Singer Medina Mohammed performs on Ethiopian Idols, the country’s first-ever version of the global phenomenon Pop Idol. Ethiopia's version of Pop Idol is a far cry from the glamour and glitz of its British and U.S. inspirations. Ethiopian Idols cannot promise riches or fame, but it offers hope in a country where most of the 77 million people cannot even afford a TV set of their own to watch the program. (AP Photo/Anthony Mitchell)
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Feature Article
Idol’s Place in the Global Village
By Lea Sherman
As millions of Americans sit down each week to watch American Idol, most are unaware that local adaptations of this program are being watched in more than forty nations around the globe. In fact, many viewers would be surprised to learn that the concept for Idol actually began in Great Britain.
The Idol format represents just one example of the role that media plays as a cultural change agent. Processes of media globalization have led to increased interaction and exposure amongst different cultures, forever changing local identities and relations between various social groups. However, what form these identity changes take is highly disputed.
McDonald’s International Strategy
Indian youths line up at the opening of the first McDonald's family restaurant in New Delhi. The giant U.S.-based chain is the only McDonald's restaurant in the world with no beef on the menu. Most of the people in India are vegetarians. (AP Photo/Ajit Kumar)
By Rachel Ma
McDonald’s is the world’s largest restaurant chain, with more than 30,000 restaurants in 120 different countries. As the fast food company expands around the world, it adapts to local sensitivities by changing the product line to appeal to local tastes. In the 34 restaurants in India, for example, the “Maharaja Mac” is made of mutton, and the vegetarian options contain no meat or eggs. Likewise, McDonald’s in Pakistan offers “McMaza meals” served with “Aaloo fingers.”
One perspective on media as a cultural change agent sees the emergence of a Global Village. The central argument of this view states that the local embraces and adapts the global without forfeiting its own unique identity. Media globalization is seen as a positive development that creates deep, sensory bonds between people of different cultures despite not sharing the same physical space.
As a result of these strengthened bonds, a global community will eventually emerge. Like a local culture, this “Global Village” will share a set of meanings and values as well as a global collective memory. A shared sense of fate and global consciousness will arise, as has already occurred through issues such as global warming and the international financial crisis. As a result of this global culture, national identity will diminish and post-national forms will prevail. Similarly, as physical and imagined boundaries blur, groups that were previously “others” will become humanized, leading to empathy that is not restricted to nation. In turn, this cultural delineation brings about the rise of a large cosmopolitan class that, although retaining local identities, will be open to diversity and comfortable in other cultures.
Proponents of this perspective point to the spread of formats such as Idol as evidence of an emerging global community. Idol represents just one adapted global format, or a licensed or copied format adapted for local diversity in which the origin often remains unknown. Despite the global spread of the Idol concept, the format remains the same. The season always begins with auditions of potential contestants and a narrowing down of the performers after each episode. In addition, each program has a panel of judges and the fate of each participant is put to the vote of the audience. The stage looks similar in each adaptation, and a different musical theme is presented for each episode. Even each nation’s logo follows a similar pattern, that of a blue oval with the program’s name written within.
Although the format remains the same, each nation has adapted the program for local tastes and values. For example, on Arab Idol contestants recite poetry in place of singing. Singapore Idol airs a “Piano Show” episode in which the singer is backed up by piano. Also, although some of the musical themes cross over from different cultures, such as Australian idols singing Motown hits, most nations’ adaptations dedicate at least one week to showcasing songs from within their own culture and language.
In addition to adapted global formats, Global Village proponents also cite the existence of global media products as evidence for their view. These are texts or merchandise that are syncretic, or a mix of cultural influences, and that are created through a process of decentering, or taking influences from multiple cultures so that one is not dominant.
Although only one perspective on the role of media as a cultural change agent, the Global Village view considers media globalization a positive tool for the promotion of intercultural understanding.