Reform the movie and TV industry and save the country

This week I watched the performances of senators and erstwhile entertainers, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla, wondering if they were even worthy of a response. 

I have always ignored much of the output of the movie and TV industry because these are mere warts on our nation’s cultural life. We all know the formula. Just look at the most popular themes coming out of Hollywood, and remake them cheaply. Rely on the colonial mentality, the desire to acquire the banality of wealth, the lack of education of people—and voila. Blockbuster. Our local movie and TV industry isn’t good at recycling. It takes the Hollywood trash and turns it into toxic waste. And yes I am referring, among others, to Bong’s and Jinggoy’s movies, and the major companies that fund these.

On the other hand, I have watched many worthy Filipino films. Many of them are independently produced, a notable few produced by the big studios. Often the movie houses were depressingly empty. After all, this was no longer about the use of English and foreign idioms. Empty movie houses of really good Filipino films are indicative of what the masses have learned to consider as good entertainment.

Low life

I know of the debates about this. The cynical excuses of the producers that they need to make money. The atrocious rationalization that they are only giving the masses what they want, as if they had no hand in making the masses want this. The cheap resort to class warfare by these purveyors of mediocrity when they accuse critics of looking down on masa culture. The canard that those who accuse are bigoted against all entertainment folk.

I am not bigoted. There are many good and extremely talented people in the entertainment industry. But scoundrels and self-promoters should not hide behind the work of their more talented and ethical colleagues. And, there have been good productions that have drawn crowds, proof that you can earn good money and maintain high standards. As for the masa, I prefer those that, reliable surveys show, listen to the news and keep up with national events. Even these masa can’t understand why some of our compatriots still admire Jinggoy and Bong. 

Logically then, the movie industry gets populated by lousy people. The innocent like Pepsi Paloma don’t last very long. The sycophants, social climbers and the low-minded flourish. It is these types that oppose any attempts to improve aesthetic and ethical standards in the entertainment industry, (and if they get elected, in government). They would not know how to make good films and programs to save their lives. Like certain kinds of bacteria, they can only thrive in the muck that is the mainstream movie and TV industry.

It is therefore no surprise that many stories about the members of the entertainment industry are not edifying. Here are two examples of the lives of Bong’s and Jinggoy’s colleagues:

1) Two-timing comedian (accused of rape and sexual harassment by other women) gets lured into blackmail scheme by Chinese mafia extortionist using aspiring actress and false-rape accuser as bait.

2) Doctor-turned-boylet of plastic surgery maven, gets revealed in his serial infidelities through released sex videos. Attempts reconciliation via suicide. Has now found God.

(I feel like God’s lesser child actually, having been an agnostic who has stayed out of trouble and avoided deeply hurting those I love. No one would make a movie or even write a blind item about my life. What would be the “peg,” as they say nowadays. “Agnostic leads more-or-less blameless life?” Definitely not what the masses want.)

Make believe Congress

In any case, I had always thought I didn’t need to speak against the cesspool that passes for our mainstream movie industry. For one thing, I don’t like censorship which is often what the authoritarians will do with criticism of films and other cultural products. For another, I believe that being Bong Revilla or Jinggoy Estrada is sufficient karma in itself. 

I always thought that being so cynical as to do that to the masa, to be that much of a low-life would be, well, sufficient karma. Who wants to be a low-life despite the wealth? Who wants to be adored by your fellow low-life and the masses you have sufficiently dumbed down that they would worship a mad dog if we put him in one of those formulaic, heavily-marketed productions?

I did not want to speak out until I realized that the legislature and parts of our executive were being taken over by these poor-excuse-for-actor types. Problem is they have so dumbed down some of the masses. Some people think they should vote for these actors instead of just admire their acting. Oh, wait. What acting? No wonder the integrity of the Philippine legislature has been put to doubt. It began when the mainstream movie and TV industry decided the Congress was a legitimate area for expansion.

It came to me while watching Bong Revilla and then Jinggoy Estrada this week. I guess they realized that their ratings have been slipping and they wanted to change the script. “What? The old themes are no longer selling? What is the new fad? Let’s do that one.”

I am reminded of a story of a friend, a writer, who tried to help this aging superstar by writing “older men” roles for him. The star vetoed it all. Despite the undeniable reality of his aging, the star continued to use script, make-up, camera angles and what-have-you in order to keep portraying young, virile and heroic characters.

Bong and Jinggoy, despite the undeniable evidence of plunder against them, continue to portray themselves as heroic. Bong, having noticed that his previous mudslinging speech bombed with the viewers, decided to take the moral high ground this time.

There are many ways to do a moral high ground script. Perhaps, “repentant scum bag” would have been a more believable “peg.” But nooooo! He must be heroic. So we ended up with the jaw-dropping implication that Bong was going to be martyred like Jesus Christ (who remains on his side through all this by the way), for the sake of the nation. As for that totally unrelated singing ending? That happens in Filipino movies. A lot. In fact, non sequiturs are so common in the movie industry that Bong thinks his current troubles are a platform for a presidential run “if there is a clamor for it.” Of course there will be. Bad actors always resort to canned applause.

Jinggoy could not of course come out with a similar script. (Their mother studio, Corruption Begins at Home, Inc., did not want two similar films competing at the box office.) So he decided to go with the conspiracy theory “peg.” But the script was off. Usually heroes who are the victims of conspiracy silently go off busting the conspirators and only reveal everything to the world when the task is done and they have irrefutable evidence of their innocence. That way they don’t appear whiney.

Unlike real professionals who distinguish themselves from the roles they play and are therefore able to play a variety of roles artistically, Bong and Jinggoy have long taken to believing their own press releases. Thus the travesties we witnessed in the Senate last week. 

Rated X

In any case the only way to stop this is for us to reform the current movie industry. Let’s review the rules of the MTRCB. Let’s classify as “X” all these movies that are merely derivative of the worst of Hollywood; feature bad actors who play the same sexist macho roles over and over; and are merely of the “I-am-so-handsome-and-you-my-fans-should-watch-my-movie” type. Those are to be restricted with proper warnings like, “This movie is bad for the nation. If you find yourself enjoying this, seek professional help at once.”

We might give in to the movie industry’s demand to lessen taxes as long as we reclassify these types of productions as hazardous goods and impose a sin tax. 

As a first step, let’s jail the likes of Bong and Jinggoy to be followed by all those other actors-turned-politicians who have stolen our money and the dignity of our cultural life. – Rappler.com

Sylvia Estrada-Claudio is a doctor of medicine who also holds a PhD in Psychology. She is Professor of the Department of Women and Development Studies, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines. She is also co-founder and Chair of the Board of Likhaan Center for Women’s Health.