Journal #8: Vietnam Idol

In the last lecture we had learned about neoliberalism. At first it sounds like a progressive idea, but it is actually the liberalization of the market, where private businesses will profit at the hands of the public. Neoliberalism seems to affect all aspects of our lives as the instructor in the video noted and when I think about it, it actually does. It even affects seemingly innocent productions such as Vietnam Idol, which seems like the integration of Asian with western media, but, in truth, is an effect of imperialism and an attempt to develop a market in a third world nation.

The main focus of this essay is the development of Vietnam Idol and it’s effects and purpose and

even how gender is affected. Extending Pop Idol to a Vietnamese platform is in a way an extension

of Western Imperialism in Asia. The same way Imperialism is, things that are applicable in the west

are not always applicable in the Asian platforms, due to the already established cultural differences.

A main issue that was discussed was that the Vietnamese were more reserved with their emotions, so

the idea of reality television was much more difficult to conjure up. The creation of Vietnam Idol also

outlined the class difference rather than unify, because those who were able to participate lived in

urbanized cities and it was not accessible to the dominant rural lands of Vietnam. Due to the

difference in structure of the Western countries who have an Idol show with Vietnam, it is evident

that the shows won’t work out in the same manner. Also, although the Vietnamese Media wants to

follow the western model in order to gain global recognition, they also want to stand out and be their

own and take on small acts of resistance that establishes their own identity. The contestants are

followed throughout their transformation to stardom. One winner, in particular, was mentioned often:

Phuong Vy. Vy became the face of Vietnamese media and through her social norms were both

challenged and enforced.