Hybridity and Popularity

Travis Kraft: “Honorary Pinoy”

Hybridity is the bridging of different cultures. Travis Kraft, the Youtube Pinoy sensation, with his famous “Adodong Manok” video (in which he pronounced as ‘manak’) exactly did that. According to the interview in Adobo Nation, since he knew how to cook, he uploaded the Adobong Manok video to honor the Filipino culture, which he’s a big fan of, and the Filipino food, which he loves. Moreover, hybridity is the pattern of migration, both the movement of colonizers into the colonized area and immigration from the “colonies” to the “colonial power”. In this case, it is the movement of the “colonizer” (since he is part of the American nation) to the “colonized area” (the Philippines). In the interview, he is referred to an “honorary Pinoy citizen” since he is not naturalized though he identifies himself as a Pinoy. He is a hybrid identity in a sense that he moved to the Philippines and lived his life like a Pinoy. He even talked Pinoy, though his American accent is really apparent. He tries to immerse himself within the Filipino culture by actually cooking Filipino food such as Adobong Manok, Dinuguan and other well- known Filipino salo-salo dishes.

Given his hybrid identity, could it be possible that this is the reason why we find him interesting? With the incredulous amount of his Youtube hits, can his hybrid identity be the reason of his popularity? Because he is such, the media and the Internet as agents of socialization have put him under the limelight. As we live in a post-modern world, the increasing modes of information have increased his fame. Moreover,   as “traditional polar or dual categories are no longer valid in the context of a pluralism of subjectivities” , there is no I and Other in hybridity, but the concept of the third space which is the dialogue between the I and the Other. Lastly, his usage of our language produced a new social meaning which tells us of his want to fit in despite the said cultural barrier.