The Victim Mentality in Pinoy Pop-Culture
Why do filipinos love to watch telenovelas that show nothing but suffering? They love to see the so-called victim mentality. They love to see the hero/heroine to cry and wallow in the ground, crying a river out till their eyes go red. They feel sooo touched when the villain embarasses the protagonist. Maybe the Filipino people have one time or another, in their lives, have experienced what it feels like to be embarassed or be the unfortunate target of fate's wrong end. Probably they experience so much suffering but can't find means to release it so they turn to these telenovelas.
But again, to present a conspiracy theory, maybe the government is consorting with the writers, telling them to squeeze as much as suffering they can to the thin story without making the show seem like hell. Maybe it's because the graft and corruption, dishonesty and discrepancies in the government are really making our lives hell so they infuse in the pop-culture mind (even the young ones, mind you, it pays to start early) the theme of the classic filipino telenovela: she meets him, mother/father separate them, she suffers under whoever related to him that is jealous of her, she suffers some more. After having some success in life, the jealous one comes back. She suffers more. After more suffering, she finally gets the guy and gets filthy rich. End of story.
Maybe it's the government's way of telling us to just hang in there and suffer coz' one day we are gonna change and you are getting the life you want. What they are doing is to lull us to a false sense of security. When I see these types of shows, I feel insulted. Yeah, really insulted that I want to watch another crappy commercial instead. The themes in these types of shows are basically the same. They edit or what I like to call "cannibalize" old stories, edit it a little, change the names, wrap it in some glitzy gift wrap and there you have it! Another bestseller!
You call it a masterpiece? Well, I'll call it regurgitated garbege. What is it you see in suffering that you take enjoyment of? The preconceived notions that "they" have planted in the Filipino
But again, to present a conspiracy theory, maybe the government is consorting with the writers, telling them to squeeze as much as suffering they can to the thin story without making the show seem like hell. Maybe it's because the graft and corruption, dishonesty and discrepancies in the government are really making our lives hell so they infuse in the pop-culture mind (even the young ones, mind you, it pays to start early) the theme of the classic filipino telenovela: she meets him, mother/father separate them, she suffers under whoever related to him that is jealous of her, she suffers some more. After having some success in life, the jealous one comes back. She suffers more. After more suffering, she finally gets the guy and gets filthy rich. End of story.
Maybe it's the government's way of telling us to just hang in there and suffer coz' one day we are gonna change and you are getting the life you want. What they are doing is to lull us to a false sense of security. When I see these types of shows, I feel insulted. Yeah, really insulted that I want to watch another crappy commercial instead. The themes in these types of shows are basically the same. They edit or what I like to call "cannibalize" old stories, edit it a little, change the names, wrap it in some glitzy gift wrap and there you have it! Another bestseller!
You call it a masterpiece? Well, I'll call it regurgitated garbege. What is it you see in suffering that you take enjoyment of? The preconceived notions that "they" have planted in the Filipino
posted by armisael at 9:50 PM
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