Sheckhar Deshpande, in his article “The Confident Gaze”, writes on what he calls “the cultural value of the [National geographic] magazine” (par 2), specifically in their issue about India’s 50th anniversary of their independence. He makes many claims about National Geographic's intent of their magazines and about its audience, Western Society. Knowing that National Geographic is known more for its splendid photos, his claims are based primarily from the photographs not the actual text found in the magazines.
Deshpande explains that editors of National Geographic consciously make the effort “to make the world a happy place and a happy place especially for the western eye” (par 9). By this he means that the editors can make even the most cruel and bloody of circumstances be passive enough that the reader can be interested yet not troubled by the images. One could be proud to place it on their coffee table to express their knowledge, without the fear of offending or disgusting others.
As westerners we think of ourselves as progressive and forward thinkers and we want other countries, third-world countries, to continue to become more like us. Using this common thought, National Geographic appeals to westerners by providing a comparison that can be used to heighten westerners' egos. “The primitive, often a focus of the magazine, serves the same function by providing images of what ‘would have been’ if the west had not taken a march toward ‘civilization’” (par 15). In essence Deshpande is stating that the west uses the images/stories of others to construct self-identity. By seeing the bad situations of other countries it gives the west leeway to brag about how so-called “better we must be compared to them”.
The reason National Geographic has been around so long is they not only provide some insight about other cultures but it also knows how to use that information to boost the ego of America and other “sophisticated” western nations.
No comments:
Post a Comment