The Contestant

It has been said that reality TV mirrors society, capturing the best and worst of it all. I agree, but the mirror is more like a Fun House mirror, wrapped and contorting the vision before it. In all honesty, reality TV is a vice, a stage where performers are pulled on strings or manipulated to pull their strings. This can be a nice metaphor for today’s film, a powerful and ridiculous story of arguably one of the most controversial, yet unsung stories of reality TV. The Contestant is the story of Tomoaki Hamatsu, a contestant on a groundbreaking new shift for television, and the first major instance of reality TV, in all its perverted and sinister glory.


And the lucky winner is …

Tomoaki Hamatsu was like any other young person in the late 1990’s. Having been bullied in his childhood he had a head the shape of an eggplant, Tomoaki decided the best thing he could do was make his bullies laugh. But he also wanted to make others laugh.

In his early 20’s Tomoaki entered the chance for an exciting gameshow and won. Being whisked off with no idea where he was going, he ended up in a small flat, told to strip naked, and informed to buy his freedom, he needed to win one million Yen’s worth of competition prizes. And to entertain himself, clothe himself, and feed himself, he had to win all those items. And he did this for 13 months! Worst still … his life in the flat is being live-streamed to millions.

This is an incredible tale, one which left the other reviewers in the screening to exclaim how crazy it truly was. I was aware of Tomoaki and his troubling journey in the game show, so I was excited to see what I didn’t know. The Contestant is an insightful and incredibly well-paced documentary, covering the key events of Tomoaki’s story. It’s to the point and doesn’t linger too much on the concept or impact of reality TV itself.

And I understand why, as this would be a whole film, or series alone if we were to discuss the evils of reality TV. But we get an insight into the inner workings of what happened in detail, from Tomoaki and from the show’s producer himself, who refers to himself as “The Devil”. We get to meet a few other people who either knew Tomoaki or reported on the show itself. We get a good, levelled insight into what occurred and why it did.

I’m kind of a sucker for documentaries that pick apart bit by bit the subject, like Trainwreck: Woodstock 99, in a profoundly amusing and bleak way. And like that and Blackfish, The Contestant is precise, and straight to the point in delivering this insane story of how it happened. I wish there were some highlights included which I’ve seen but it might be down to your interests. How Tomoaki wins a PlayStation, a TV, and a copy of Gran Turismo, plays in for several days, and does so streaming it to millions of people watching. This is incredible as it classes Tomoaki as the world’s first live streamer in the reality TV format, and for gaming!

Some other bits are highlighted yet not focused on, such as him winning steaks for the first time and how Tomoaki is just so thrilled to be eating meat after just eating rice and dog food. Some bits of interest are missing, but not missed even by someone like me who knows of the tale already. As I said, the documentary is to the point, focused, and paced well within its 90-minute run time.


Crimes and Punishment … with a laugh track

Our star Tomoaki was trapped for 9 months and then tricked into doing it all over again in Korea for another 4. During this time, we get to see his inner thoughts and deepest fears. Snippets of his diary which he kept while in the flat reveal a vastly tormented soul who was on the brink of insanity too often. Tomoaki had a fantastic and tragic way with words, and these snippets where poetic and gut-wrenching to say the least.

It was incredibly insight to hear Tomoaki’s voice speak the words of his torment, and even sadder when studio audiences were laughing at it. The documentary does an excellent job of examining his plight and throwing in the disgusting nature of humans laughing at pure misery.

We see Tomoaki starve, we see him trying everything to keep his spirits up, and relishing every bit of food and useful item he wins like it’s a gift from the Gods. For 1000s of hours captured, we see 30 – 40 minutes of actual footage of Tomoaki’s time in this reality Hell. Like I said, there are a couple of small, but interesting bits not present, and I wondered if there was more that could’ve been highlighted.

There is a perverted outlook to the whole thing, such as Tomoaki being told to strip by a producer, how he performs comedy routines in front of a camera, unknowing it would be broadcast to millions of people, and the mental manipulation performed by the producer to get him to stay (as the door was unlocked and Tomoaki could leave anytime he wanted), and do it again in Korea. We see Tomoaki’s return home, and the aftermath where he felt lost, abused, and ignored as his career as a comedy actor does not go anywhere.

We see the logic from the producer and the sinister attitude of the audience. While I miss the crazy nature of the TV landscape sometimes, I’m also thankful we’re more mature and considerate towards people like Tomoaki … for the most part.

We see everything we need too, and I had wondered by the 70-minute mark, where this documentary would go for its finale. Would it be a deep dive into the impact of reality TV? As the filmmakers claimed, the show was influential, and a pivot for the rise of reality TV. Fascinating as not many people know of this story, even though it’s so important and relevant to the true nature of the beast. Were there others that followed in its footsteps? It didn’t seem so. And, weirdly, such a compelling and tragic story is largely unheard of despite the claims.

But then there’s the end.


Facing reality head on

Even if you know of this story extensively, the documentary is still absolutely worth viewing, especially for the last 15 minutes, which reveals Tomoaki and his journey to meaningful fulfilment. We are taken to 2011 when Japan faced such a catastrophic event, it caused death, mass destruction, and sheer horror bathed the country. Tomoaki always wanted to be a comedian, and from this point on, he found a higher purpose in life. To help others.

I genuinely teared up seeing this man, who was laughed at, belittled, and stripped of his pride and clothing not only make amends with himself but accomplish a greater feat. I won’t go any further, but it’s truly a remarkable end and personal redemption for Tomoaki, that it shows through any hardship and past mistakes, we can all achieve, and better our lives and others.

This makes the documentary so brilliant, and everything before this point was excellent. But knowing that Tomoaki’s life came too long after the show ended, did make this an exceptional and powerful film overall.


Overall?

The Contestant is an emotional rollercoaster of a documentary, where you will be shocked, disgusted, thoroughly amused, and immensely touched by the conclusion. It’s a slick, no-nonsense descent into reality TV madness, that gives the events to you straight and simple. While it would’ve been nice to see a little deeper diving into the topic, and more of the unseen footage during the show, there’s no denying that The Contestant is a fantastic examination of manipulation, greed, the pressure of fame but also the triumphant reward of finding meaning and purpose long after the cameras go off.

In the end, Tomoaki’s materialistic journey is overshadowed by his good deeds, and this is a message the film delivers with such precision. And this message is so important, more now than ever.

I strongly recommend you check out the insane story of The Contestant as soon as you can!