Bui - 05/04

Bui's article was interesting in that it made me realize of the 'rags to riches' narrative that the Idol franchise tries to push forward. It made me realize that American Idol is not so much about the singing but the stories of the contestants. It reminded me a lot of Filipino versions of popular American game shows, such as Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, and Singing Bee. All of these shows promote the 'bootstraps' narrative that Bui was alluding to. It never occurred to me that most of the contestants in these shows were from either impoverished areas of the cities or the provinces so as to exemplify the 'rags to riches' aspect of their potential climb to fame. I've witnessed game show contestants 'make it big' in Filipino showbiz due to a combination of their 'sob story' and 'talent'. This is referring to what Bui said regarding picking contestants who have the potential to become successful. Lastly, Bui made me realize that the contestants who 'make it' are young adults. This completely disregards the older group who are not given the same opportunities as young adults. It seems to me that show business invests treats these young people as commodities for the international market. They're training and conditioning them to compete and partake in this 'globalized culture' to put their country in the global spotlight. However, it is important to realize that they're not utilizing their country's own culture but are using a 'global' culture dictated by dominant western society.