The Technology And Cultural Logic Of The Cultivation Of Idol

"Produce 101" is a reality show that is participated by female idol groups,produced by internet media,and broadcasted through online platforms.The rules and forms of this program are learnt from the South Korean variety show "Produce 101" which calls together 101 female trainees from different entertainment companies,assigns tasks to them,trains them,evaluates them,eliminates them through competitions,and eventually selects 11 girls to make their debut in the form of female idol group based on fans' "likes".Since the program was broadcasted,it has received extensive attention.Three days after the first season finished,the total number of clicks on the program has exceeded 4.8 billion.The topics created by trainees such as Ju Wang and Chaoyue Yang have triggered headed discussion online and have effectively broke through the subculture circle of traditional idol consumption.This program became the most topical and iconic cultural event in the year 2018 which makes it a significant case to reflect the cultural production and social situation of our country.This paper mainly explores the cultural logic behind idol cultivation by using trainees' situation and idol production as a core perspective.First,based on Foucault's discipline theory,this paper investigates the programmatic mechanism of "Produce 101" for the taming and productive transforming of trainees.This paper believes that “Produce 101” essentially employs a space strategy to tame trainees by creating an enclosed,disrupted and closely-monitored space which constitutes a modern “panorama perspective”.Through the redefinition of "Chinese-style female group" and the arrangement of ranks,this program governed trainees in the myth of “effort” by mixing individual strength,team spirit and idol personality.It made trainees eligible tools for commercial profit achieving.Second,this paper attempts to analyze the materialization of human beings in the idol industry using the materialization and Consumer Society theory.This paper argues that the elimination of the boundaries between cultural products and personal life in popular culture makes idols of the cultivation era play multiple roles in raw materials,workers and commodities in the idol industry.The consumption images displayed by "Produce 101" and the tendency of female group performance to standardize people are aimed to rationalize the materialization of idols.Finally,this paper argues that the essence of "idol cultivation" is a customised production of idols that represents an idol manufacturing methodology based on data science and statistics.Because of the limitation of its program form,"Produce 101" eventually chose the symbolization of idols,which made the cultivation behavior completely evolved into the release of symbolic consumption and pleasure.Behind the phenomenon of “Produce 101” is the deep needs of cultural consumers and the reflection of current state of social life in China.