While reading this piece of
literature, I become very sickened in the way that Genji used women to satisfy his
need for dominance. I spent some time watching the R. Kelly documentary tapes
this past summer and Genji’s actions show many similarities to R. Kelly’s
actions with women. If R. Kelly’s story is not familiar to you, it is a very
long and uncomfortable story. R. Kelly is a famous musical artist that was
known for having interest in younger women or underage women. Younger women
interested him because of their innocence and his ability to control them
easier than a mature adult. R. Kelly would hold these girls in his house, and
they would not be allowed to even go to the bathroom without asking him first.
Theorists who have been following him believe that he controls these girls
until they become almost like a pet to him. The documentary is very interesting
and definitely a must watch if you enjoy investigative shows.
If you haven’t caught onto where I’m going
with Genji, let me explain. Genji showed interest in more innocent or childlike
women. The story validates that when it says, “Something childlike in her
fright brought a smile to his lips” (p. 1483). Genji is intrigued in the
innocence and we could even say the vulnerability of this woman to be
influenced by him. Genji was a married man and so was R. Kelly, but it seems
like this infidelity was acceptable for Genji compared to the negative traits
it has today. We discussed how common it was for married and powerful men to
have affairs with multiple other women. These women threw themselves at Genji
because he is who he is. This is a parallel to R. Kelly’s story because the
same happened for him. These younger girls or naive young women would throw
themselves at him because of his money and fame. A lot of the time R. Kelly
would promise musical opportunities to these women and that would make them
even more inclined to stick with him. The “player” personality of Genji is
something that we often find in wealthy and powerful people today. Although
Genji is not at the extreme level as R. Kelly, it is hard not to see the
similar tendencies these men had with taking full advantage of who they were.
What were your opinions on Genji and his lovers? Did you think that he was a good lover or a toxic lover?
