How to Hire Fake Friends and Family

[LeafOnTheWind]

I read this article and part of me is still wondering if this is a real thing.

How to Hire Fake Friends and Family

I was hoping some of the members from Japan can help me put some cultural context around this as well.

Ishii Yuichi from Japan started a company of actors to fill any role for their clients. Ishii got the idea for his company because he pretended to be the father of a man who was denied entry to a private school solely because he didn't have a father.

Some acting parts are fairly benign. I did laugh that people hire them as actors to apologize to other businesses or to praise them in front of other people. He will also bring extras to speech engagements so that the crowds will be better attended.

Other parts of this were really disturbing and some stories were really sad. I think in some cases their parts cross lines they shouldn't.

Anyway, curious to know others thoughts on this. I'm still trying to process it all.

 

[Spun Silver]

That is very strange... and it will make a fabulous movie!

Capitalism is amazing in its ability to adapt to the changing marketplace! The company seems very well thought out! But I agree with you, it is very unsettling. The actor who has no private life of his own. The young girl who “has a father when she needs it most” but will probably find out the truth one day — I think he is a little too sanguine about what the impact on her then will be.

Bizarre but fascinating.

 

[Kasey]

This is disturbing to me. I'm not sure why, or how to explain it. I guess, I don't know, I'd rather be someone alone and authentic than to hire a "boyfriend" or something. I think this concept just further separates us (as a society) from reality, and I think the inability to deal with reality, (as well as acceptance of personal responsibility) is seriously damaging our social structure.

Again, I'm not getting the words together right now to get my full thoughts across. But this feels, just, sad and in ways, dangerous to me.

 

[skatesindreams]

It's dangerous, in ways that the developers likely didn't consider.
However, nefarious people surely have!

 

[Jenny]

I see where this does feed into the whole redefinition of truth mess we're in right now, but at the same time, much of what this company is doing is just professionalizing things that people have been doing on their own forever. For example, hiring an escort to accompany you to a work event, or having a platonic friend come as your wedding "date" to avoid annoying questions from family, or marrying someone for the sole purpose of being eligible for a visa or an apartment.

So yes, it's all fake, but in this world of outsourcing because you don't have the time to do it all yourself, I can see where this would be a potential solution for some people in some situations. I wouldn't go as far as having a child think an actor is her father, but that's the extreme end of it.

btw, I think this is the same guy who was on the Japan episode of Ellen Page's Gaycation, in which she and her co-host acted as friends of a man who was going to come out to his mother. The idea was that they would help smooth a very tense situation, which as I recall they did with great sensitivity.

ETA - and what about Santa? That's a widespread example of hiring someone or using their image and telling children that he is a real person with the power to give or not give gifts to them.

 

[snoopy]

I think the story maybe ties into this one....dying alone in Japan is epidemic.


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...die_alone_and_unnoticed_every_year_their.html

 

[MacMadame]

I am not a fan of lying so it doesn't sit well with me. It's manipulative to tell a child that a man is her father when he not only isn't but is being paid to act a part.

Santa is different because it's a story. It's make-believe in an age-appropriate way. So it would be the same if you continued to tell your 20-year-old daughter that Santa was a real person. But not when you are playing make-believe with a 4-year-old.

Plus, I was careful never to lie to my kids about it. If they asked if Santa was real: I said "I believe in him", not "yes". (I do believe in Santa as a spirit of the holidays and a historical figure.)

 

[Garden Kitty]

Fascinating article. I thought it would be more like the "one time" role Jenny mentioned above, hiring a date for a work event. These roles that go on for years and involve close relationships are disturbing to me.

 

[mrr50]

This is disturbing on so many levels. Renting a father for a child just boggles the mind. This isn't a big brother/big sister/mentor type of relationship. I also thought that rent-a-date was akin to an escort service. I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just gobsmacked

 

[Spun Silver]

This is disturbing on so many levels. Renting a father for a child just boggles the mind. This isn't a big brother/big sister/mentor type of relationship. I also thought that rent-a-date was akin to an escort service. I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just gobsmacked

The whole thing is emotional prostitution. But actually it is worse as unwitting, unwilling people - esp children - are directly affected.

 

[Vagabond]

Some of us get our fake friends and family for free.