Like that Greek dude

Sisyphus, maybe? The one who was condemned by the gods to push a stone up a hill for eternity. That is what I feel like right now.

In other news, this guy pisses me off so much I can't even tell you. When I first started following this story, I was appalled to think that it was a hoax, but I definitely was not expecting the perpetrator to be an American man in Edinburgh. How dare you, Tom Macmaster? How dare you appropriate the voice and experiences and sufferings of others without any response except, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone"? Well, gee, that's great. What were you trying to do then? Unfortunately, instead of this debacle meaning he will be unemployable in the international sector he will probably get a book deal. (And what does his wife feel about him carrying on a relationship with the woman in Canada via email?)

Stories like this make me afraid to deal with cross-cultural issues in my work, because I in no way want to be so arrogant as to think that my choices do not have an impact on others, or that my interests are neutral or objective.

Even this is problematic. Sure, the commercial pokes fun at tourist's expectations. But the underlying issues of WHY Jamaica is a tourist destination and WHY tourists expect what they expect and all the other factors of economic imperialism are not addressed. I know that a beer commercial is probably not the best place to expect insightful critique of anything, but these types of commercials reinforce conceptions and structures that perpetuate global inequalities.

Sometimes ranting just makes me feel better about everything.

ETA: This article takes the Macmaster hoax and puts it into the context of the West's history of Orientialism and also highlights the issues inherent in depending on blogs for news coverage. (I feel that this is very important because I am fascinated by blogs.)