In chapter 45 of Media Literacy the author argues that job advertisements in India for call center's are "means that acculturate Indian young adults to western culture, thus enticing them to join a profession where they can enjoy a western lifestyle" (p. 522). An estimated 90% of jobs advertised in India are for call centers. The chapter discussed how after reviewing the ads, common traits were noticed. For instance, the people in the ads are fashionably dressed in western attire, they use positive slogans and catchy titles to catch the eye, young college aged men and women are in the ads, and surprisingly there are rarely Indian's themselves in the ads. The ads give off a multi-ethnic community implying that the candidate will be working with all sorts of people from across the world. "Thus, the typical, potential call center agent is represented as an urban youth who is intelligent, outgoing, fashionable, fun-loving, and ready to be part of the larger youth community across the globe" (p.526)
After watching the movie Slumdog Millionaire and thinking about all the times I have called Visa or Mastercard's 1-800 number, I begin to compare the ads (in the Media Literacy book) to the reality. Every time i call a call center, it is true that the person on the other end speaks perfect English and sounds like a young person living in my neighborhood. Then i think of what i saw in Slumdog Millionaire; Indian's impersonating Americans while on the phone and once off, return to their crowded reality in the call center.
I suppose that these ads help support the famous "American Dream" fantasy. That if you work at a call center you are stepping in the western direction even while still living in India. The overall implications are that American jobs are more valuable than Indian ones.
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