"sometimes, being single is much better not because i want to stay away from commitments and be free to flirt or go out with anyone i like, but it is more on accepting the fact that i'm just too tired of believing in and fighting for something that isn't meant to be."

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an apology letter to BBC (and to people who "get it")

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

it has been over a year since the unnecessary and absurd outrage over teri hatcher’s line on desperate housewives and here we are again, fuming mad over alleged racism remarks and actions done over BBC’s comedy sketch program, harry and paul.  extremely conservative filipinos are up in arms crying for blood after what they claimed “the show did to humiliate, disgrace, demean, and reduce to sex objects those hardworking filipina women in the UK.”  signature campaigns were launched left and right and even called for the network to publicly apologize for their potrayal of our countrymen on that particular program.

 

being one person who gets it, i say to the executives of BBC, the producers, writers, and actors of the show harry and paul, and to everyone else who also understands and gets it, i humbly apologize for the actions of my fellow filipinos–every single one of them–who are giving you unnecessary and negative publicity over such a mundane issue.  apparently, they don’t understand the concept of a comedy sketch show (or, in the case of desperate housewives, a joke made in jest).  those people who are clamoring for an apology from BBC are the same ones who riled up NBC over the desperate housewives issue (which in the end, NBC did apologize which i think was not necessary and is uncalled for).  i apologize for their primitive reasoning, onion-skinned sensitivity, and stone-age naivity.  i know for a fact that you have potrayed different nationalities and races on the harry and paul show in quite the same manner, but the network did not receive the same reaction from their citizens compared to what my fellow countrymen have shown.  apparently, they would laugh at the segment if the person in the scene involved wasn’t a filipino, but they’ll cry foul if it was.  that’s how one-sided minds those people have.  those are the same filipinos who demand for their relatives on death row being found guilty of crimes committed in a foreign country to be sent home and be spared, but when a foreigner was found guilty in the philippines of the same crime and sentenced to the same fate, the families of the victims are moving heaven and earth to prevent the accused from being sent home to their motherland even if their governments are asking us to send them back home.  with this, i implore you, executives of BBC to please not take what NBC did and issue a public apology.  doing so is a step backwards in logical thinking.  i say again, there is nothing wrong with what was potrayed in the show.  it was funny and hysterical.  i’m just saddened by old-school thinking people saying otherwise.

 

i’m very proud to call myself a filipino and be one.  it is just in very petty situations such as this (other than local showbiz, stupid tv network wars, and filipino politics) that i bow my head in shame.  my only wish is that one day, all of us would understand that not everything art imitates is based on real-life situations, and vice-versa so that we may all appreciate a good comedy, a good soap opera, or even a good movie regardless of who or what race is potrayed.

Posted by markie at 8:43 pm | permalink | Add comment

sticking my head out

Sunday, September 28th, 2008
it’s been exactly one month since i last posted, and i won’t let september pass by without posting a single entry, so here i am, reminding everyone that i’m still around.  honestly speaking, i’ve been thinking and re-thinking of what to blog about the past couple of weeks, but i guess all bloggers including me experience episodes of creative vacuum so to speak.  i know, i mentioned posting about a list of who for me are the most beautiful and scorching hot women, but i’m thinking of pushing that back to a more appropriate time.  and even when that would be, i’m also not sure of.  now, there were also a lot of things that have happened which centered around current events that i have my own opinion on, and maybe this would be quite the proper time to express my sentiments on.
 
firstly, the outrage over fuel prices not low enough, or that oil companies have not rolled back the pump prices back to where it was back in april this year.  i don’t see why the transport sector is up in arms about this.  it’s basic business philosophy.  c’mon, every businessman in the world you ask would agree that once prices of any basic commodity goes up, even if market forces were the reason behind the rise and decline of it, prices would never, ever go back to where they were before it started to rise.  it’s an unwritten rule.  i mean, kudos goes to independent player unioil for having the guts to implement a three-peso rollback on their prices, but that’s their call.  and why is the big three being pressured to follow suit?  they don’t have to.  holding protest rallies in front of their offices won’t make them budge the slightest.  that’s the power of deregulation.  consumers have the power of choice.  all you transport groups who do nothing but complain can gas up only at unioil for all we care.  when oil companies roll back their prices, what does those transport groups do?  complain that the rollback is not good enough.  SHUT THE F**K UP AND TAKE IT!  better than having a rollback than nothing at all.  as for people like us, we do what we do best and which i think you should follow:  roll with it.
 
secondly, all this brouhaha over the reproductive health bill, and how the catholic church vehemently opposes it.  i being a catholic, support the bill.  i don’t see the church’s point of forcing–and i do mean forcing–everyone to follow suit.  the church’s role is to guide, teach and preach.  i respect their stand against the bill, but they should also show respect the same way to the people who are for it.  they shouldn’t condemn or excommunicate catholics for supporting freedom of choice.  first off, the bill doesn’t mean that there’ll be abortion outright, but it would provide families and couples different options on which family planning method is right for them.  i’m crying foul on allegations that priests or bishops saying that those who support the bill shouldn’t receive holy communion.  having been schooled in catholic institutions, i have also learned to realize that religion is personal.  meaning what matters is one’s own relationship with God.  the church as a whole (which includes priests, holy mass, etc.) are added instruments in enriching your personal relationship with God.  so what i’m saying is that i do hope the church respects the position of those who favor the bill because they respect the position of the church for opposing it.  this is not an issue where holy war needs to be declared.  let what’s the common good for the people prevail.  in the end, we all eventually pay for the sins we commit and reap the harvest of what we have done good, right?
 
that’s about it for now.  nothing new with my personal life, so there’s no surprise there.  i’ve been enjoying the rainy weather lately.  i wish that it would rain everyday, but that’s wishful thinking.  hopefully i’ll be blogging on a regular basis again.  i’d like to end with a funny, but quite truthful quote i received this past week:  “they say practice makes perfect, but nobody’s perfect, so why practice?”
 
Posted by markie at 11:36 am | permalink | Add comment