Anyone who watches, or has had the delight of viewing snippets of popular television show, ‘The Bachelor’, knows that there are an interesting array of women in the running for Jordan’s hand. However, during the episode I was forced to watch (by an overly keen flatmate), I noticed that each time the girls were interviewed singly in front of the camera, something odd occurred when their screen names popped up. What struck me unusual was what followed their names… “Shari – Paraparaumu and then Lindsay – USA/Auckland, followed by Naz – Iran/Christchurch.”)
Initially I thought this could definitely be an example of
inferential racism, a subtle, yet blatant labelling of the person’s ethnicity
as if to state that the individual somehow cannot be deemed as ‘Kiwi,’ or that
it was necessary to categorise these differences to the audience. Perhaps the
media provider thought the ethnic diversity of the girls was to be emphasised
so as to demonstrate the ‘all-inclusive’ and multi-cultural society that New
Zealand is so accepting of? This occurrence could very easily go unnoticed as
it has become such common-held knowledge that identifying and thus prejudicing
someone based on their ethnicity is the ‘norm;’ especially in the media.
To further question the representation of these women, it is
also interesting to note that the programme’s one scripted ‘bad-girl,’ who
causes havoc amongst the others, and treads upon anyone in order to win, is Naz
- the Iranian, and therefore, ‘exotic other.’ Could this possibly be seen as a
branch off of the dominating fear of the Orient, and of what we had discussed in
the recent lecture regarding the ‘Muslim fear’ and violent image created of
those whom have this particular belief system? On pondering over this I believe
that I have observed the ideological construction of the ‘nasty other’ in play
here, without the producers realising that this can be seen in this light. Yes,
it is certainly in a less aggressive context - a dating show, however, crucial nonetheless.
I am curious as to what your opinions are on this matter I have
discussed. All in all, I see areas pertaining to inferential racism here in
that the media producer has attempted to be conscious of this racial labelling
concern, however, these efforts have in turn projected certain ideas upon the audience or may well have reinforced them.
One thing I noted when watching one of the initial episodes was that when Naz had an issue with another girl and was 'scheming' about it, they played this Persian style espionage music in the background.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I didn't watch further to see if that sound track was allotted just to Naz, or whether it was their general 'something bad is happening' soundtrack. Either way, still problematic.
It was so interesting to me to see the ethnic labelling beneath the girls' names as they were introduced. I'm from the States, and am an avid- U.S. Bachelor/Bachelorette viewer, and all we ever see beneath the guys'/girls' names are which state they are from and what their occupation is.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me as though racial controversy follows this show no matter what country it is produced in. The U.S. version is currently under scrutiny for choosing yet another white Bachelorette to helm the next season, although another fan favorite was a contestant who was half-Filipino. Of the 31 seasons of The Bachelor/Bachelorette back in the States, only one of them has been non-white. I am very curious as to the reasoning behind the producer's decision to once again exclude diversity, especially in light of a class action racial discrimination lawsuit against the show back in 2012.
So be it in New Zealand or the United States, it would appear as though there are some serious discussions regarding diversity and racial profiling that need to take place before another season gets underway.