OMG, Miss Universe
I just watched the Miss Universe 2010: “Live from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas”. I think it’s hilarious that the pageant has a tagline.
Pageants are always fun for me, albeit sometimes embarrassing to watch, especially the interview portion. As I was simultaneously reading my just-arrived Psychology Today, texting with a buddy about his game, and cleaning my apartment, I thought about how I’ve probably seen more beauty pageants than Super Bowls. Gay!
Here are some thoughts about the Miss Universe pageant:
The entire broadcast is a promotional spot for Las Vegas. It’s a promotional video for the greater Las Vegas area flanked by images of half-naked contemporary beauties and big name entertainers. I like to think of tourism as a proper means of financial gain, but in the context of the Miss Universe pageant, I would like to see it as a sort of sharing of ‘cultural’ identity rather than a shopping catalogue. Maybe America is appropriately analogous to all that is Las Vegas, so I’ll let you think of those similes on your own. And perhaps the international pageant happens to be rooted in an American brand, so this broadcast of an American city in America translates more like a commercial rather than a documentary. (When broadcasting “Live from Las Vegas!” promote the specifics like Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, and when broadcasting “Live from Bangkok!” promote the general cultural differences like music and fashion.)
I use that word ‘contemporary’ in the previous paragraph because through the 20+ years I’ve watched pageants, the ideal physical image (and thus average) within the pageant has definitely morphed. Miss Universe (the Donald Trump brand that encompasses Miss USA and Miss Teen USA) definitely subscribes to the Maxim aesthetic. (Maxim is a dude magazine that projects a very specific type of female physical beauty.) With this particular broadcast, I was surprised how thin the final fifteen contestants looked compared to say, the 1990′s. Imagine watching a 1992 promotional video for Las Vegas with hot sexy ladies of the day swimming around an indoor pool. I bet it would be hilarious.
The usual ethnic spread of the final fifteen is: eight from Central or South America, two from Europe, two from the Caribbean, one from Asia or Africa, USA, and the host country. This evening, I was surprised when Europe stole from the Americas including USA and the Caribbean!
I’ve been thinking about nationality recently because I was working on my short biography paragraph for my website. Why should I state that I’m an American born to Filipino parents? What does my nationality matter? What does my ethnicity matter? Who do I think my audience is that I have to define myself in such terms? I don’t mention that I’m gay or a Libra or a lover of puppies.
I mean, what is so important about nationalism? Well according to Miss Universe, it’s all about the dollar bills. And according to this blog, it promotes the country I would like to represent at the Venice Biennale 2023.
