Pressed like boiling water

It is not a surprise anyway that Filipinos are getting less attention than those chaps from other countries. What with all the media’s racket to boost their audience share ratings, importing feisty, dreamy shows, it is no wonder Filipinos stand confused, torn between nationalism and mediocre popularity. We of course tend to follow what is pressing us on all sides, and that is the call to popularity. We imitate what we see on television and envision ourselves in their lives. Call it a lie, but many Filipinos especially the confused teens follow this Asian trend, thinking that it is their duty as Asians in blood to follow the fad. But it is neither the Asian spirit nor the popularity that matters in this issue. It is nationalism. What about our own culture? Shouldn’t we enrich it too? Shouldn’t we, like Koreans and Japanese produce our own themes and sets of young individuals to be idolized by our own children? And by saying this, I’m not referring to any kinds of imitations or what the media would like to coin as “Pinoy versions”. Honestly, we have so many of that right now and we don’t need another. We have our Pinoy version of Mariah Carey, F4, Whitney Houston, and a whole lot more of fakes, designed to be a close-at-hand counterpart of the real thing. That is not what our youth needs.
We need our own artists to improve their acting. Enough about the cry-‘til-your-eyes-dry acting. It is a thing of the past. We need more intelligent writers to bury the clichés of heavy lines and “sampalan” scenes on movies. We need creative movie directors, those who know better than just publicity and how to raise a star like a hog raiser. The Philippines is full of creative people. The only problem is that those in the industry lifts only those with names attached already on their golden-clad necks.

The media is designed for many things, mainly to disseminate information to the masses. We should use it wisely and build people, not destroy them to oblivion. We’ve had pregnancy issues, abortion news, sex scandals, and him-being-gay releases a lot, we don’t need them anymore. Sure many, especially those who lack intellect, would consider this as a newsworthy matter, thriving in topics that are none of their concern, but there are also those who think and deserve better news and entertainment. If the media were just used properly, then all would be well informed, without fear of defamation.