I watched the first episode of Queer Eye:
We’re in Japan! this week and I feel
exhausted. It’s basically five American queer guys teaching a Japanese hospice
nurse Yoko “how to be a woman” and it seems like (at least to me) a weird combination
of “queers are all designers” and “look, we’re so happy! Why don’t you be as proud
as we are?” It speaks to one of my biggest problems with this kind of shows—they
mislead people to think that the problem is on themselves when in fact it
is the larger social structure that prevents them from leading a better life (Wakae’s
post offers a great alternative to this). I am not saying that there is no happy
woman in Japan, but they have to be very very lucky. I also don’t think changing
Yoko’s hairstyle or buying her a new coat with brighter color will solve the
problem, although they remain, to say the least, good-intentioned (and to a certain
extent, quite practical) methods to make her feel better (but only temporarily,
sorry I feel compelled to add this!)
Your post touches on a point that was running through my head as I sampled a few reality shows: the obsession with the individual, and the "empowerment" therein. Newer shows like "Love is Blind" or "The Circle" bill themselves as a way for contestants to represent "who they really are," without "all the gimmicks" afforded by modern life; similarly a show like "Survivor" alleges to get at the core of a person because it is about your survivor instincts kicking in. But every single one of these, along with what you note here, functions to remove the individual from not just society but any real context that their life has within the larger social systems. "Queer Eye" sometimes addresses things like this, but often it is about merely smaller, more personal changes, and the show certainly isn't pledging to devote itself to huge systemic change.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Chinese version of Queer Eye, a completely straight and patriarchal show featuring female celebrities -- mostly in their 30s and unmarried. A total disaster! Maybe it can be a case to further study your point and format shows in general (transformation from the problematic to the catastrophic)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I happened to watch one episode of "You Look So Beautiful" during spring break, the reality show mentioned by Yayu. That episode centers around a divorced lady who runs a small restaurant with a son. I feel my major frustration lies in two aspects. First, all the discourses concerning female that might be deemed as slightly progressive are entirely undermined by a logic of consumerism. Second, more frustratingly, you can the find a distinctively neoliberalistic logic here: structural problems remain invisible and undiscussed while an individual is held responsible for suffering misfortune and becoming a better person.
Delete