Negotiating Paternalism and the Enterprising Self in Taiwanese Talent Shows

Abstract

Talent shows have rocketed to popularity in Taiwan in recent years, as demonstrated in the high rating programs, One Million Star (超級星光大道) and Super Idol (超級偶像). This article focuses on the Taiwan talent show phenomenon as an exemplar of today's contradictory and exploitable reality TV ‘celebrity economy’. Through the oft-repeated assertion of ‘yes, teacher’ (謝謝老師), Taiwan's talent shows manage to combine a globalising self-enterprising ethos of neo-liberal labour conditions with a Confucian-patriarchal culture. Within this context, powerful judges become mentors, with obedient contestants positioned as their apprentices. This article scrutinises the interdependence between this power-laden relationship in the talent shows and the self-enterprising practices of Taiwan's entertainment industry. It argues that, rather than democratising the TV empire, these shows have, paradoxically, contributed to the revival and consolidation of the previously presumed to be outmoded figure of the ‘star authority’.