One of the reasons why I don't watch Failipino drama is not because of my Chinese blood. Rather, they are fail but really stinky. Sometimes the definition of "high class" is relative but the reality must be faced. One may consider how these elements are really repugnant. I got this idea from Get Real Philippines.
Rich People are Usually the Antagonist
It's a huge problem that Failipino drama teaches rich people are usually the antagonist. Never mind really that the broadcasters these drama are the OLIGARCHS like ABiaS-CBN. So let's get to how rich people are usually portrayed. Antagonistic and evil, doing crime, mistreating their servants, spoiling their children... well that is true for SOME but NOT FOR ALL.
Some rich people make good real life protagonists, kind, treat their servants and rights and DO NOT spoil their children. Sometimes, you may even see a rich man who refuses to buy his son a concert ticket worth PHP 17,500 because it's "too expensive". Some of them may even be that rich person who secretly donates to charity, believes in fair treatment of people and are the first to scold their children for mistreating anybody below them.
Poor People are Usually the Protagonist and Oppressed
No surprise really, Failipino media is fond of the victim card mentality. They try to portray poor people as always good.
But the problem behind the myth is this. Don't tell me that there aren't poor people involved in prostitution, drug trafficking and stealing? Now some poor people are poor because of a result of oppression but poverty is a case to case basis. Some people are however poor because of overspending and irresponsibility. Some poor men engage in adultery, gambling and getting drunk EVEN IF they have so little money.
There Is No Middle Class for Failipino Drama
There's always the foolishness of view of "no middle class". It's just like the argument between dumb and intelligent. There is always the average intelligence. Sometimes, there is the middle ground, sometimes there isn't. Immediately just because a person owns a car, they are rich. Just because a person lives in a nice house (big or small) they are already rich. This is the stupidity of attributing lifestyle as an indicatorr of one's wealth.
Somehow Failipino drama purposely ignores that. Now if there were no middle class people, rich men wouldn't have professional employees in their firms. For example, if I were a bank manager, I would not be rich but I would be in the middle class. Maybe I own small but nice townhouse and drive a Toyota but I'm not rich. Maybe I may have earned a million but I'm not rich, I'm middle class. Some businessmen like me belong to the middle class segment because I don't control a huge business empire.
Petty Vendettas
So often is revenge really glorified in media. So often do I see the protagonists actually getting revenge. One can never forget the petty vendettas of some Filipinos when those Filipino drug mules got JUSTLY executed. Some even have their continuing appeal to invoke the name of the late Flor Contemplacion who died last 1995 now it's 2015. They want to get even with Singapore and China BECAUSE of the death of their country folk who DESERVED IT. Everything is cornered on petty vendettas. Revenge is an ongoing theme and many Failipinos always have their petty vendettas.
Let's try to think of Failipino work ethics. While it's certainly unethical to shout or yell but it doesn't give anybody the right for revenge. Just because somebody in the service industry was yelled at or mistreated does not give him the right to enact any form of revenge. For example, spitting on a rude customer's meal may be satisfying at first but if your boss caught you, you might actually lose your job. Just remember, Steven Slater was NOT a hero for the working man.
Lastly, Love is All That Matters in Social Classes
Now I really have to admit to give some due fairness, not all Filipino-made movies do that. In Mano Po 5: I Love You, the comedy didn't justify the whole thing. Richard Guiterrez himself was a veterinarian, NOT a squatter. Okay he wasn't rich but he wasn't poor and when he fell for a rich Chinese girl, he wasn't a FLIPFAG. He was a hardworking Filipino not a Failipino. He proved himself when he became an ACCOMPLISHED VET. To be honest, the fact he became an accomplished vet was more than enough reason for the girl's family to accept him in the end. In the movie "Let the Love Begin", Richard Guiterrez's role was a janitor WHO HAD A PLAN to get out of poverty.
However that's not what we see MOSTLY in Filipino-made drama. Most of the time, you have this relationship taken to the extreme. Who does the rich girl fall for? A dirty squatter who is unrefined, uncouthed and a CROOK. While Aladdin in the original novel managed to get out of poverty and not use the Genie for several years, this is a different case. These poor people here are usually pictured as lazy, arrogant and well... you know Okay Fine Whatever. To be honest, while you don't need to be rich to be happy but being content with being DIRT POOR is plain stupidity. Poverty is a strong drive to crime because the evil rich can easily exploit these suckers. Besides it's impractical for ANYONE to marry into the dirt poor who know nothing but to have a "good time" never mind the basic needs of life right?
Rich People are Usually the Antagonist
It's a huge problem that Failipino drama teaches rich people are usually the antagonist. Never mind really that the broadcasters these drama are the OLIGARCHS like ABiaS-CBN. So let's get to how rich people are usually portrayed. Antagonistic and evil, doing crime, mistreating their servants, spoiling their children... well that is true for SOME but NOT FOR ALL.
Some rich people make good real life protagonists, kind, treat their servants and rights and DO NOT spoil their children. Sometimes, you may even see a rich man who refuses to buy his son a concert ticket worth PHP 17,500 because it's "too expensive". Some of them may even be that rich person who secretly donates to charity, believes in fair treatment of people and are the first to scold their children for mistreating anybody below them.
Poor People are Usually the Protagonist and Oppressed
No surprise really, Failipino media is fond of the victim card mentality. They try to portray poor people as always good.
But the problem behind the myth is this. Don't tell me that there aren't poor people involved in prostitution, drug trafficking and stealing? Now some poor people are poor because of a result of oppression but poverty is a case to case basis. Some people are however poor because of overspending and irresponsibility. Some poor men engage in adultery, gambling and getting drunk EVEN IF they have so little money.
There Is No Middle Class for Failipino Drama
There's always the foolishness of view of "no middle class". It's just like the argument between dumb and intelligent. There is always the average intelligence. Sometimes, there is the middle ground, sometimes there isn't. Immediately just because a person owns a car, they are rich. Just because a person lives in a nice house (big or small) they are already rich. This is the stupidity of attributing lifestyle as an indicatorr of one's wealth.
Somehow Failipino drama purposely ignores that. Now if there were no middle class people, rich men wouldn't have professional employees in their firms. For example, if I were a bank manager, I would not be rich but I would be in the middle class. Maybe I own small but nice townhouse and drive a Toyota but I'm not rich. Maybe I may have earned a million but I'm not rich, I'm middle class. Some businessmen like me belong to the middle class segment because I don't control a huge business empire.
Petty Vendettas
So often is revenge really glorified in media. So often do I see the protagonists actually getting revenge. One can never forget the petty vendettas of some Filipinos when those Filipino drug mules got JUSTLY executed. Some even have their continuing appeal to invoke the name of the late Flor Contemplacion who died last 1995 now it's 2015. They want to get even with Singapore and China BECAUSE of the death of their country folk who DESERVED IT. Everything is cornered on petty vendettas. Revenge is an ongoing theme and many Failipinos always have their petty vendettas.
Let's try to think of Failipino work ethics. While it's certainly unethical to shout or yell but it doesn't give anybody the right for revenge. Just because somebody in the service industry was yelled at or mistreated does not give him the right to enact any form of revenge. For example, spitting on a rude customer's meal may be satisfying at first but if your boss caught you, you might actually lose your job. Just remember, Steven Slater was NOT a hero for the working man.
Lastly, Love is All That Matters in Social Classes
Now I really have to admit to give some due fairness, not all Filipino-made movies do that. In Mano Po 5: I Love You, the comedy didn't justify the whole thing. Richard Guiterrez himself was a veterinarian, NOT a squatter. Okay he wasn't rich but he wasn't poor and when he fell for a rich Chinese girl, he wasn't a FLIPFAG. He was a hardworking Filipino not a Failipino. He proved himself when he became an ACCOMPLISHED VET. To be honest, the fact he became an accomplished vet was more than enough reason for the girl's family to accept him in the end. In the movie "Let the Love Begin", Richard Guiterrez's role was a janitor WHO HAD A PLAN to get out of poverty.
However that's not what we see MOSTLY in Filipino-made drama. Most of the time, you have this relationship taken to the extreme. Who does the rich girl fall for? A dirty squatter who is unrefined, uncouthed and a CROOK. While Aladdin in the original novel managed to get out of poverty and not use the Genie for several years, this is a different case. These poor people here are usually pictured as lazy, arrogant and well... you know Okay Fine Whatever. To be honest, while you don't need to be rich to be happy but being content with being DIRT POOR is plain stupidity. Poverty is a strong drive to crime because the evil rich can easily exploit these suckers. Besides it's impractical for ANYONE to marry into the dirt poor who know nothing but to have a "good time" never mind the basic needs of life right?
If I may:
ReplyDeleteOne hidden irony of this kind of phenomenon with regards to portraying rich as evil and poor as good is that while these idiots do not like anything that has got to do with Communism (like strict discipline), this kind of portrayal is exactly the nature of communism itself.
This is just my opinion though.