A central theme within Ruth Ozeki’s “My Year of Meats” is the idea of authenticity. It comes up when Joichi “John” Ueno makes Akiko rate his reality show “My American Wife,” which is sponsored by BEEF-EX, and is in fact the cause of most of their fights regarding the show. Authenticity also appears in the very core of the “My American Wife” where the goal is to find “authentic” attractive wives with attractive families and lifestyles so that BEEF-EX can make meat look appealing to Japanese viewers. However, many characters in the book have different views on what authenticity means and the definitive definition is never revealed. In fact, “My American Wife,” the authentic reality show is one of the least authentic or realistic parts of the…show more content… Reviewer Clara Younge enjoyed the complexity of “My Year of Meats,” but she also questions what authenticity means within the book. “She [Jane] looks to document an America that is more authentic,” she writes, “more true, more dynamic, and complex.” Clara, like most readers, has recognized the importance of how authentic the reality show seems to it’s viewers — how else would BEEF-EX sell their product if it didn’t seem authentic? In accordance with the book and it’s questioning of authenticity and wholesomeness, Clara Younge adds “What is ‘authenticity’? Can it co-exist with ‘wholesomeness’?” I would argue that, to a certain extent, authenticity and wholesomeness cannot habit the same sphere of reality. Authentic living isn’t always “wholesome.” Someone who lost their job and slums in the streets is tangibly authentic, but not quite wholesome. I believe that Clara’s questions vaguely veil that she feels this way about authenticity and wholesomeness as well. In her conclusion paragraph she asks “To what extent can a name really authentically represent what it belongs to?” This is in reference to Beale Street, the heart of Blues and Soul within Memphis, Tennessee, which is brought up twice on account of it’s authenticity or lack thereof. Beale Street can be viewed metaphorically, as a symbol of how something once so alive and rich in history has now become tourist-y and insincere.…show more content… I don’t know... so authentic, you know?”
“Authentic?”
“Uh huh. Especially that part after the Survey, where you guys put in that boinnggg! I mean, that’s exactly what it felt like to me at that time. Like I’d been hit on the head with one of those rubber mallets or something.” (Ozeki 318B).
It’s a subtle irony that Jane marks that episode off as such an inauthentic horrible episode, when the actual subject believes it to be thoroughly realistic. My point is this: within the book, the characters all believe authenticity to be something different. For Jane, it’s showing the “real” America, the one with poor families, lesbian couples, “non-traditional” families. For John, it’s beautiful, buxom women with huge slabs of meat to feed to their equally attractive family. But, for Suzie Flowers, authenticity priories how she felt in the moment, her true