So. A brief preamble, before I begin. I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing (typing?), and so bear with me as I fumble through this.
I've come to the conclusion that Singapore, as a nation, has an enormous inferiority complex when it comes to dealing with the rest of the world.
But before you stop me, saying that we're good at this, good at that, a hub for this, a hub for that - hear me out.
Singaporeans are irrationally attracted to hearing other countries acknowledge us. And the media knows this, and tries to exploit it.
An example. Remember all the trailers for Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest? The one with Chow Yun-Fatt saying "Welcome to Singapore!" And how it was somehow stressed in the posters and trailers as something amazing and worthy of notice? And that therefore, You Must Watch This Movie. Because Chow Yun-Fatt Welcomes YOU To Singapore.
A classic case of Singaporeans going all "yay" because Hollywood decided to mention us.
Another example. There's this trailer for an episode of "Ugly Betty" going on right now. And while I don't watch much television these days, I saw it on TV Mobile. (On a bus which broke down. Another story for another day.)
The voice-over goes, "There's something special about this episode of Ugly Betty." And then the trailer shows this female character trying to flirt with / seduce this older chap. (Don't ask me who they are, because I DON'T KNOW.) Crossed legs, unbuttoned top, etc etc. And then the voice-over continues, "But that's not what's special about this episode." And then the trailer cuts to a snippet of a scene, where the female character snaps, "I don't care about the housewives in Singapore!"
An out-of-context, fairly uninteresting scene, involving a throw-away line, advertised as the highlight of a sitcom episode. Simply because they mentioned Singapore. And not just Singapore, but Singaporean Housewives. Verily, my cup doth runneth over.
Now, I know that the logic isn't perfect. This might simply be a case of bad advertising, with the common citizen not caring two hoots about whether Singapore is mentioned in some American media production. Perhaps. But at the very least, this proves that the media has an inferiority complex, believing that Singaporeans are attracted to these casual, off-the-cuff references to our country; attracted enough to watch the movie/tv show/whatever that is being advertised with this hook.
But that's the beginning of the end, isn't it? Like it or not, the media is a massive influence on the way we think. (And that's the way the gahmen likes it!) Unless we make a conscious effort to reject it, we invariably start falling in line with the ideas it espouses. And I fear that this inferiority complex has taken root amongst our populace.
Now, I'm not saying that we're inferior. I think history proves that Singapore has beaten the odds, economically at least - although there's a lot to be said for the sacrifices we've made in the civil and rights-based arena. But let's leave that for another day. All I'm discussing is the attitude we seem to take towards our country's standing in the big picture, and how we overreact when we're so much as noticed.
There's another argument I'd like to run - that this inferiority complex can also be seen in our obsession over international rankings that espouse our superiority over other countries. ("Take that, M'sia! We r rox more than yoo! Bleeeeh!") But I lack the comparative knowledge - I do not know how much the media in other countries stresses their superiority in polls or studies.
And so I'd rather not go out on a limb here - it's late, I'm tired, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be confident enough with this argument to elaborate on it. At any rate, this argument is hardly as interesting as the one based on our reaction whenever Hollywood makes a flippant mention of our little country.
Let me know what you think. There isn't enough traffic here to warrant a tagboard, but leave me a comment. At the very least, I'll know that people still visit this corner.
*edit* I just realised that it's Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End, not Dead Man's Chest. Not like there's an enormous difference between the two films.
