I thought the discussion about popular culture was very interesting, especially the way it differs among cultures. Back home we pretty much watch the same shows that air here. People have gotten as addicted to Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost as people in the US.
I have to admit I got a bit excited when we started discussing Star Academy and the TV series Noor, even though I never watched either one of them. I remember when I was in high school and Star Academy first started. People went crazy. And with good reason I believe; it was the first time a show like that happened in the Middle East. I personally would have been more likely able to tell you who won American Idol, but the majority of people in Middle East were able to relate to this show more. The same goes for Noor. Turkey had been doing their own TV shows for some time. Noor was the first show that got dubbed in Arabic and it became a huge hit. It also led to a lot more Turkish TV shows being played in the Arab World. I think the reason people loved it so much was because they could relate to it.
A lot of controversies followed both TV shows. Star Academy was based in Lebanon which is a somewhat more liberal country than others in the Middle East. However, many religious figures thought it was an outrage that both the girls and guys were living in one house. I actually remember my grandmother commenting on it too. Also, they didn’t approve of the way some girls dressed on the show. But I don’t find it surprising; I guess it just kinda comes with the territory.
In addition to younger people watching the American TV shows, there are many Arabic soap operas that are extremely popular. I believe it is because they can simply relate to it more than they would with Gossip Girl, for example. When Noor became popular, tourism definitely increased in Turkey, like Professor Hayden mentioned. I personally know people that wanted to go see the house were the show was filmed. I also remember my dad telling me how some woman went so far as wanting to get married there.
All in all, I think entertainment, whether its TV or music, or popular culture in general exists all over the world. However, I think people view things differently, and therefore it can differ depending on what people would relate to or simply like.
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This is interesting after studying cultural diplomacy, to think about regional enemies using cultural diplomacy to open up their peoples to one another.
ReplyDeleteWe always think about East vs. West, however there might be a chance for these brother and sister nations of the Middle East to communicate among one another using these types of media to bring about better relations. The peoples of the Middle East have so much in common, but they are poised to ignore this.