Okay, so I finally got to see the video wherein Mayor Duterte of Davao allegedly made fun of the tragic death of Jackie Hamill, the Australian missionary who was raped and killed in a prison back in 1989. I also heard more details of the tragedy and, from watching the video, hearing the man’s later statements and reading the whole story, I begin to see another side to Mayor Duterte’s alleged “rape joke”. Now look, I’m no expert and I sure as Hell wasn’t there to see the whole thing so my own views and opinions may seem biased or at least skewed.
Still, there are two things in the video that need to be expounded upon:
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ONE: I don’t think Mayor Duterte was really telling a joke.
TWO: People laughed anyway.
So what does this tell me?
Mayor Duterte isn’t the one at fault here. It was you people who laughed when he was in fact talking about a very serious matter. It was you people who insist that it was just a joke and that we shouldn’t take it seriously. It was you people who seemed to think that the rape and murder of a kindly missionary is actually funny and should be laughed at.
Anyway, enough about Mayor Duterte because this piece isn’t about him at all. This piece is about you, ladies and gentlemen, my fellow dysfunctional Pinoys who seem to think that tragedies like the violation and butchery of other human beings are things to laugh about. Yes you, the same people who even struck a pose with stupid grins while being photographed in front of the bus in the Luneta hostage crisis or you sorry excuse for human beings who think that treating your children like animals by putting a leash and collar on them is funny or even “cute”.
I’ve already said quite a bit about the immorality of the media and how it has warped us over the years into the dystopia we are today. However, the thing is, this isn’t really just the media’s fault, is it? This also has a lot to do with you, my dear stupid countrymen who seem beholden to the sick comedy in our country.
Here are three of them:
Offensive Stereotypes
Why do we like to make fun of people who we don’t consider as “normal”? Why do we have to go out of our way to make them funny and even more ostracized? Why do we enjoy laughing at people who don’t fit our standards of normalcy?
This is something I see all too often in our TV shows. Flamboyant and effeminate gays who all long to become women, people from indigenous places in the Philippines who are depicted as dumb and uneducated and then you have people who either have dark skin or simply don’t match our standards of beauty whom are immediately labeled as “ugly”. Would it hurt so much if they once depicted a masculine gay man with heroic qualities, a genius from our islands or provinces or a dark-skinned woman who is presented as a beauty queen.
In more developed countries, these kinds of stereotypes are generally avoided as they can easily hurt the feelings of some viewers. However, here in the Philippines, stereotypes in local shows continue to be the norm and are even outright supported.
Over-The-Top Slapstick And Bullying
Look, I don’t mind a little slapstick comedy. In some foreign comedy programs like How I Met Your Mother, there’s also quite a bit of slapstick. However, they’re never really that mean with it and they show that everyone in the show is a possible victim. So yes, everyone in the show including the hero, or especially the hero, is a frequent victim of slapstick.
However, the thing with slapstick in the Philippines is that it can be so mean and outright brutal. Tying in with the above, I can’t help but notice that more often than not there will be a side character who will possess some of the characteristics I mentioned above (i.e. homosexuality, country boy/gal, dark skin) who is made to be the frequent target of mean-spirited slapstick jokes. They single out people whom they think are somehow “different” and mercilessly ridicule them or worse, outright subject them to violence. It’s almost as if our own media is telling us that making fun of said people is not just inoffensive but actually “normal”. Worse, some of us even adhere to this kind of thinking and continue to make fun of others we don’t understand.
Take for instance Vice Ganda who also made a rather insensitive rape joke against Jessica Soho not long ago. While that was even more despicable than Mayor Duterte’s alleged “joke”, there were still plenty of people who were willing to defend the insensitive comedian with the most flimsiest of reasons simply because they find his bullying of others “funny”.
To make matters worse, when people finally get offended and react accordingly, perpetrators all too often hide behind lines like: “It was just a joke!” or “I was just kidding!”
Tasteless, Lewd, Cruel And Stupid Jokes
Another thing I hate about Pinoy comedy these days is that they tend to be intolerably stupid. Yes, you can call me an arrogant pseudo-intellectual because of this but I must say that comedy in the Philippines has devolved into annoying pick-up lines, lame puns and insults.
Whatever happened to jokes like the following?
Mokong: Let go of my brother and sister monster, or else!
Monster: Or else you’ll what?
Mokong: Or else, I’ll get down on my knees and beg! Please Mr. Monster let go of my brother and sister!
I don’t know but that short dialogue still cracks me up to this very day even now that I’m actually quite angry.
So what happened to stuff like what I just mentioned?
Now they’re replaced by jokes that are just plain lascivious like those made by that disgrace of a man Willie Revillame or attempts at looking cute like that Kathniel couple who sold themselves out to Roxas.
***
Okay. There, I’m finished. Bring it on butthurts!
I HAVE RETURNED TO LAY WASTE TO OUR ENEMIES!
Filipinos should be exposed to witty and sarcastic comedians like George Carlin instead of offensive slapstick comedians like Vice Ganda.
Unfortunately, George Carlin jokes just slide off most Filipino minds. I tried sharing these jokes to my colleagues and they didn’t get what’s funny.
Because they’re guilty of what Carlin makes fun of. And it’s in English and not to mention culturally diferent from the Philippines. But mostly because his jokes are smart and most Pinoys are morons anyway. He died before he got to comment about selfies. That would have been great.
Robin Williams would be far better example of pure comedy than George Carlin.
Since i started working in a bpo company, townhalls are hosted by gays, the first years were funny because i laugh with their vice ganda type of jokes, i dunno, i think i saw the light and found this type of joke really the worst because you are laughing at the expense of other people so since then i really tried to avoid townhalls, fuck even if they say i lack people engagement, i dont want to be involve in something that is hurting other people. And whenever my friends laugh at someone because he or she looks funny, i mean really you are laughing i bet you are perfect. It drains me sometimes that i want to be alone, if only there are no bills to pay…..
Pinoys need to develop a sense of honesty.
Hey, one thing at a time, Tom. Let’s start with the easy bits.
hahaha
It’s very clear he was telling a joke, and he lied about it by saying that it was just gutter talk. If he cannot man up to this simple gaffe, how would you except him to man up to more serious stuff?
He just said he won’t apologize.
Is that not manning up?
He even said that he doesn’t care if he will lose because of his statements, further making his case that he IS indeed telling a story.
Oh well, this guy was a mayor but was directly participating in a rescue op. Such a coward, right?
What hands on heroics did the other presidentiables do? Zilch.
Manning up means straight up admission of wrongdoing and expression of sincere apology to all parties offended with no attempts at justification, explanation or spin necessary… He didn’t do any of those. What heroics? Offering yourself to get hostaged? Participating in the shootout even when there are personnel on the ground more trained for it? You Dutertards keep mistaking his foolhardy antics for bravery. One bullet to the head is all it takes to take him out when lady luck runs out on him. What happens then? It’s not the job of the mayor to participate in the firing lines. He’s just doing his own thing without regard for the consequences.
That hostage incident ended tragically and here he is 27 years later still sexually aroused with the victim! What a fucking Pervert and you Dutertards just buy everything he says!! Mindless minions!!
It is not that I believe everything he says.
This guy is stupidly honest, he says what he wants to say. There is no filter in his words, no sugarcoatings hence I find him way more believable than the rest in his promises.
Manning up to apologize to what you said was wrong…
You never thought that he was only telling a story as it is, yeah what he said was crass but it is what happened. Did he intend for it to be laughed at by his supporters or whoever was there?
You do realize how toxic the media is?
And no I am not one of those crazy followers of this guy. But among the other 3, there is no one for change. None!
Grace Poe is the only other alternative but she fucking just says what people want to hear. That in itself is desperation, someone who is so desperate for president cannot be fully trusted.
Miriam basically forfeited since I can barely hear anything about her anywhere. And the time she went to our school, she really has lost almost all of the fire in her.
There is no one else to root for, only Duterte. The other 3 should plainly suck and its plain as day. Yes he may be crass but he is not misleading anyone, no lies. He may lack the class but he makes up for it with vision and don’t bash it. I have read some of his lines via the news and on TV, not the childish sneering towards other presidentiables but the more serious ones about what he believes we should do(NO, not the crime thing) and he indeed deserves a shot.
Nice one Thad!
Thanks!
Grimwald,
You forgot to point out how Filipinos love to cough up behind “biro lang” or “Why are you serious?” whenever they are apparently upsetting people with their words. Sometimes it’s an act of pure tactlessness but once you make it clear that it is okay for them to do so by ignoring them, it becomes a routine.
I’m getting tired of these twats who blatantly think they can say whatever they want to say without considering for at least a moment if they will upset somebody. Unless you really were trying to be a complete asshole, it is completely unacceptable to joke about things that are actual sensitive issues to others. There is no godddamn respect for other people’s individualism whatsoever in this country. It’s always about “pakikisama” even if the whole crowd is doing things erroneously.
Funny how Filipinos are the first one to pick on someone smaller than them yet are also the first ones to run when someone bigger than them is on their face. If that doesn’t qualify as a complete Twat, I don’t know what does.
>> “Why are you serious?”
I’ve noticed that. It tends to happen when you’re trying to have an actual conversation about something important. I take it to mean: “I’m bored with this shit. Can I play with Facebook now?”. “Why so serious?” is basically the same as “eh di wow”.
Filipinos seem utterly incapable of taking anything seriously. Everything has to be a huge joke. Maybe it’s because it’s just too painful to face the reality that the country is, in fact, a joke, albeit a rather tasteless one.
Or that the matter at hand is too complex for their puny little brains, so they resort to Mayweather-like tactics and just joke (run) around.
problem is when people realize the joke is offensive and hate builds up, the offensive party can easily turn the situation around and play the victim.. and that is what duterte is not, he stands up to what he says.. in reality, no candidate is perfect, but i hope we do not fall for the deceiving ones — like last May 2010.. proudly, i did not, but here i am with you losers
The joke made by Mayor Duterte about the tragic rape and murder of Jackie Hamil, was :offensive, despicable, repulsive and foul.
The crowd who laughed at such offensive joke were: “sick as a dog in the head”…
I am ashamed of how our countrymen, are using this murder and rape of this good Lay Minister, from Australia , as a butt of joke.
I ask for Apology for the family of Jackie Hamil,and the Lay Ministry, where she had worked; and the Australian people, for this incident. We , right thinking Filipinos are sorry for it. We thank for the services, the late Jackie Hamil had given to our country. We thank her Lay Ministry. We thank the Australian people, as a whole.
To Grimwald;
I’m not quite sure whether you meant to absolve the good Mayor by taking a bead on the Filipinos’ warped sense of propriety. In any case, if the Mayor did not mean his comment as a joke, was he then serious in all that was said? Seriously wanting the first crack at a white corpse might be considered morbid and ghoulish in some societies. Come to think of it, even as a joke, this would be seriously sick.
Back to the Filipinos’ warped values.. I would think that change could best begin with Vice Ganda, Eat Bulaga and other such shows. Heaven knows we desperately need change for the better.
Sent from my iPad
I’m not absolving anyone from the incident actually. Our sick sense of humor is an inherent problem in our society.
And yes, you are right, the change should start with the media and that is why I will never stop attacking it.
my wife is Bisayan and my son is Australian, as I am, but we all like Mr Bean, and a movie like ‘Mr Bean’s Holiday’ is one we’ve all seen a few times now. We even like Rowan Atkinson in the 2 Johnny English movies, esp the second one, where I laughed till I cried, but such a movie would probably not last long in the cinemas here.
We all love Fawlty Towers, and I don’t think one has to be british to appreciate that sort of humour but perhaps Pinoy humor tends to default more to the Benny Hill sort of slapstick rather than the ‘Are You Being Served?’ type.
Satire and irony thrive amongst a people with a dry sense of humour, but slapstick of the crudest dumb and dumber kind seems to thrive amongst those who need to be clubbed over the head to get them to laugh out loud at nothing much.
You can’t even get the average Juan to understand Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Brit humor is just too much of a hurdle for these lowbrow dullards.
Some DO find the killer rabbit funny though…
Why stick with American comedy?
No love for British humour?
Watch any video by the Monty Python comedy troupe…
Wit seduces by signaling intelligence without nerdiness.