#and also like westerner's need for 'authenticity' and cultural purity is just as orientalist as the people marketing legong as this | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

theresa-of-liechtenstein · 2 years ago

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westerners talking about southeast asians are so stupid sometimes i'm sorry like "how did [people living in the village] maintain their essence 😌🙏🏻 with the temptations of profit 🤑 and the ever-increasing role of tourism 😒😱..." as if people who participate in the tourism industry are somehow less "authentic" southeast asians? as if people who earn their meal that way don't have other factors behind that other than being tempted by profit like some fucking christian beset by temptations LHGSHGH give me a break...

#this film made by an ethnomusicologist studying balinese music is LITERALLY ticking me off in all the wrong places #like have you ever thought about. some people work in the tourism industry.#because they DECIDED it was the best way they could support themselves and/or their families.#like it's just this attempted progressivism gone wrong #where they recognize that the tourism industry can be harmful but in the same breath rob us of our agency #like i have family members who worked in like airlines and tourism and you can't just say like #'oh they have succumbed to the west :(' like that's almost as bad as saying we're just happy to serve the white man.#it's a job like any other fucking job.#and also like westerner's need for 'authenticity' and cultural purity is just as orientalist as the people marketing legong as this #authentic film. this westernized fantasy of a pure and noble native girl who has to die beautifully bc of her broken heart or w/e

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