a Comment on "Sieu Ba Lo"

A few days ago, I saw a youtube clip that was posted on this particular blog which irritated me considerably. I take issue with the way it was made (very poorly, given that it's produced by television station VTV6 in Hanoi) and mostly because of the content. I should also clarify that I do not know this person and take no issue with this person but I do find the clip objectionable, and the responsibility for this clip is lain on the VTV6 and the producers of the clip. See the clip, and please tell me if I'm completely bonkers or maybe, just maybe, there's some merit to my observations...? I'd love to hear what people's thoughts are -- post them or email them, but I'd appreciate your feedback.

Background details:

1. This clip was produced by a tv station (VTV6) in Hanoi for a special program that they ran a long while ago, and it features this particular blogger

2. This blogger is Canadian and has been living in Hanoi for 3 years

3. He speaks w/ a heavy accent, but it is definitely a northern Vietnamese accent which I have to try very hard to imitate -- if I wanted to (and of course, this is b/c the Hanoian accent is often considered the post accent of the "cultured")

4. His Hanoian accent is definitely laced with the pronunciation of a non-native born Canadian/English-speaker, but writes very well -- his writing skills as I see it on the blog is like a well crafted personal essay chock full of idiomatic expressions, slang, and even a bit of Vietnamese-infused humor -- all very enviable

5. The blog is written entirely in Vietnamese, as far as I can tell, and has a cult-like following, with a hit-count of over 2 million.

6. I only discovered blog b/c it was named as one of 3 most popular Vietnamese blogs on the net (imagine my surprise when I discovered the identity of this blogger). Granted, that's because nobody reads blogs written in Vietnamese by Vietnamese, I think. But, that's for another day...

7. "Sieu" is the word of the day for "super". Something that is super fast "sieu nhanh". A super man is "sieu nhan". A super market is "sieu thi".

8. "ba lo" refers to the Western backpacker -- usually the non-Vietnamese, non-native backpacker trekking through Southeast Asia, but Viet-Kieu will also be called "tay ba lo" if they are from westernized countries. The word was derived from another word, "botalay" (I think).

My most humble thoughts:

Perhaps my identity as an Asian American immigrant, hailing from a Southeast Asian country formed by about a thousand years of colonization and war, and perhaps my meager studies in post-colonial Vietnam have shaped my consciousness in such a way that I am always (hyper)sensitive to anything involving a white/caucasian super-anything saving the day. (Friends, I know you come from different corners of the world and exist in very complex spaces of identity, too, so I recognize and respect that others may come to similar conclusions and have similar sentiments even though not all are Vietnamese American immigrants.)

Consider the two scenarios presented in the v-clip:

(1) Sieu Ba-Lo (SBL) comes to the aid of the young, helpless maiden by rescuing the fish from the enemy. The villain here, of course, is non-white and is most likely a fish-hating tyrant completely insensitive to the cries of the young, helpless maiden, who, naturally, is incapable of doing anything other than standing by helplessly, crying.

(2) SBL arrives in the nick of time to provide a pillow for the homeless. He is always on the move, traveling from place to place, always observant, always considerate, coming to the aid of anyone in need. Like a "sieu nhan" he happens to be carrying a pillow in his "ba lo" just so he could whip it out in time for the homeless man -- a pillow for a tired body, a sanctuary for the weary soul.

What might be so objectionable to this, I asked myself. I keep thinking about a couple of things:

(1) Why is Indiana Jones music being played? It reinforces the idea of the Indiana Jonesian white hero who travels (backpacking?) to "other" parts of the world to "rescue" something "other" whether it be artifacts or people, in order to "preserve" that object for observation (and that's stating it gently). Or, he's there to comment on the civilization (or lack thereof?) and culture of the "other" in order to save it.

(2) Why is the woman always portrayed in these contexts as the helpless victim? This first character (I'll call her Fish-Maiden) is balanced (and marginally so) only by the second female character (I'll call her "Xe Om" because she drives a motorcycle for hire, called a xe om). In contrast to Fish Maiden who merely stands in the alleyway being helpless, Xe Om actually drives SBL around -- so she is mobile, at least -- acting as the vehicle for his salvific mission. And yet, even Xe Om falls into the traditional roles of the "forgotten woman". She falls into the stereotypical role of the under-appreciated female companion who pouts at her unrecognized contributions to his hero-making efforts. But here, we fall into a trap for if she were to remain silent, she plays the role of the sacrificial lamb, the woman who silently supports her "hero", (the shadow beneath his wings?) allowing him to successfully carryout his heroic missions.

(3) It's often said that in Vietnam, men only ride motorcycles, and never take the back seat. If you see a man sitting in the backseat, someone once told me, it means he's a Visitor or injured. SBL rides the back seat, but he gives direction to his xe om as if he knew exactly where to go & what to do. In this, he subverts the traditional definition of the backseater, but it's in a different context when you add it together with his "sieu" mission. Here, it is a female driver being directed by a backseat riding white hero on a rescue mission.

(4) Why, of all things, would VTV6 choose to make this clip? I am assuming, given the context of this VTV6 program, that this is not a satirical commentary on the cultural complexity of Hanoian life. Hanoi as a city is considered in many circles and by many people to be the cultural center of the north. It is also filled with Tay Ba Lo like SBL who trekk through "36 pho phuong" of the Old Quarter. They make a good living in Hanoi where they are embraced by the locals because, in some ways, they make Hanoian life very "western" -- a spiced up "east meets west" if you will. I find it interesting that I've only read comments from Vietnamese people who find this video clip positively funny. Over 100 comments from viewers and only 1 person disliked the video.

I'm uncertain what to make of this, but all in all, I find the clip very problematic. The thoughts are still percolating, and there will be other thoughts that arise. Perhaps I'll come to a different understanding after hearing from others...