Thursday, May 4, 2017

"Globalization and Public Cartographies of Vietnam Idol" by Long Bui

Nouriyah Saleh
May 4, 2017

Blog Response: "Globalization and Public Cartographies of Vietnam Idol"

Long Bui studies the effects of Vietnam Idol on its people. He emphasizes on the issue of neocolonialism of Western countries on Vietnam through Vietnam Idol and the consequence of engenderment. I never thought about Pop/American Idol as a channel of imperialism so reading this article was interesting to me to see the issue in a new light. I question the impact of Idol on Vietnam because 1) the show had been constructed as a more personal reality TV show that takes in average contestants to build them up professionally, and 2) the consumer market is too immature for people to care. If there's an underlying push for Westernization/imperialism on Vietnam through this show, but the consumer market is too underdeveloped, does It actually matter that Idol exists? Attributing to that "problem" is also the Vietnamese culture - Bui wrote that the contestants who auditioned love and care for music rather than just wanting fame and money.  I think Idol represents a sort of failure for Westernization/imperialism because Vietnam is different in culture, economics, and the rural vs. urban population. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I can't say but it shows that a country is able to stand on its own without the influence of Western countries. 

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