Look, I am all for national pride, patriotism, and all things good, but isn’t this recent uproar over Desperate Housewives a little OA?
First, Desperate Housewives is a primetime TV show that touches comedy. Being primetime entertainment, it’s also one step above afternoon soap operas… therefore people take it seriously? Then again it may be said that Filipinos are people who take primetime TV seriously… soap operas, even more so.
Second, Susan Mayer, Teri Hatcher’s character, is supposed to be the ditziest, the most exasperating, and most annoying of all the Housewives. What do you expect from her character’s lines? She was written that way.
Third, other ethnic groups have been the butt of jokes, why were those funny and not done in bad taste. In the show, Susan Mayer is Jewish and quite dim, Gabrielle Solis is a Latina with a penchant for unnecessary melodrama, Bree Van De Kamp’s a delicious parody of neurotically uptight white Americans. The second season featured Alfre Woodard, who is black, with a good-looking but violently unstable son. I understand the Filipino communities were miffed because they feel they’ve contributed enough to their society to deserve this low blow. But in movies and TV, how many times have, say, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Korean Americans, Indian Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans been made fun of compared to Filipino Americans? Many times over.
I’m not saying what the writers wrote was the smartest thing, but don’t Filipino TV writers also take potshots at other races in our TV shows? From the days of John En Marsha,even earlier and beyond, I’ve lost count of skits on pongas with intsik-accented Tagalog, unsightly (to a culture steeped in colonial mentality) egoys, smelly five-sixing bumbays, and stupid ‘kanos. Filipinos have programmed some unkind stereotyping into their brains, too.
It’s like that recent gag on Comedy Central concerning Cory Aquino that was meant to have an effect like George W. Bush’s picture labeled with “genius” underneath. Again, people, it’s COMEDY CENTRAL. It’s not like some senator like Miriam-Defensor Santiago, who should be ideally a dignified public official, making a callous slur on Chinese to make a point — these the people she’s also tasked to maintain diplomatic relations with. And at a formal senate hearing investigating a transaction with ZTE, no less, broadcast on serious news programs that are potential resources for serious international news. How are you going to argue technical correctness when you’re biting the hands that you’ve begged to feed you? She later apologizes and says it was a joke meant to illustrate a point — like that would make things OK. “Sorry for bashing you guys earlier, now about that kickback you promised…” I will not be surprised if another TV series will pick on how things are done by politicians here, we’re kind of asking for it.
If by some miracle we realize we have a sense of dignity after all and not tolerate this kind of funny stuff, emulating the rest of our anal-retentive Asian neighbors, why don’t we do as they did and apply killer discipline, focusing on things we could fix, like getting our education system at par with the times? We already had a headstart in Southeast Asia, but sadly, we’re now left in the kangkungan. It’s a far cry from the days when people from Hong Kong were the ones coming to Manila to find work, and our folks were grooming us to be doctors, lawyers, architects. In stark contrast, today, thousands of domestic helpers and technicians fly to Hong Kong to find work, and the current goal of many parents for their brood is showbiz. And about that. The LEAST we could do is hammer the lyrics of Philippine anthem deep into these cute, little showbiz heads so they won’t embarrass anybody like crap when they’re tagged to sing it on the already rare occasions when people actually win something on behalf of the country. We could improve the way our board exams are regulated to prop up our professional credibility. We could stabilize the local economy and update our laws, so everyone can get a life. I mean, if living in this country takes care of everything from worthwhile activities to all types of self-fulfilment, who has time to look for a job abroad?
Then the Philippines’ finest doctors, among others, would stay here instead of immigrating to countries like the US, saving hundreds of hospitals across this country from closing down, and the Desperate Housewives writers would’ve used another third world country’s education standards to zing Susan Mayer’s punch line — it’s kind of ironic the Filipino communities would have no problem finding that funny, ‘no?
Errors in published materials, be they in print, aired on TV or radio, or online, unnerve me. I mean, sure, people make mistakes — I do — but respected institutions have standards to uphold! When you see something flawed associated to those institutions, makes you wonder how the heck the pen wielders passed screening at all. Or if there are still standards.
It’s certainly a turn-off when I see their transposed with there or they’re. We have self-promoting, well-blogging writers who still confuse it’s with its and vice versa; we have numerous others who use just the apostrophe to denote ownership just because the singular noun ends with s.
It also happens some pros just upgraded to a new level. Wandered onto an old entertainment article from Manila Bulletin Online and behold a sample:
… Dennis is a spendthrift (kuripot), Popoy, his manager confirms. He doesn’t shop impulsively, he dresses simply, and he really takes good care of his money, even going to the bank himself, regularly, to watch it grow. This gives him a special thrill, Popoy said.
They could opt for something safe for this kind of talent, you know, like writing lyrics set to today’s pop. Or rock. Or kitsch. But this is the Manila Bulletin.
Should’ve nixed the translation and no one would know any better. And who taught this… journalist… English? Or Filipino? Who’s the editor? They should be jailed.
