Member-only story
Bali Is Not Your Island Paradise
How The Image of The Island Paradise Portrayed By The West Has Destroyed The Island And Its People
I recently came across an article about an Instagram influencer who deliberately faked her Bali trip only to prove her followers how easy, in the era of social media, to fool everyone with their luxurious overseas trips. Instead of glazing her tanned skin with the tropical sun on the sands of Bali beaches or a pose of her at a luxurious boutique hotel, Natalia Taylor posts three sets of photos taken in her IKEA local store.
She might have fooled her followers even though she has never been to Bali before, but her image of the island is as crystal clear as her fake Bali photos. It is the Bali image she portrayed in her Instagram post that might be the generalisation of Bali: Luxurious bathtubs with champagne, lush tropical jungle with infinity pools, posh beach clubs with glamorous parties. Above all, Bali is an island paradise.
Just like most social media posts that depict Bali as an island paradise, in a broader scope historically, you might not realise that the West has been falsely and brutally portrayed the island, to the point that it is destroying the island from within itself.
