FORE! : How Saudi Arabia is using golf to change its image

 It is no secret that Saudi Arabia does not have the best track record when it comes to human rights, the whole world knows it. Like many of their gulf neighbors, Saudi Arabia is attempting to use sport as a way to change the international and internal image of itself. They are using the billions of “blood money” dollars to lure some of the world's best golfers away from the already established and prestigious PGA Tour to their own LIV Golf series as a form of “sportwashing” and to help change the narrative of their nation. This attempt, as outlined in this New York Times article, is the most bold of any of the gulf nations as a way to sport wash people from viewing Saudi Arabia as a human rights disaster to a more “conservative muslim nation” that backs and particpiates in world sport. What makes this attempt so bold is that instead of backing a sport or like its neighbor Qatar, hosting a FIFA World Cup, they are attempting to completely take over a sport, one that has its own controversial history with inclusion and diversity. 

The attempt to overrun the historical white elitist sport of golf (which the PGA Tour has had its own struggles rebranding itself as a more diverse sport) and upsetting the nearly one hundred year PGA Tour system of professional golf is by far the boldest attempt yet by a middle eastern nation attempting to change their image. The emergence of the LIV Golf Series and the departure of top PGA players to join them for reported absurd amounts of money, have all raised the questions and concerns of the LIV Golf motives and then also the history of the PGA Tour and how it has historically treated its players and its lack of equal opportunities to those of color. 

Despite the LIV Golf Series gaining traction and more players resigning from the PGA Tour to join LIV, it really hasn’t changed professional golf yet as still the majority of the world's top players continue to play for the PGA Tour. And with every player that joins LIV they get grilled by the media about Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights violations and whether or not they condone it because of the money they are willing to accept from them to support this PR movement by the Saudi Arabian government. So, at least right now Saudi Arabia is not being left off the hook for backing LIV golf as currently people see through it. But as more and more players jump ship over to LIV and they play more and more events, especially when the start to play events in the US starting in July, it will be interesting to see just how effective this “sportwashing” can be and if it truly does change the narrative of Saudi Arabia.

The Office: A postmodern take on documentaries

 For this week I watched a video on how The Office is an example of postmodernism popular culture. The video discusses how the show's style of a mockumentary as well as the current pop culture references within the show are what make it a postmodern example. The mockumentary style is a style that is hyper aware of the documentary style of filming, as the video explains with the classic cuts to a solo headshot interview and the one camera following everybody around to capture what the characters are doing as if it were a documentary despite it being a scripted show. She explains that what makes the mockumentary postmodern is that it is a “rearticulation of a documentary. It copies the style of a documentary… chronicling a real story, the mockumentary takes these ideas and adds ironic and humorous effects.” She then goes on to add that in show references to current popular culture things like Battlestar Galactica and another NBC show airing on the network at the same time The Apprentice are more ways in which the show is hyper aware of itself and uses these current pop culture references for humorous effect.

From this video I learned how a mockumentary setup is an example of a postmodern example and what about it makes it an example. How taking the documentary style of shooting a show and adding that ironic and humorous twist is what makes it postmodern. It’s also really cool to see how the mockumentary style became such a popular style of show during the mid 2000’s with The Office and Modern Family, two of the most popular shows were cut in the same style, one being in an office setting and the other the other being in a family home setting. It goes to show just how popular of a format that it is that two of the most popular television shows running at the same time are shot the same way, just with different personal settings. 

Within the show, as I kind of touched on earlier, they are hyper aware of their pop culture status and make intertextual references throughout the show with other references to pop culture items. For example one episode is about Michael being the Willy Wonka of paper and gives away three “golden tickets” to give away free paper for a year to the lucky recipients. Of course with the shows ironic and humorous twist on things, it all goes horribly wrong and we as the audience get a laugh out of the that, already knowing the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which is what makes The Office an example of postmodern popular culture.

The Golden Arches: The gateway to democracy

    

    McDonald’s is an American icon, with those unmistakable golden arches raised to the sky to lure passerbys to stop and enjoy something to eat. While it’s literal meaning is to symbolize McDonalds, its larger meaning is that those two golden arches are the symbol of democracy and the American ideology. Here in the United States, we don’t think much about the significance of McDonalds and how the big mac can have such an influence and be a symbol of our way of life, but it does. One of the first things to be introduced into a communist nation when the American government and that nation's government are at peace and have agreed on trade is the implementation of a McDonald's franchise. Existing in China, Russia, and yes even in Cuba, the golden arches of McDonalds are the symbol of the American ideology and the infiltration of our democratic ways into these communist nations. 

Like, it is hard to believe that a fast food restaurant and their logo can have that deep a meaning and symbol for the rest of the globe. I found it really interesting diving into symbolism and meaning behind logos of corporations and how in our culture we use some of those for different meanings than how they were originally intended. The McDonalds one stood out to me the most because of the global scale that the McDonald's Corporation is on and how often it is the first sign of American influence overseas in other nations. Like the golden arches are so iconic that they are tied to almost a type of American imperialism, but of ideology and values. I think it is very rare to see a corporation like McDonalds be so closely related and identified to a country and its ideology like they are with the United States, forever being a staple in our culture and a beacon of democracy and American ideology all over the world. 

Coca Cola: The American staple of beverage

     Coca Cola is an American staple in the soft drink game. Created in 1888, Coke has only seen subtle changes in its nearly 150 year history which has made it a global sensation and an anchor of consistency throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. That does not mean that Coke hasn’t rolled out different variations of itself to try and attract more buyers, creating different flavor variations such as cherry coke or vanilla coke, or even marketing itself as a diet beverage for those who still want to enjoy a Coke but not at the expense of their weight with Diet Coke and Coke Zero (referring to the alleged 0g of sugar). This type of constant consistency combined with slight variations in flavor has created an almost cult-like following around Coke has some people refuse to drink any other soft drink that is not a part of the Coca Cola family. 

    Like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, Coke has not changed much throughout its history. Its formula is a secret and its signature glass bottle has only seen minor tweaks since it was first put on shelves. In addition to some added flavors for variation, in 1985 Coke wanted to better rival its main competing company in Pepsi by changing Coke's formula slightly to make it sweeter like Pepsi. This New Coke, as the Coca Cola company marketed it failed miserably, with people rushing to take the last of the original Coke off the shelves and the masses to demand that they go back to their original flavor that created this “fandom” for nearly a hundred years at that point. Coca Cola listened and since has only released slight variations of its original recipe always keeping the original available at abundance to sell. 

    As was demonstrated by the near New Coke disaster for Coca Cola, the pseudo-individualization of Coke is a constant in an ever changing world. My feeling is that people cling to the things that they know and are comfortable with, and the fact that Coke has not changed in 150 years is a fact that people take comfort in. It is the same beverage that they enjoyed as a child and it has never changed. You can still get Coke in that slim glass bottle, which has become an icon across American pop culture for its appearance. Coca Cola has become an American staple with its consistent taste and appearance.