Sometimes, even a simple tv show can make us unconsciously leave our mouth open because of amazement and appreciation of the entertainment it brought. We, Filipinos are not hard to please and entertain.
We are suckers for amusement – guilty.
Ever had this feeling; you’re watching television, unaware that you’ve been sitting in your couch for more than an hour already until it hits you, you’re hypnotized?
It’s true, it is easy to get carried away with the tv shows or movies we are watching. Some of us even answer the dialogues of the actors and the questions of the game show hosts, as if we’re part of the show.
But then, if you will stay tuned in the boob tube for as long as you like, you may notice that Pinoy television melted to down to dozens of franchised or imported shows or shall we call syndicated shows. Dictionary.com defines syndicated or syndication as selling (a program, series, etc.) directly to independent stations.
Are you one of those who ogled over Pinoy Big Brother, Survivor Philippines, Family Feud, Deal or No deal and a lot more popular shows today? If you did, maybe you are aware that the concept and idea of those shows are not entirely made by the Pinoy producers of tv of our country. Syndication of foreign shows is not a criminal act is not illegal as long as the copyright or the rights of the show have been purchased and settled. In fact, it can be an advantage to the tv stations because if the show from which they syndicated their program is a success, then it is most likely to be the same in our country. Also, it can be a safe choice of tv programs to offer to Pinoys since obviously, tv show producers won’t import shows that flopped in the foreign market.
But we have creative minds and directors in the country so why import and syndicate shows if we can come up with a 100% Pinoy-made and original? We have Mars Ravelo, Carlo Caparas, Nick Joaquin and a lot more creative minds in our country so why not use their creations? However, we cannot put the blame on the tv program producers in our country for we too are guilty of preferring imported over local. This is not a generalization, just an observation. Good news is that there are still some who remain loyal to original Pinoy creations. But if you would be asked, if you are to choose between watching a movie of Gagamboy or Spiderman, hypocrisy aside, what will you choose?
And by the way, what difference will it make if we will not choose another bug, insect or whatever creature that gets mutated with a human? We are given brains that can be overflowing with ideas so we might as well be more inventive and creative, not associative.
Some of us became too comfortable in settling with used ideas from outside our country. We blended too much with modernization and forget that we are kayumanggi and pango who is supposed to be appreciative of our homeland, our own race, language, culture and ideas.
Where have our originality went? We keep on importing foreign shows, foreign products and adapt to their lifestyle, fashion and living. We tend to forget our own heroes and remember Superman, Spiderman and Batman. Oh, we have our own superheroes and characters but it can be noticeable that some of them seems to be patterned from the original characters of the caucausians et al. We are not really implying that we are a bunch of copycats. It’s just that pure originality and uniqueness is better than similar or almost close to the first patterned idea of the others. Though similarity is inevitable. Take for example channel 2’s Sana Maulit Muli where Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson make up the cast. It was a soap opera that was a big breakthrough since the actors, that time are in demand. Yes, I’ve enjoyed watching it but after several weeks of tuning in, I’ve noticed that the plot is somewhat similar to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s If only. Call me an ignorant; maybe the similarity was just a coincidence but in the 2 stories, both the female lead died, making their partner go back in time to change everything with the intervention of this mysterious man who seemed to be in control of the time flux.
On the other hand, some tv stations became used to patterning successful foreign shows and reproducing it with almost the same characters, plot, theme and concept. Need we cite shows like I love Betty, Kim Sam Soon, Full House, Marimar, and others? Oh and let’s not forget the famous “Dubbed” Mexican, Korean and even Chinese shows. It would definitely make us proud if other country will import and have our original shows for dubbing namely Pangako Sa’yo, Iisa pa lamang, Babangon ako’t dudurugin ka, Psan ko ang Daigdig, Mula sa Puso and a lot more. Those Pinoy originals became a hit to us so maybe it wouldn’t hurt if they’ll produce more tv shows like those.
If we are not imitating, we are comparing or associating. They say, we have our Pinoy Superman and it’s Captain Barbel. Pardon me if I’m wrong but why do we have to associate our own Captain Barbel to Superman if we have our own fictional superhero anyway? If Disney has Ariel of Little Mermaid, we have our Marina, Dyesebel and another unoriginal, Marinara. Sure, every country can have their own mermaid. Literature is not greedy but does our mermaid have to fall in love to a man from the earth and escape from the sea over and over again just like Ariel? We can have variations. Perhaps we can make our own mermaids’ stories be about escape from their kingdom under the sea and turning everyone into sardines. Nah, just kidding. But please, spare Juan De la Cruz from another novel or story of revenge of the oppressed. We, Pinoys are expecting another predictable happy ending anyway.
One common thing about some of our local movies is that you can actually predict the plot and conclusion of the story. In the first five minutes of the story, you can easily find out who is going to marry who or if not, the sneak preview or trailers will reveal how the story will revolve and…end. When it comes to telenovelas and Soap Operas, we got used to heavy dramas, slapping of faces, oppression, love and family trouble. And then there’s this unpredictable character insertion of another budding or already famous in-demand celebrity.
Some foreign tv series managed to produce tv shows that contain mundane plot without too much melodrama. But we, Filipinos crave for those dramatic scenes and so we got used to it and enjoy it anyway. This brought us to another tv show importation and syndication of the… reality and game shows.
Original Filipino game and reality shows can be counted using fingers. We actually thought the famous Singing Bee is 100% Pinoys’ idea but when Cesar Montanno asked a Miss Earth contestant to make a comparison to the Singing Bee U.S version to our own, it shocked us. Of course, who would miss Pinoy Big Brother, Survivor Philipines, Fear Factor, Deal or No Deal, Family Feud, the Price is Right and…please, enough of the list.
On the other hand, it’s really amazing how Filipinos never wanted to be left out. If there is Yahoo.com, we have Yehey.com and if there is Friendster.com, we had Pinoyster.com. Juan De la Cruz have ways for everything. We can level up, or if not, at least be equal to anything big and successful. Why do some seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of coming out of the ordinary to invent and try something new?
It’s like this became our tv culture. Wake up Noypis! We can always try new ideas and do experimentations right? But then, tv productions’ and movie’s profit will be put to a test too. Maybe this is why they always play safe. We got used to importing, syndicating shows and just hoping that our own identity and ideas will not eradicate. What do we really need? Superman’s god-like power or Captain Barbell’s set of barbells to knock the original and creative ideas out of the brains of the tv and movie producers and directors?
No comments:
Post a Comment