Bimbo #1: “Why are you here? Don’t you know that this house doesn’t belong to you?”
Bimbo #2: “I’m the real heir to your family’s fortune! We were switched at birth, don’t you know? Now, I’m here to take it all back, including my husband!”
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Bimbo #1: “No, you can’t have him! I paid so much to impersonate and replace you!”
Bimbo #2: “My husband is mine and mine alone!”
Narrator: And the two Bimbos go at each other, slapping and pulling each other’s hair.
This is all too often the kind of scenario I see on local TV programs marketed as “drama”. The themes and scenes all too often revolve around infidelity, revenge and general stupidity. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do like drama from time to time as well. However, with the way it saturates the Philippine media, one can help but notice how it has some subtle but still noticeable effect on the people who consume it regularly.
Truth be told, I and a handful of others are beginning to agree that the Pinoy addiction to drama contributes at least somewhat to the overall deterioration of society. Now, I will say that it probably isn’t the only factor in Pinoy social deterioration, but through my observations, I can surmise that it certainly isn’t helping.
As an example, let’s talk about the idea of burying former president Marcos among heroes. Alternatively, we can also discuss who actually killed Ninoy Aquino all those years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, how long has it been since those times and how long will we remain lost and stagnated in the past? It’s been more than thirty years now yet both issues remain unresolved and it seems that only a very few people want to seek closure about them. In sheer defiance of reason and goodwill, people keep both issues open like festering corpses laid to rot in the sun.
Why? Because there are those of us who are addicted to this kind of thing. There are those of us who simply can’t let go of the past for fear that it will make them irrelevant in the present. There are those of us who hold on to family grudges, useless and destructive vices and general dysfunction simply because they’re too entertaining to let go of. Instead of avoiding drama and making things as efficient as possible, it’s sad to note that there are those of us who are actively seeking it out for misguided and all too often selfish reasons.
Let’s be honest here, if we really want to progress in our lives, I think it’s time we set aside the drama of the past so we can build a better future for our country. While yes, I do enjoy the occasional drama (of course, they’re rarely the local brand) and I don’t think we should abolish them altogether but can’t we just keep them in our books and TV shows without letting them seep into our lives? Let’s keep drama as just entertainment and keep it out of our lives and aspirations.
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Sadly, this has been the norm and this has been the greatest weapon the yellows been brandishing for decades and the forseable future
Failipinos are addicted to these so-called “dramas” and “tele-basuras”. Failipinos cannot change anything if they cannot change their way of thinking and what they’re watching.
And the Fliptards’ way of thinking is aristocratically condescending (hambog/matapobre) and self-serving individualism (kanya-kanya/makasarili).
It’s okay to watch the dramas, doesn’t necessarily make people stupid. Same argument for Mystery and mind-boggling shows not making you any smarter. I argue that people who watch dramas are already overly “dumb” and “madrama”, and Mystery goers are already “smart”. What they watch just suits their already established tastes.
The problem is the “addiction” to it, just about any addiction for anything is bad.
Random Citizen,
Wow! I’ve noticed you didn’t say anything about reading novels over watching “teleserye” dramas. You must really endorse watching t.v., over reading, to intellectualize the Fliptard population and make them smarter.
Aeta
Well, we are on the topic of teledramas so I didn’t give much thought of the other hobbies.
I rarely watch T.V. since I have a different hobby which also has a large tendency for addiction (video games).
Regardless, I think my bottom line still stands: Any form of addiction is bad.
Random Citizen,
And Fliptards are addicted to their nonsense t.v. programs that numb the mind. There’s a lot of truth to the saying, “Mababaw lang ang kaligayahan ng mga Pinoy” (It doesn’t take much to make a Fliftard happy). This is why Fliptards prefer being brainwashed by these cheesy “teleserye” programs over reading novels. It’s easy to just sit in front of the box and be programmed into stupidity.
Aeta
Koreanovelas have a word for these kinds of dramas: “Makjang”. Makjangs always have over-the-top stories in modern settings, with infidelity and birth secrets (“ako ang tunay mong ina”) as plot staples.
Can’t say we copied Makjang format from the Koreans, since we have been using the same format since… dawn of Philippine TV shows? But what I can say is that perhaps Makjangs are very much easily welcomed to our primetime shows when they were introduced to the Philippines.
I really can’t blame the networks for coughing out too many dramas though. It’s just the “tried and true” format. Action shows is just too risky for our actors (who want to maintain their clean face), Sci-Fi and Mysteries are a no-go (or anything that involves deep thinking), Historicals also didn’t work for us if i remember correctly. That leaves us with Comedy, Romance and Drama (or Drama-fantasy). Romance and Drama are very much tied with a sprinkle of fantasy just to add a sliver of variety. Then we have sitcoms for Comedy, mostly slapstick.
Perhaps our addiction for dramas and noon-time shows like Eat Bulaga have a rooted and much deeper reason.
I say we as a society cling too much to escapism. Life is just too screwed up that we resort to what ever momentary happiness and feel-good things that go by. Shows like Eat Bulaga work because they give people hope, or something to look forward to the next day. Same with the dramas, everything has to go well in the end, despite everything that happened to the bida.
Random Citizen,
I used to think that way that the Fliptards population turned to stupid show like “Eat Bulaga” as a form of “escapism,” and to give them “hope, or something to look forward to the next day.”
However, after a few years observing the same routine of television “escapism,” and noticing the gradual deterioration of the quality of life for every Fliptards–not as a result of developing “learned helplessness” or “victim mentality from a long-standing legacy of graft and corruption–but out of growing complacency and sheer laziness.
I finally came to a conclusion that this social phenomena that everyone once thought of as a form of “escapism,” is actually a form “Lazinesscism.”
Aeta
Laziness… hmm yeah that.
I have yet to personally see an extremely lazy person, so I can’t fully judge their situations or why they’re like that.
But if I may speculate, errr they’re too much devoid of hope in their lives that they just won’t bother fixing it up unless a “divine intervention” happens?
Perhaps we are the kind of people that gives up too easily? “Ayoko ng trabaho, mashadong mahirap”. But I can imagine the more physically fit people would have no qualms working hard labor under the sun.
Maybe the gains do not match the means? Farmers breaking their backs may not be getting the appropriate compensation for their hard efforts. In this case, they do need some assistance from the government. I am personally baffled why we are still using primitive methods of farming where other countries have much more efficient machinations for the same job.
Random Citizen,
If you can still make yourself get out of bed each day, eat, shit, and do what just about anything a normal person would do, then you’re not an “extremely lazy person.” You need to get out more often and see what Fliptards are doing to occupy their time in the Failippines.—which is mostly nothing.
If these Fliptards’ lives have “too much devoid of hope in their lives,” it’s only because they don’t bother to fix them by filling it with busyness—hopefully with constructive rather than destructive means.
Fliptards don’t give up too easily, especially when their survival or something to be gained is at stake. The problem is Fliptards have it too easy and want to keep it that way as long as possible.
I came from a farming background and I can tell you that there is a lot of innovative means out there to improve farming so Fliptards won’t have to break their back.
Unfortunately, our fucked up government is deliberately trying to wean the country from farming–by not supporting it with money and resources, so they can ship more rice from other Asian countries–and transform the entire into a more urbanized and industrialized society, where the Fliptards have to work as OFWs and send their remittance money back to the Failippines, to pay for this trendy modernization.
It’s a modern-day feudal/fiefdom system.
Aeta
[Corrected Version]
Random Citizen,
If you can still make yourself get out of bed each day, eat, shit, and do what just about anything a normal person would do, then you’re not an “extremely lazy person.” You need to get out more often and see what Fliptards are doing to occupy their time in the Failippines.—which is mostly nothing.
If these Fliptards’ lives have “too much devoid of hope in their lives,” it’s only because they don’t bother to fix them by filling it with busyness—hopefully with constructive rather than destructive means.
Fliptards don’t give up too easily, especially when their survival or something to be gained is at stake. The problem is Fliptards have it too easy and want to keep it that way as long as possible.
I came from a farming background and I can tell you that there is a lot of innovative means out there to improve farming so Fliptards won’t have to break their back.
Unfortunately, our fucked up government is deliberately trying to wean the country from farming–by not supporting it with money and resources, so they can ship more rice from other Asian countries–and transform the entire country into a more urbanized and industrialized society, where the Fliptards have to work as OFWs and send their remittance money back to the Failippines, to pay for this trendy modernization.
It’s a modern-day feudal/fiefdom system.
Aeta
Fliptards like watching “Koreanovelas” for the actors/actresses’ exotic looks, not necessarily for the same cheesy plot of their programs.
Put a ‘blacknovela’ from Africa on Fliptard television programs and see if the masses watch it.
Random Citizen,
We have to hold the two major networks (ABS-CBN and GMA) accountable (to the point of blame) for putting out these cheesy, mind-numbing drama and “noon-time” programs, even if they’re tried and proven format to generate viewers.
These major networks are the ones responsible for influencing the minds of their viewers, and stir it in the direction they want it to go. There are also tried and proven international programs out there that can stimulate the mind of the Failippines.
Unfortunately, though, these mentally stimulating television programs will never make it to the Fliptard households (you have to cable to access the international programs) because the major networks already have those prime time viewing schedules—early morning rush hour, noon, afternoon rush hours, and dinner-to-bedtime–monopolized to push their brainwashing programs. The hours in-between are just filled with Tagalog-dubbed Korean or Spanish soap dramas, or, irrelevant and boring international news programs.
It’s not surprising why Fliptards are getting dumber and dumber each passing day. Their minds are deliberately being turned into mush to absorb all the stupidity being shown on Failippine television.
I often wonder if the censored media during Martial Law was far better for the masses than the kind of trash being shown on Fliptard television today. At least the Fliptards felt compelled to resort to reading, for lack of other options to entertain themselves, during Martial Law.
Aeta
Regarding dramas, I think some directors did try to cook up something different once in a while… they didn’t last. IIRC there were shows that had an adventure or action feel into them, but either they devolved to shoehorning romance to pander to “Filipino tastes” or got cut short due to low ratings.
Here we have no shortage of romance-dramas with the same plot for decades now. People take it as a “different show” just because it features a different “love team”.
We desperately need a new genre on television. There are lots to choose from: Fictional adventure shows (that may also serve as travel-guide-ish), cop dramas (ala CSI with psychological mystery solving), court dramas (political and legal mind-games), or even office dramas (corporate politics, or following the protagonist struggle with their business then eventually become successful through hard work).
When introducing a new genre. Perhaps they can start airing on a per-Weekend format. Relatively decent budget, 1 hour airtime (10 minute commercials included) a week. It might take a few years and multiple shows, but once public interest has been established it might just become a regular genre on television.
The only problem I see here is the staff. I think all networks could benefit from getting new directors and scriptwriters in their roster.
When are they switching off analogue TV signals in this country? It was supposed to be the end of 2015, but I still see those aerials around.
When people are forced to buy a digital box, they should have access to more diverse programming.
Dave,
The oligarchs are not going to switch off analogue t.v. signals. It’s an affordable and convenient way to brainwash the population. If Martial Law censored the media and compelled the masses to read and become literate, the post-Martial Law gave the oligarchs unlimited power to numb the masses into mental complacency and stupidity.
Aeta
As I recently highlighted, many of the stories show poor people suddenly waking up one day and finding out that they’re heirs of a rich family, or someone rich helps out the poor protagonist as a “fairy godmother.” Basically, the story plots reflect the moocher mentality of Phlippines society.
I can say categorically that Filipinos most certainly not addicted to reading novels, because in 12 years living here I have seen exactly ONE Filipino reading a novel, or any book not a school book. The bar where I occasionally shoot billiards or watch live music may very well have the largest library in all the Philippines. It has a room about the size of my CR that has maybe a thousand donated books that are borrowed, exchanged or otherwise used.
Somehow I think the poster who talked about reading novels was also trying to say that reading novels would be just as bad as watching the garbage on Philippine TV and some novels ARE that bad, but there are millions of novels worth the time to read and would not be a waste of time or energy.
Aquino and his thieving cahoots , desensitized and distracted the Filipinos; thru these: nonsense telebasuras; game shows; Kris Aquino talk shows; etc…the ABS-CBN owned by the Lopezes, who have many government contracts; present these nonsense shows in their TV networks.
They are like the, “mandurukut sa Quiapo”…they desensitize and distract their victims; then pick their pockets…
They steal thru: DAP, PDAF, Typhoon Yolanda Relief Funds, etc…; they Bribe Senators and Congresspeople with Pork Barrels to further their political agendas; they let people be massacred; they steal elections; etc…
It is good that people are beginning to notice, that they are being robbed !!!
Telebasuras. One of the main cause , why the Failippines is one Dysfunctional society by watching this mind numbing nonsense shows. No educational value but only contributes to pinoys onion skin mentality and dysfunctional mindset. Mexico and south american countries watch it too. See and observe the similarities.
What bothers me more is that we also seem to be addicted to drama and exciting plot-twists in our politics to the point of having overly dramatized impeachment cases and extra-constitutional means to make politicians accountable (not really, just to remove the eyesore) such as “people power” fiesta revolutions. I guess it’s just too boring for us to have the right systems in place and government moving about like clockwork as it should.
I do admit my fave shows have drama in them (for instance, Gundam was envisioned by Yoshiyuki Tomino as a space drama. Tokusatsu can be technically considered drama.), but at least it is not the annoying and intellectually-degrading kind like the ones we keep on seeing on our TV screens…. >.<
Animes, doramas, and tokusatsus successful because they have mixed genre shows. It does not only focus on romances but fights, suspense, horror, and heavy-themed messages. US is following the trend as well giving us Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Steven Universe, and Gravity Falls.
Shows from Netflix like Breaking Bad, House of Cards, and The Last Ship are awesome too.
The only reality tv show I watch are NBA, MLB, and NFL.
P.S. Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans and Gundam U.C. are available on YouTube at no cost.
And even worse than television dramas is their social media addiction. The Philippines has been labeled the Social Networking Capital of the World, with Filipinos being the most active users on sites such as Facebook and Twitter than any other country on Earth. I don’t have to remind everyone here what kinds of activities they do online either. Let’s face it: Filipinos live and breathe drama and instinctively crave dramatic situations, whether in real life, in the media, or in cyberspace. Unless you completely alter the genetic makeup of the Filipino, I do not see this ever going away.
staser,
You can’t alter the genetic makeup of the Fliptards but you can tell them how stupid they think and behave. Expose the Fliptards’ stupidity and humiliate them. When they get angry enough they’ll do one of two things: keep up their stupidity or change.
I believe most Fliptards will change once you start talking about their stupidity and call them out on it each time. One thing Fliptards can’t stand is any slight on their egos. That’s why I keep saying we Fliptards are arrogant, selfish, and stupid.
It’s my subtle way (pun intended) of creating awareness
Aeta
All I hear on this blog is awareness this and awareness that. It makes no difference how aware you are, what matters is taking that awareness and transforming it into real active permanent change. Filipinos will most likely never reach that next step because they are simply not genetically programmed in their blood to do so, regardless how hard they try. They are simply not destined for it. They are incapable of creating any long term meaningful change effectively for themselves without the intervention of another race (a race superior in intellect and industry, whose behaviors are determined primarily by logic over emotion) to guide them, monitor them, rule over them, and show them the way. Either that or intermarry with a superior race in order to breed out the lackluster gene pool and increase the overall intellect of the population. To deny that genetics have nothing to do with Filipino mediocrity is to deny reality. It means everything. If left to themselves and to their own devices they are worthless. Nicholas Longworth IV said back in 1906 that Filipinos are absolutely unfit for self-government and that the Filipino is shiftless, untrustworthy, and helpless. Has this idea changed at all since 1906?
staser,
That all depends on how you create those awareness. I don’t push for awareness in positive and diplomatic ways as had been suggested by others, encouraging our thick-headed Fliptards to find it within themselves to do the right thing. Nope. I do the in-your-face “fuck you” approach that unless you do something about your “fucked up” ways, you and your “fucking” country, along with your families and future generations, will all end up in Hell. I also include the “Chekwas” and wide-faced Koreans in that picture. Now it’s time for the rest of the “fucked up” Fliptards on this website to do the same thing, instead of trying to intellectualize each other on who’s really “fucking up” the country. There is no single “fucked up” Fliptards at fault because we’re all at fault. If you call yourself a Flitpard in any shape or form, then you’re just as guilty as the ones in power who are really “fucking up” this country. You see, the only way we can even remotely try to compel our “fucked up” people to do anything to change their country-destructive ways, you have to tell it in their face that they’re a product of a “fucked up” society; therefore, they’re “fucked up,” too. Anyone who try to deny that truth is more “fucked up” than the rest of us. I don’t deny that I’m “fucked up” to anyone who will listen, and neither should every Fliptard who does. Do you think my explanation is not compelling enough? I could make it sound a little harsher.
Aeta
I think it’s safe to say that the majority of the authors here wants to elevate the standards of the people. By standards meaning for example less TV drama.
While I do agree with the author that too much garbage populated the Philippine television. But as Jerry Lynch commented most Filipinos don’t want other things besides well, drama. Although I won’t say Filipinos don’t want to read, actually they like to read although rarely breed of Filipinos reads novels and other enlightening written piece, majority however just like another version of drama.
I think it’s called pocket books. Yes, those tiny books containing non other than cheesy love/drama stories. Broadcasting companies make money by what the people want, and by that you have TV programs full of Drama.
WE ARE ROBBED of this basic needs:
http://www.gov.ph/constitutions/1987-constitution/#article-xiv
SECTION 1. The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. ***comment: we failed this
skipped to
SECTION 3.
(1) All educational institutions shall include the study of the Constitution as part of the curricula. ***Comment: not applied
(2) They shall inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect for human rights, appreciation of the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country, teach the rights and duties of citizenship, strengthen ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character and personal discipline, encourage critical and creative thinking, broaden scientific and technological knowledge, and promote vocational efficiency.
THIS: encourage critical and creative thinking – ***COMMENT: we are robbed again, actually we failed (2) as a whole.
Aeta, I even find the “fuck you” approach to be a temporary fix, at least if done by fellow Filipinos. I give Filipinos credit for one thing: they are geniuses at recognizing a problem and complaining about it…but then not much else after that. Translating awareness into true action, and implementing change and preserving that change for the long term, is their ultimate weakness. It is only a matter of time before they gradually sink back into their usual habits. The Filipino mind, the moment it reaches a goal or certain level of satisfaction, rapidly relaxes to a point of comfort and complacency, and thus the process has to start all over again. This stagnant behavior is a result of the passive tribal islander blood (sit around in the sun, live and work enough to be content, don’t let anything interrupt you, redirect problems elsewhere, etc.) that is imprinted into their genetic code and is inherited by almost all Filipinos today. This genetically determined behavior cannot be “unlearned” unless some external influence (another race or nation whose people inherit genetic characteristics that are opposite to that of Filipino genes) comes in and turns things around for them. In other words, outside intervention needs to step in and say “fuck you”. Problem is, who the heck would want to deal with the Philippines at all? If the country had more white Spanish ancestry in its gene pool it would have become a more progressive developed country like Costa Rica or Chile by now. This blog has been great at pointing out all the glaring faults of the country, but so far no one has come forward to admit that the Filipino’s true enemy holding them back this whole time is their own genetic makeup. It’s in the blood.
staser,
Even if you believe the “fuck you” approach is just a temporary fix, if done enough on a consistent basis, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of our fellow Fliptards catch on. “Repetition is the mother of all skills.”
You do the “fuck you” approach enough times, our fellow Fliptards will eventually run out of excuses for thinking and behaving in arrogant, self-serving, and stupid ways because they’ll be called out each time.
So, whenever Manny Pacquaio wins a fight and everybody wants to call it “Pinoy Pride,” you tell them “fuck you”; there’s nothing to be proud of when the rest of our country and people are suffering. Whenever one of our half-breed women wins a beauty contest and everybody wants to call it “Pinoy Pride,” you tell them “fuck you”; there’s nothing to be proud of when the rest of our country and people are suffering.
Whenever our government announces the economy is growing and crime is being curtailed and everybody wants to call it “Pinoy Pride,” you tell them “fuck you”; there’s nothing to be proud of when the rest of our country and people are suffering. Whenever Fliptards throughout the world pursue individual goals and achieve them and everybody wants to call it “Pinoy Pride,” you tell them “fuck you”; there’s nothing to be proud of when the rest of our country and people are suffering.
If we Fliptards do this “fuck you” approach, our fellow Fliptards will start thinking very hard every time they embark on individual endeavors– that’ll benefit no one but themselves–because they’ll be called out time and exposed as being arrogant and self-serving.
Eventually, Fliptards will have no other choice but to start thinking as one country and one people first prior to setting out on their own path to pursue individual goals; or, run the risk of the risk of being met with the “fuck you” reproach by every Fliptards.
The “fuck you” approach is worth a try. Nothing else–including encouragment and positive affirmation–has worked to convince the Fliptards to change their country-destructive ways; they’ll just blow the smoke back in your direction and continue with what they’re doing.
Aeta
I am not against the idea, but only if another race or nation does it. No way are Filipinos doing this to each other long enough for it to even work. The country has only seen any real change or progress when an outside influence stepped in. Let history repeat itself.
staser,
“I am not against the idea, but only if another race or nation does it.”
Why can’t we be the first? God knows nothing has worked to change our people’s country-destructive ways, and we desperately need the mental overhaul of the way we think and live our lives.
Aeta
staser,
Why is it we have to wait for another race or nation first to implement the “fuck you” approach, when Fliptards don’t wait for other nations and race to exercise their arrogant and selfish ways to “fuck up” their own country and each other?
Aeta
Aeta, the most important step is for Filipinos to swallow their pride and admit that they are incapable of being self-sufficient as a people and then ask for a helping hand. Why wait? Filipinos can go out and start begging better superior countries to fix their nation starting today. Heck, the country keeps sending off their own people and making other countries take care of them through the OFW scam already. Why stop there? What do you expect anyway? That Filipinos are suddenly going to reach deep down inside and start getting things done together through a series of harsh language? No way. That’s the biggest denial of reality I’ve ever heard. You cannot escape from your genes. Filipinos were given so many gifts: the first University in Asia, the first Church in Asia, the first Republic in Asia, the first Constitution in Asia, etc. They were given the Spanish language and they threw it away. They were given the English language and they are slowly throwing that away too. What have they done with these gifts that are supposed to unite people and thus improve society? Absolutely nothing, while the rest of Asia and the world continue to leave them in the dust. And all for what? So they can accomplish something worthwhile on their own? What a load of rubbish. The sooner Filipinos stop living in a dreamland the faster we can get things done.
staser,
My “fuck you” approach was not a suggestion; it was a challenge, and you sound like someone who’s making excuses for our people–including yourself–not to meet the echallenge. Now you see what’s wrong with our people. The problem begins from each and every one of us, waiting for other countries, other race, and other Fliptards to initiate the change. You’re just “filibustering” (talking my head off) everything under the sun now to support your excuse for why my “fuck you” approach wouldn’t work. I rest my case. No need to continue our exchanges; we’ve reached the dead end of our conversation.
Aeta
I bet you feel like the big winner out of this by jist shutting it all down eh. The tactics of a narcissist.