Saturday, May 9, 2009

A Global Multicultural Moment

I need to remember to tell my students another method for studying another culture - watching TV. So far, I've seen a couple of American shows and a movie, and some reality TV shows similar to the U.S. The one I'm watching now has a group of people reconstructing a garage for him to use I think as independent living quarters for a young man who can't walk and who lives in a wheelchair - sorta like Extreme Makeover-Home Edition. Then, earlier they had the Singin' Bee (complete with four background dancers wearing these skimpy black outfits with wings! I think I even have more rhythm than these dancers, although Scott may have a difference of opinion! LOL) in which contestants had to finish lines of a song, sorta like the Wayne Brady's "Don't Forget the Lyrics!" and Norway's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionnaire".

Also today was a women's rugby match (I think) and during a time out, they played the song from Zorba the Greek. It got me wondering, have they used this song all along? Or are they only now using it again after some Yolngu Aboriginal youth (the Chooky Dancers) from Australia made it popular again when they became a YouTube hit? If it's the latter, then it's truly a global moment. First, Zorba the Greek is a novel by a Greek author, which became a film directed by a Greek director but starred in by Anthony Quinn and it won several Academy Awards. These Australian Aboriginal youths made a dance to it, putting in their unique spin, and now a Norwegian women's rugby team are using it for inspiration.

2 comments:

MisAnthropology said...

I love the teevee watching method. Perfect venue for content analysis. That's how I justify every watching 'America's Next Top Model'.

Last time I was in Germany, reruns of 'Hogan's Heroes' was running big. I can tell you, I got lot's of good, interpretive analysis out of that, you can be sure. It made me look at that program in a whole, new light.

Dee said...

Hey there Mary,
That's funny about Hogan's Heroes in Germany! I bet there was a lot of good interpretive analysis there!

And, yes, I've been sucked into "American's Next Top Model". Not this year, but last summer, I think. I also enjoyed watching "The Ultimate Coyote Ugly" TV show, which was like "Top Model" except they had to dance on the bar, make drinks, and calculate drinks.