. She is wonderful!
I remember hating Venus back in that time and then I realized I was like a 22 year old judging a 16 year old and felt like a complete idiot. She also comes from a very different background and perspective (she's from another country and her mom alienated her) than me and I think that's definitely important to remember. I have so much respect for her staying cute, positive and bubbly after everything she has been through. I would love to meet her one day!
I have venus and always have, and it irritates me that so many peoples impression of what lolita is is from venus. alot of people also have impressions of people who are more neon harajuku or decora (don't have a problem with these) and people who are also weebs who ocasionally wear a lolita peice to be there first impression and that's pretty sad.
@@thisotakugirl1017 Umm, you seem to have dropped your grammar and kindness somewhere along the way. Do you need help finding it?
@@KarmatheCorgi wow, pointing out the grammer. yeah, because that definitely is never unnecessary and annoying. not everyone can have your master race level grammer! anyways, what I was trying to say that it is frustrating when living dolls get labeled as lolita because it missrepresents both parties.
@@thisotakugirl1017 So... how is that Venus' fault? When it's clearly been shown that she was manipulated and controlled by her mother? You're hating a girl who - for most of her popularity - has been an underaged teenager under the thumb of her mother.
I love how empathetic and kind you are throughout this entire video, it's awesome
Thank you! I really want viewers of documentaries to remember that the subjects in them don't have a lot of control in what happens but I feel like a lot of the time when we see stuff like this we blame the people in them because who we are seeing. I want to keep educating and sharing to help prepare people who may be in docs and also change the mindset of viewers not blame the people shown so much :)
@@LovelyLor That's super admirable and we all really appreciate it
truee!
Someone who identified as a living doll made a comment asking why this was bad but before I could post my response deleted their original comment. I still want to address it because I don't think representing yourself as a living doll in general is bad but this is why this particular doc is wrong incase anyone doesn't fully understand:
The production was trying to represent lolitas as living dolls. They went into it asking their subjects to replace keywords like 'lolita' with 'doll' instead. There have been good docs on actual living dolls. Toshi aka Dollfille is a good example, all the docs she has been in have been excellent but this documentary was trying to construct living dolls rather than look for people who represent themselves as living dolls (with the exception of Justin/Ken who I left out because he seemed to be less manipulated and actually fit the theme) In addition by nature, the title and idea 'My Strange Addiction' implies that what the person is doing is abnormal and wrong which is also not a good way to represent living dolls.
I don't want anyone to come out of this thinking that I am discrediting anyone who considers themselves a living doll. You are valid and I will cover more positive living doll documentaries in the future!
@Mineta is thanos isnt she still a minor? i dont even know how old she is, honestly.
@ImAnAlbatroaz 12 i was being serious.. i dont know her age. it was more of a question not being rude.
@ImAnAlbatroaz 12 Well...Looks like you're the one who should calm down. Jumping to hostility way too quickly there.
Lovely Lor there’s a documentary about the hidden side of harajuku fashion, if you haven’t seen it it’s definitely worth watching.
@NikkiacStarr LilZantisBest thank you!
I remember a few years ago my mom and I were in a mall parking lot and the girl in the car next to us got out and she was in full-blown lolita mode, like the wig, dress, makeup, everything. We were...shook to the core. My mom didn’t know what lolita fashion was at the time but she was absolutely amazed by this girl’s outfit. My mom is a really shy and reserved person, but once she saw this girl’s outfit she was like “WOW I love your outfit you look beautiful!” and of course the girl was like aww thank you, and even after we parted ways my mom was like “that was so cool I loved her outfit so much”.
Long story short: lolita fashion is amazing.
This is so sweet and helps people going for what they like and not be taken down by all the mean comments and stares.
Agreed
I'M NOT A DOOOOOOLL! *Takes off dress then rolls around on the floor crying*
(Still wearing blouse and petticoat though.)
Ew??
?
@@seylo3873 eww what???
Calling Margeret Palermo a "stage mom" is an understatement, she's a horrible person! She's a total narcissist, and controlling to the point of being abusive. and it's really sad to hear Venus's statements on her obsessive mother after all of this happened.
Venusisapieceofshit
You are right Venus seems to be more herself now. I watched a bit of the down fall when her mom started her shit. I might still be relatively new to lolita but, Venus is also a big part of the Cosplay community. Hearing multiple things like how her mom was cyber bullying her saying she would not last on her own. If not for watching all of Tyler's videos aka LWLN I would have never found out that not only was she cyber bullying venus but, she sent nudes to her daughter to Harass her. The shit Venus's mom pulled is unforgivable. Venus has helped me with styling wigs and I am happy she is apart of both communities.
@@silverphoenixelieceine Wait whose video?
@@uhmwhat3301 Scarfing Scarves
Vi Merveilles I remember watching this when it aired. Hopefully Margaret is having to work 2 or more full time jobs so she can pay her own bills!! I also think Margaret should have to payback Venus for all the money she had to use to pay bills, etc. I pray that there’s no other children / young adults in Venus family for her mom to do the same thing to.
your backdrop is stunning!!!
Actually about Venus (i'm a fan of her btw and i also used to hate her because of her mom), she admitted that her "morning routine" was a lie to sound more interesting and because her mother told her to (at least that's what i can remember) aaaand in an Ukrainian show she also admitted that she wasn´t sure about her youtube channel but her mother insisted so much that she decided to do it and she also said that the youtube channel was Margo's idea D:
Also, some people who tried to be friends with Venus while she was in London got bullied by Margo D; Venus was homeschooled and she had little to no contact with other people besides her mom because her mom would ALWAYS cut any chance of friendship Venus had... Also the period she lived in London was the worst for her because she had so much attention and so many people wanting to collaborate with her and wanting to be friends with her but Margo ruined everything calling people names and causing lots and lots of drama for poor Venus ;n;
Aaaaand about the Bodyline contest (for those who might want the long explanation)... Venus said that she had practically won the contest prior to that year's contest because Mr. Yan saw her in Hyper Japan and wanted her as a model and made a direct offer to her buuut due to her age and i think Margo not being able to go with her, they felt a bit insecure and didn´t accept, but Venus had a kind of open invitation to be a model for Bodyline and as long as i can remember, if she wanted to be a model anytime after the offer was made, she just had to enter the contest (i guess she had to do it so that it wouldn´t be "so unfair" and to kind of let Mr. Yan know she was ready to go). Also the reaction to the acceptance letter was fake because they already knew she had been chosen some time ago (i wrote this before i saw the part of the video you said she had won the contest before the photoshoot XD)... Poor girl! She went through a lot of stuff!!!!
...
I feel kinda guilty for knowing this much about what happened to her.. I mean, all of this was public info but still ;n;
The icing on the cake for this one is that Lolita is being featured along with sometimes life-threatening addictions... like eating comet or mattresses. ( I mean their series in general, not the episode)
Ok, wait, were the enamel pins on purpose to go with this video? Like the teapot for spilling tea and the bear with the knife looks kind of cutting? Or am I just reading too much into it.
you are very observant ;)
My Strange Addiction is really disrespectful and cruel, I didn't know so many people watched it 😢
Amets BB I agree it does nothing but enable dangerous behavior these people are doing.
The message I got when I first saw it was "The world is a rigid place full of boring people who will crush anything different."
The bit with Emily's family especially made me sad because it was just like mine while I was starting out as a goth.
They just highlight how threatened people are by it when in reality people all over the world have slowly been becoming more and more accepting.
Just think how tattoos and piercings have become so common place, and now there are jobs for people who have so much self respect for themselves, that they won't be squashed down into a box.
I guess the other thing is that at the end when Emily's aunt says "Maybe being Luna Lovely will help her feel more beautiful," and I was like YES thank you!
My mom hated me wearing black or trying makeup that was not 'normal.' She and people in school were convinced that I did it for attention/to rebel/stand out. But the truth was that I didn't like myself physically and wearing a gothic style made me feel confident and powerful.
It had nothing to do with other people.
Please do more "Lolita reacts to..." videos, I love watching them. ♡ It's also so important to react to these kind of documentaries!
I have a lot planned and a few already recorded !
There's a lolita fashion "documentary" made by The Feed, in case you haven't seen it, it's... questionable, even by the title and description alone. Will you feature it in the future?
I will add it to my list! Thanks for the suggestion!
This was broadcasted in germany in some shitty celebrity news show and that was the first time I looked at lolita. Obviously I didn‘t know it was lolita yet, but when I started to wear it, I always had to deal with the question „are you like the living dolls I saw in *shitty show*?“ ugh.
When this came out, I was so angry and I felt like everyone around me didn't care and told me I was over reacting. I didn't speak out then because I was not really versed in how to talk about it in an educational way and I didn't want to get in trouble with the production. BUT it's funny cause one time I was out with friends complaining about it and they were telling me to calm down and not 5 minutes later a stranger walked up to me and asked if I was a living doll and then talked to me about the show and I was like SEE!!! SEEE!!! to all my friends who told me I was over reacting.
Same here this episode was my first into to lolita
"Email... me with some pictures of you all dolled up."
*_Uhh, red flag, much?!?_*
Oh god, I remember when I first got into Lolita fashion from this. Even then I referred to myself as a "living doll" all because I wanted to look pretty like a doll and these cute girls were into it on the "show". It took me a bit to figure out that Lolita isn't about being a doll but for me as a way to cope and be more confident. I'm honestly disappointed in how I thought but I can't change it. I was like Venus, I was 13 and got into it. So I related to her the most. All I have to say is, thank you for bringing this show up. It was a terrible influence on my life and seeing a popular Lolita bring it up and how bad it is, I'm glad. Thank you
The sims music really caught me off guard when Venus was talking about her mom being her teacher, manager and best friend lmao
They purposely made them cringey
Just clicked on this completely at random but found myself taken in by your intro - I loved the educated, complete explanation you provided in the beginning. I love it when youtubers take a step aside to educate their viewers on how to be their own best advocates. The ethical issues of media rep and how people can get manipulated is so important. Go you!
I got approached for a documentary like this whilst I was standing in the queue of a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu concert.
There were 'online personalities' also being interviewed.
The questions they asked me made me feel a bit stupid, like they were making fun of me somehow?
But in the finished product I only featured for a few seconds, so in the end it didn't bother me.
Anyway, they told me they'd talk about KPP and her concert - but it ended up being a fashion documentary.
In case you don't know, people at the KPP concert dress in crazy outfits, often from KPP'S Music videos...and this documentary doesn't mention AT ALL that these people, including myself, are dressed up for a concert - they act like it's their everyday fashion.
This stuff pisses me off, if they'd let her say "my cosplay name" alot more people would realize what she means instead of thinking she has an alternate identity as a doll.
I'm so happy to see someone as influential as you, in the Lolita community, finally stand by Venus' side openly, and on TH-cam (!!), and see that you understand how she has been abused all these years. I just really am. My mother is a lot like hers so I have always understood the signs of abuse/an abusive mother-daughter relationship. I'm so happy I could cry.
Honestly the scene where emilie/ luna meets up with her family was horrible. I hated how awful her step mom acted in that mess. It made me so upset because I knew people do have to deal with bs like that from family. I wonder if they coached her mom to say that though.. i kinda hope so.
shortly after this episode aired was the first time I ever went out in a full lolita coord, and multiple times that day I was stopped and asked if i was like those living dolls from that weird show. It was so frustrating for me because people legitimately argued with me that they were right and I was a living doll.
Imagine someone trying to argue with you as to who YOU are
As a cosplayer, this stuff makes me LIVID. I don’t live my EVERYDAY life as a cosplayer. Yes, I go to conventions, yes I have cosplayed in public, no I don’t have a strange addiction. It makes me GAG seeing what these shows do that criticize, irrationalize, and make cosplay look BAD. I’m sick of being ashamed for having a hobby on top of being an athlete, a worker, and a student. Like people need to get their heads out of their butts and listen to us for once! We’re here to have a good time, not to be victimized.
At first I was disappointed that this wasn't about the infamy of "r0ttingd0ll_" aka Jessica Soares...but then I realized that would have only given her a larger platform to spread her racist culture-erasure views on.
I've been to a few lolita gatherings, teas, etc and know some of them personally and NEVER ONCE did they act anything like what was shown here.
The coaching and overproduction was obvious and, yeah, I cringed a lot.
I do have one recorded that I haven't edited yet. I will after I get back from visiting family for the holidays. It focuses more on the lack of a storyline in the production and less about Jessica herself. I do summarize a little bit of Scarfing Scarves video and my intention for that is to give Tyler/Scarfing Scarves/ LWLN more of a platform because she covered all of that very well. I also want to advise people who may be in docs to give their story direction and also hopes for productions to have more of a direction/purpose/intention and make sure they are giving good people a platform.
@@LovelyLor ...right.
The trick I see here is to not allow anyone to reshape your narrative by sticking to your own words because it's YOUR story.
All the voiceover stuff was pretty obvious as well; especially the fragments they spliced together as a complete sentence.
At least Barcroft didn't try to paint a different picture than the one presented for the most part.
My friends and I were SCREECHING at Tyler's takedown of "Poop-chan."
We were kinda directly involved since it was two of our Facebook conversations (concerning PoC and plus-size women in Jfashion) she tried to hijack.
Tyler is such a blessing!
Anyway, you go have a good trip and RELAX!
You do SO MUCH and deserve this.
@@ConswaMcGaga ...she has a lolcow.
Everything you need to know and more is there.
Also, Tyler (aka Scarfing Scarves) recently did an episode all about it.
oh
oh *no*
(i love these videos, please continue doing them!)
I have a long list ! Lots more comin!
@@LovelyLor yess!!! can't wait to see what you have in store!
This seems like a common theme when it comes to a lot of “documentaries” on alternative lifestyles/fashion. It’s nice to see that someone else got as uncomfortable as I did watching this. It doesn’t take much to tell the forced-ness of the questions and answers of the people in the episode. It’s incredibly frustrating when most of these portraits of people who don’t dress/act/live the same way as most people in society are painted in such a negative light. It gives people the excuse to ostracize and disrespect people who are different to them. I’d like to see your opinion on the Refinery videos on Harajuku fashion (especially the one that shows menhera/yami kawaii and I think they also did one on Lolitas in I think Amsterdam). Love the series and appreciate your viewpoint and educational information! ❤️❤️
ive never really liked venus, from what i know of her ive always gotten uncomfortable orientalist vibes.
but honestly now i just feel really bad for her, with info about her mom the line about how her mom is her "best friend" is just really sad
yeah same. i really strongly disagree with the whole "becoming asian" thing, but i still feel bad for her
@@kaiyuen7883 I think that she used Japan as a form of escapism because she was so unhappy with her mom. So I don't really blame her but it's still a problematic mindset :/
@@monthly.girls.digital8728 yeah
That ribbon on your head reminds me of Daisy Duck's. I love it!
Ikr it looks amazing
Omg it does and its everything
Your bi flag-coloured eyeshadow, though. (bi-shadow?)
Happy BiTeen
Yessss
My Strange Addiction is like the modern version of a circus freakshow- lining up people who look different or live outside the norm to be gawked at and made fun of. It’s really shitty.
6:35 she is cosplaying as Ciel Phantomhive
Hey, I love the way you handled and reacted to this, it's very mature. This used to be a guilty pleasure of mine, but after a few years I realized it was basically just a show that manipulated people (excluding the ones with Pica) to show what "strange" thing they were into and absolute humiliate and demonize them. There are certain communities that are negatively affected by this; the Furry fandom, the Anime fandom, Lolita/Goth fandom, and the Brony fandom.
You are such a sweet, kind person who would probably accept anyone no matter what their interests are, and not bandwagon the hate some groups get because of their interests.
If you were to do anything like this in the future, I'd love to have your opinion/reaction/commentary on Furries, Bronies, Anime fans, and other commonly hated fandoms, because the more love we spread, the less hatred there is.
For can I just say that I am absolutely LOVING this react series and the fixing your coordinates series. It's so interesting to hear your thoughts on these with professional experience from the documentary/film industry, and you inspire my everyday. Thank you!
The “My Strange Addiction” video was my first introduction to Lolita. I remember watching it and thinking “oohh! I want to be that!”
honestly the only thing that could convince me to act in a tv documentary after watching this video is a minimum of $20,000
I really hope more big youtubers talk about Venus like this. Not calling her the "weeaboo queen who must be destroyed" or saying she is a terrible person who stole from her mother. She was abused and manipulated and it will take a long time for her to sort out the mess it left
I remember the first time I watched the video and I thought, “Why do they keep saying doll?”
I was into Lolita fashion at the time and I remember the whole Bodyline competition thing too (oh god so cringey!)
But straight up you can tell that they’re being manipulated into saying doll. So not cool, classic My Strange Addiction though.
It's like a lot of fashions, sometimes you go all out (like when you're out with friends, or at events and cons) and other times you either go more casual or wear something else. You wouldn't wear a prom dress to go to the shops, or a tracksuit for a sit down dinner at a restaurant with family. Unfortunately there will always be people who don't understand people who like to wear things or have hobbies that are "different" and don't fall under society's idea of "normal". I'm a cosplayer and although that's a hobby and the outfits are costumes rather than fashion it gets the same reception from people who don't understand it
Ugh I remember someone came up to me at the Venue Angelic meet and asked me to sign a paper letting them use a video of me (I'm the one with the brown hair, straight fringe, and pink hoodie). They were being creepy and saying enthusiastically things like "You're going to be on TV! You're going to be famous!" and I just blankly stared at them like they were crazy and just saying "uuuuhh..." and after a while just ended up signing the paper. The people in charge were creepy and manipulative and it was only a few minutes for me so I can't imagine how uncomfortable Luna was...
your compassion and concern for people would have made me instantly subscribe even if i didnt already like this sort of thing!
I know this is old, but I have just recently started getting into lolita. I've been taking dresses that I already own, and putting a petticoat under them so I get used to it for when I do get my very first lolita dress. I was at the hair salon the other day getting my hair cut and my stylist actually called me a living doll. I was kind of mortified at being considered as such. I wasn't able to refute her statement as she continued to talk, but man is that an experience I will remember
I'm very much into being a Gothic Living doll, However i don't have any dolly clothing yet, mainly because im not rich and there's not a lot of J-Fashion for males. which i love the idea of J-fashion and living dolls but people dont seem to understand that being a Lolita is totally different from being a living doll. Like if you actually look up living dolls, you can clearly tell that its a different sub culture. Living dolls can wear lolita fashion but they usually don't, they usually just wear clothes that are doll like so like pastels or lace and frills. I've never seen a video where a lolita has said that their a living doll. Also the two most popular living dolls Anastasia Shpagina and Valeria Lukyanova usually wear just normal everyday clothing. I don't understand how Lolita's became mixed up with living dolls. If your a living doll that enjoys lolita thats fine, people need to just understand that their different. And thats why i love Lor's videos because she just makes videos to help people understand lolita fashion and make people realize that its not a kink and Lor's great, I've been subscribed to her for years on my older channel.
I'd suggest the episode of Chelsea Handler's show on Netflix where she discusses Harajuku street fashion and its international popularity. In an interview she had with a Japanese lolita, Handler tried to insinuate that Gwen Stefani "discovered" lolita and she was clearly not having it.
I'm so glad Venus got away from her mom. So so glad.
Ok I'm officially in loooooove with this series. I'm so happy that you are talking about these things and showing the way that people are being manipulated.
I remember watching this episode and seeing Emily and immediately thinking "wow. She has to be faking this. No way does she actually dress like this all the time." And I remember looking her up and seeing that she was a cosplayer and really thought she faked dressing like that just to be on the show. I'm glad I watched this video because it made me realize she was really just manipulated.
The phrase "living doll" de-humanizes the people they're talking about
I never really thought about the stuff with My Strange Addiction. Now that I do, it makes sense I suppose, although if people want to watch it and think lolita's are weird, then they can. It's unique and you don't see such a style in your day to day life. It's an odd way of dressing but definitely something special and pretty!
I knew someone in a small "weird" group/community who was asked to be in a documentary when he was 18 and he agreed to it and it ended horribly, now he's a meme on the internet even years later. He's said he really regrets agreeing to do the documentary and allowing them to manipulate what he says/does and stuff, but at the time he was only 18 and they were willing to pay for his name change. I don't blame him one bit and I feel so bad for him. I'm not that close with him so I've learned a lot from this video how they can manipulate people and twist what they say. It's disgusting.
I've really been loving your videos lately! It's clear to see your hard work is paying off
🌟💕
thank you ! I'm grateful for your support! I'm so happy I took the time and investment to repair my computer because it's made me capable of editing a lot quicker and less draining on me.
6:08 she is lying.
Tight lacing (lacing your corset tighter for a more dramatic waist) cannot do this. That line is coaching from tlc.
Even if you tight lace every single day, it cannot cause your bone structure to change or your organs to move.
Because fun fact: the media and Hollywood lies about corsets!
Tight lacing is uncommon and wasn’t practiced when corsets were a part of daily clothing for women.
If your corset is uncomfortable you’ve pulled it too tight or there’s something wrong with it.
If your corset HURTS there is something wrong with the corset or you have some injury and need to go get that checked out immediately.
Being lolita is not a strange addiction, it is a fashion sense.
Hahahaha you made me laugh when you closed the laptop 😂👌 but I understand because I bet you felt so bad how the media is trying to portray Lolita fashion the wrong way
I remember seeing this years ago on TLC. It was the first time I had heard of Venus, and I was very put off by who they portrayed her as. I later learned that she's a really down-to-earth person, and think she's super adorable (in a good way)!
I have recently learned never to trust any show that shows a "character" or person saying something off camera, especially if it reinforces whatever narrative the show is trying to push (such as how these girls should be seen as weirdos being the narrative here,) I have always liked lolita fashion since I was a teenager and I really hope the girls featured in this didn't recieve too much flack for being manipulated by this shady "network/film crew". Thanks for the vid and happy new year!
Oh yaaaaaaaaaay! I love getting misinterpreted and seeing my people getting manipulated by the media to the point where other people get the wrong idea!
Its so sad how people treated Venus on TV, like during interviews and stuff. I hope shes doing well now and away from that horrible mother of hers.
You should check out The Dark Side of Harajuku Style You haven't seen yet 💜
"Mr. Yan's wife con- I mean....model contest." Howling. Never forget the Yan saga.
Great video! May I recommend reacting to Lolitas Of Amsterdam by Refinery29? I think it's pretty good until the end where the designer is like "I hate rules uwu this my my lolita style" wearing a sleeveless dress with cleavage. Not saying she is wrong for wearing what she wants, but I'm getting tired of people not being able to understand the difference between "x isn't lolita" and "you shouldn't wear x". Like if I am wearing fairy kei while calling it lolita and someone says "that's not lolita, that's fairy kei", they aren't telling me not to wear that outfit or saying that it is bad, they're not policing my style, they are just telling me that it is a different category. Most of "lolitas are gatekeepers" comments seem to revolve around this misunderstanding. I wouldn't have had a problem if she had just said "my style is inspired by lolita". Anyway, sorry for the rambling comment. Your video is great, looking forward to the next one!
Ngl when I saw this doc a couple years ago, it was the first time I had ever heard of lolita fashion. I remember it being during the tea party soon and I was in complete awe of all their outfits. From there I researched the fashion and was able to inform myself about it before dressing in it myself a year later. This documentary is definitely problematic in a lot of regards, but I also owe it for introducing me to Jfashion. (:
I feel so sad for Venus when I watch this old footage 💔 Thank gosh she got away from her mother!
I loved this video you are so sweet and real! Also you remind me of Ashley Johnson who played Ellie in the Last of Us for some reason hahah
Eating disorder & lolita are NOT CORRELATING LIFESTYLES!! AAAAAHHH!!!!!!! T_T"
Also, I feel like all that documentary was trying to do was mock lolita and make us look like societal "freaks"! X'C AAHHHHHHHHHHHGGH! D:
I've known growing up that "reality shows are fake". And at first I interpreted that to mean ""the reactions are over dramatic". But it's nice that someone with experience actually points out when there's a voice over or when coaching happens. It helps you spot when something that feels off is actually fake.
As soon as you started this series I knew this video was coming
Here we goooo
(Also you look so cute! That coord! That hair! That makeup! Love
And thank you so much for speaking so positively about Venus! There's still a large group of people who don't know her story, or why she acted the way that she did. It's been so wonderful following her over the years since she got away, and watching her really come into her own. I didn't realize that Emily had been so heavily manipulated the first time I watched this (although I really should have known--the "job hunt" in particular just seemed really weird) so it was nice to learn about her a little more. I'm really loving this series, thank you for making it!
That Sims 2 music at 10:20. I had thought my Sims2 game opened until I realized it was the video lol
Please do a react to Toshi's episode on Love Lust or Run! That show has tried to reach out to many lolitas in NYC, thankfully unsuccessfully. They still did an episode on alt fashion and they sounded very disrespectful to the people on it, although I know that Toshi still continues to be herself and says the experience was positive. The episode doesn't really have anything to do with lolita but it's still very interesting to see mainstream reactions and how people on that show change, but still go back to who they were afterwards.
I was on under cover boss, for half a second, but I still had to talk to the producer and they completely lied to my friends and I about what was going on! When it was clearly undercover boss!
I live with my grandparents... My grandma dosent like lolita fasion... I LOVE LOLITA FASION AND SHE WONT LET ME DO IT!! :'(
I’m so happy you reviewed this docu with more information! I remeber really disliking this episode and the people in it because it gave Lolita a weird name and made the rest of the community look silly and dumb. I’m glad you cleared up how manipulated the video was and I think this information is super important!
Something that really bugs me with this sort of thing is that partially because of the novel 'Lolita' the word is immediately associated with sexual things. Then, using living doll also often becomes a sexual thing due to the whole sex doll thing. It's all been made into sex and it isn't actually sexual. I can't discuss lolita fashion without my mom bringing up the book which is gross and sexualizes children, something I would never stand for. 'Documentaries' like this make it all seem like a bad thing and I hate it.
I love her pearl sticker
god, i remember watching this when it first came out (before i knew much of anything about lolita) and although they tried to make emily look bad, i was still like “wow, she’s so pretty! that’s not weird! i want to look like her!” and i’m now realizing this episode may have been one of the first exposures to lolita i ever had.............. i haven’t seen this since then until now and i can’t believe how cringey it is to me now... even though i still think emily looked adorable in every outfit they showed her in.
great job on this video and thank you for all of the advice you gave about what kinds of questions to ask and what red flags to look for if anybody is ever asked to participate in a documentary like this. i know it is going to help somebody down the line.
My friend was on this show (15:06, Ona McDonald) and after it was shot she told me alllllll about how fake and scripted literally every part is. I wouldn't look into it as far as being an accurate representation of the community. It's meant to catch peoples attention and make the girls look "weird". She also said the show was running out of actually strange content which is why they moved onto more mild things, such as lolitas.
I won’t mind reacting to the Doll Delight docs! I have a deja vu feeling that some of my Cali JFashion friends are in it, but I have never seen it. :o
Sharing this as a slight funny/amusement, but I actually have a friend who use to do lolita, she was also a mechanic's daughter who worked in his shop. She actually put together this cute as can be little "Riveter girl" style lolita outfit with custom, stylized overalls and traded in the normal flowly lace frills for adorable, but low profile, bows and buttons so she was protected while working but still cute as those buttons she had on that outfit. Granted, that is a totally different situation than what they staged there but, I thought maybe you would like knowing that someone did, indeed, manage to mix lolita fashion with the "blue collar worker" look.
*Low-Key love the black butler cosplay*
You just went from "neat Lolita lady that keeps popping up on my feed" to "Momma Bear Lolita Lady of Awesomeness" and I have officially subscribed and turned on notifications 😊💕
Keep being awesome and protective ❣️
I remember seeing this on TV. I actually felt really bad for "luna". I also thought she had low self esteem issues or body image issues. Like going into that world of ED! I was also really annoyed that he family didn't accept her. Her style is so artsy and pretty in my opinion.
Also - do they not understand the work that goes into that outfit. It's not like a 5 minute dress up thing. That girl was doing that for like an hour or something. Stepmum should try to be apart of prep. XD she'd be like omg. o-o
I was also annoyed with the way it was setup because yeah - it's on my strange addiction so someone needed to have an intervention. And tbh - they could've had one more about the dangerous behavior. (I.e. breaking a rib with corsets, or the obsessive habits of like weighing herself.) but like I felt it was weird to call her dressing up as an addiction. There's some people who gotta put makeup on before they leave the house. Is that also an addiction then. o-o
This is the first video of yours I see, but you just seem so nice and polite and funny, so I suscribed!
This episode was my very very very first intro to lolita. the next time the word lolita came up was when my bffs sister was geting into lolita and i was like "oh like venus! :)" que awkward silence. I only learned from watching one of your old videos that saying exactly that was super annoying. But on the bright side little me was smart enough to know when shes being manipulated by tv and knew that just because one person thinks and acts a way not everyone in that culture does and so when i found you and a bunch of other youtube lolitas i learnt not just about fashion but about believeing in who your are and haveing the confidence to dress and like whatever i like, its make me a much happier person and I'll never be more thankful for you, this community and cute stuff in general :)
i remember watching this documentary when it came out thinking it was so insightful, thank you for clearing that up and i can't wait to see more from this series x♡♡
Oh this was so painful to watch. I felt sorry for how these girls were used. It's another example of how anything not mainstream and easily understandable is treated like objects to be ridiculed. I now need to bleach my brain.
I remember watching this when I was young and had never heard of Lolita and even then I was just confused as to the depiction of Emily and even Venus though she was painted in a better light (it’s actually how I found her channel). But the message I got was that neither of them “lived” like a doll it was just a hobby. The only one who wanted to be like a doll was the one getting all the plastic surgery and that had nothing to do with Lolita or j fashion / k fashion etc. And sure extreme plastic surgery could be an addiction but idk how they got away with including a segment about style on a show about addiction.
Yes, PLEASE do an episode on "The Doll Life" series! I tried to watch it when it was briefly on Netflix and I couldn't even make it to the end of the first episode. They barely acknowledged the lolita community at all, and people who auditioned to be models got brutally mocked for wearing j-fashion. It was so ignorant and insulting.