Ninja experts wanted

[featherynscale]

From the wires today:

**12. ENTERTAINMENT: NINJAS - ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION (US)
"Power Rangers" are back en vogue. Movies are featuring the cloaked warriors. Ninjas are suddenly back in mainstream pop culture. I'm looking to speak with popular culture experts, home video authorities, martial arts aficionados and others who might be able to contribute to this story and shed some light on the appeal of ninjas for what looks to be a fun and entertaining story.
Need leads by 05:00 PM US/Eastern JUL 12
Monitored by eWatch
>>> Don Fernandez [dfernandez@ajc.com] Phone: 770-509-4094 URL:
>>> http://www.ajc.com

Seriously, can someone call this man and explain to him about the ninjas?

Comments

[greektoomey.livejournal.com]

*boggle*

Did ninjas go away at some point?

Also, "what looks to be..."? The man doesn't know the tone of his own story with any certainty?

[silentreality.livejournal.com]

ninjasvspirates !

Explaining Ninjas

[orcjohn.livejournal.com]

Sorry, not possible. You either understand the entertainment value of people sneaking around in black pajamas, killing people with lots of nasty sharp weapons, or you don't. BTW: when are these ninja movies coming out?

Ninja van-ish!

[gamera-spinning.livejournal.com]

Well, I think the height of the ninja craze is proportional to the film career of Sho Kusugi, meaning that ninja popularity began in 1981, surged in the mid-80s and then waned by '89. I remember in high school that several kids I knew kept a tiny shuriken in their wallets (probably something they picked up at a flea market or head shop). The '80s was also the publishing high point of books by Stephen K. Hayes, the guy who claimed to be the American inheritor of the ninja tradition. Nowadays he has learning centers for his own ninja-based martial art called "To-Shin Do".

I guess I get nostalgic when I see ninjas in movies these days. I remember giggling when seeing ninjas in the movie, "The Last Samurai", simply because it had been years since I'd seen a ninja in a film. Expect to see tons o' ninjas in the "Elektra" movie next year.

I suspect that ninjas because of the 80-ness are part of the nostalgic wave of Gen X for Transformers, Thundercats, GI Joe and Battle of the Planets. The thing that makes it nostalgic for me is remembering an old goofy friend, Rob Hood, who was about 7 feet tall and somewhat heavy. He owned a complete ninja costume, and would often read books on becoming invisible and controlling people's minds. He was a nice enough guy, but he was about as stealthy as Chris Farley.