You know the drill—there's this
beautiful maiden who came from a poor family and who fell in love with this
handsome young man that came from, you guessed it, a middle class family.
To stop the blossoming romance
between the two, the young man's family will do anything (murder is,
apparently, included).
But in the end, after the
recurring mind-numbing "twists" of forgotten identities, faked
pregnancies orchestrated by the show's main antagonist, and a bloody final
showdown between the protagonists and the villains, everything will be fine and
the male and female leads shall be named husband and wife and everyone lives
happily ever after.
Yadda yadda, et cetera, et cetera.*Vomits*
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| Source: http://www.jgreenwalt.com/ archives/crap-greeting-card-illustration |
Such is the mindless formula
presented by the brilliant mind of writers, producers and directors of
Philippine Telenovelas. Besides from the cheesy lines, the overly trite
"morals" they try to imbue to the viewers' minds and the plethora of
actors who can't even properly practice their craft, these soap operas have
nothing else to offer in the values department.
Don't get me wrong though, there are
times when Filipino soap operas do try hard to at least impart some sort of
rudimentary lessons. First is that you can love anyone and get away with
anything so long as you're beautiful.
Though there is nothing wrong
with loving anyone regardless of any external factor, the scenarios presented
by Telenovelas are simply too idiotic to the point of delusional. The coming of
the 20th century marked the beginning of the Feminist movement hence
the slow death of the "Damsel in Distress" stereotypes. Filipino
Telenovelas often project themselves as a form of empowerment to women yet they
stick to the formula of a female protagonist pure of heart whilst being treated
a sex object, downtrodden in poverty, and utterly helpless in her woes until
her Prince Charming came from out of the blue. Huzzah!
If we are to nitpick and correlate
this with the Philippines, I'd say that this is one of the many reasons why
some women believe that their Prince Charming will someday come and take them
away from their poverty. Never mind that they themselves can make the change
they wanted. In fact, I think this is one of the many reasons why our society
is apathetic when it comes to national affairs. We believe that one day, a
savior (or our Prince Charming) will come and eradicate all the problems of the
nation as if by magic.
Second, Telenovelas teach us that
there are always only two sides: the evil black, and the good white. Completely
moronic, I know, but this has been a recurring theme on every Filipino soap
opera. Never mind the complexity of morality and the human mind, for one will
always be branded as either good or evil. There are no spaces in between as
that will only complicate the story, and the average Filipino viewer doesn't
have the adequate amount of brain cells to process the beauty of the reality
that humans can also be gray.
The notion that the world is
divided into two sides (False Dichotomy) is an idiocy we as a people need to abandon.
Telenovelas portray the good protagonists to be family-oriented, religious and
god-fearing people, and downright martyrs while their antagonists are polar
opposites. But in the real world, goodness goes beyond being family-oriented,
religious and god-fearing and being a martyr.
Sure, you can be a family-oriented
person, but have you also been generous to those who are not your kin or padrino? Filipinos can be well-behaved and
civil but we also have a clannish mindset. I have mentioned this already a few
times from my previous articles and I cannot emphasize that enough. We care only for our immediate circles.
Speaking of which, remember the
brouhaha over the 'Yaya' meals sold in the exclusive Balesin Resort? That is a
prime example of what I'm talking about.
Second, you can be religious and
god-fearing to your heart's content or as much as you want to claim, but one
look at Kris Aquino and her brother will make you think again whether if
religiosity really equates to goodness.
Third, often female protagonists
are depicted as these innocent jailbait martyrs who couldn't find it in their
purity to hurt a fly. Hey, people are always up for a cutie with a kind heart but
the way these protagonists are portrayed, you will ultimately be compelled to
root for the villain. Apparently, being good is equal to being stupid and
desensitized to the pain inflicted upon them.
No wonder Filipinos are oblivious
and apathetic to national issues, their soap opera role models of goodness
taught them to be desensitized.
Common sense will tell you that
the Mass Media is a great contributor to the education of a society given its
reach, accessibility and influence. However, instead of using these
capabilities to the overall progress of the society and the collective
intelligence of the Filipino people, it seems that corporate media are busy
profiteering from the ignorance and decadence of the masses to simply care at
all.
Sure, Telenovelas have their
share of lessons but these purported lessons are so crude you'd think that the
writers of the show were either cavemen who live in the recesses of the Tabon or simply senile, deluded old men and women who lived in the era when Polo y Servicios is legal and celebrated
and Filipino mestizos are pejoratively called Indios.
Instead of focusing on important
questions such as the workings of the universe, the implications of class and
power in the society, or the controversial topics of same-sex marriages, use of
contraceptives, the relevance of religion in the 21st century and many
others, we focus on mundane things such as celebrity weddings and Cinderella
endings.
Often, we view love and marriage as
an ending to a good story. When in fact, those two are just the beginnings of a
new chapter. No one simply lives happily ever after once they are married, life
just doesn't work that way. What we need right now is to get real and stay
real. No Prince Charming will save us now. 'Wag
kasi tayo puro kalandian at kalibugan.
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