I reluctantly watched the Amazing Race this weekend and I have to say I enjoyed it, even though I was quite annoyed throughout the episode with its use of dramatic music and the extreme action shots, even though they enhance the main foundation of the format. After watching, as I was looking for some facts and ratings of the latest season, I stumbled upon an interesting journal article by Elizabeth Montroy on the portrayal of Orientalism and Conflicting Americanism in the show. While she doesn't detail the manner in which other countries are portayed in her paper, she does go on to analyze the dual ideologies of Americanism present within the show. One is that of encouraging global travel to Americans, whereas the other is that of America being a globally dominant nation within a set 'heirarchy of nations'. She has used the Said's theory of Orientalism to aid in her analysis and also touches upon the notion of nation-branding within reality TV. Considering our topic of reality television this week and past discussion of Orientalism, I thought this could be an interesting paper to read and discuss further in class.
The paper is International Travel, Nation-Branding, and Orientalism: Conflicting Portrayals of Americanism in The Amazing Race by Elizabeth A. Montroy, published in the Inquiries Journal.
The paper is International Travel, Nation-Branding, and Orientalism: Conflicting Portrayals of Americanism in The Amazing Race by Elizabeth A. Montroy, published in the Inquiries Journal.
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