That Thing Called Elections

For the better of for the worse part, entertainment is a huge part in the daily lives of Filipinos. No matter how serious some matters are, we still see things in a lighter mode. Though we also have that onion-skinned reputation around the globe, we still can't miss those opportunities of making fun of any thing even ourselves.

For example, election is far and it's so early to support particular candidates. But the fiesta-like mode and showbiz type bickering of candidates and their supporters started this early. Yes, it's illegal to campaign prematurely but no one's complaining about it, right? I don't know.

I promise myself though not to get caught by all the drama and get entangled in the battle of personalities rather than of ideas and platforms. I'm just so happy that the election is still months to go because I don't know who to vote for yet. But, I could share the things I would like to see my future leaders are advocating and this would be my basis in choosing my candidates.


- Freedom of information Law
- Anti-political Dynasty Law
- Laws that will honour and respect the dignity and authentic rights of the Filipino people most especially the poor and the marginalized
- Improvement of taxation
- Upholding the country's sovereignty and unity under the constitution

I may not see a candidate promoting all of them but will definitely support anyone who will advocate the first two of this list which bring a lot of pain to this country due to their non existence. We need to think of "what" the country needs first before the "who".

It's the right of every citizen to discuss, criticize and talk about the candidates and the elections in general. It's also our right to laugh about what's happening in the country. I'm also entertained by this. It's better than WWE. Laughing is good for the health.  Try doing it always. Just make sure that after all of these festivities and merriment, we are not the ones who are the laughingstock

Predictable Movies, Predictable Campaigns, Different Ending

I'm the worst guy you can ask about movies. People close to me know that I'm not very fond of going to the cinema. Not that I don't like movies at all. It's just that I watch them when I want to watch them. Not when the movie promoters tell me. Not when the actors say it's a great one. Or maybe I'm just lazy. More than a couple of times I slept through a good movie. Then I woke up watching the final few minutes. I wasted money, I know. That's why I rarely go to movies. I rather wait for it to come out on cable channels or for someone to lend me their DVD copies.

But I'll regret it if I'm not able to see this on big screen.

But at times I recommend movies too. Those from which I learned a lot. Not that they were technically good movies. Fact is when I see the reviews on those which I recommended, a lot of them were criticized badly. Bad acting, bad script, bad everything. But who cares. I enjoyed them. I watch movies primarily to be entertained and to learn and not to criticize. But there are some people who are good at it. When it comes to movie reviews, these guys know what they're talking about. And I don’t. I once was in theater acting and I also experienced creating and editing short clips. But I will lie to you if I say that I know how to properly review and criticize a film.

But there are really those that even if you are not an expert critic, you can say outright that they are bad movies.

                                                                                                       

We have a lot of Filipino movie critics. Not only professionally but there are those we meet in person day to day. We can't question the credibility of some for having to watch dozens of movies per month at a minimum. That includes at the cinemas and at their homes. They really are capable of comparing and reviewing movies for that. And after every showing of blockbuster flicks, almost everybody has a say on the screenplay, the cinematic, the acting, the plot, the ending, the fight scene, the effects, the music score, what's lacking and what's excessive, etc. ALMOST everybody see the technicalities. Not necessarily agreeing but a lot of times everybody has some things to say which sounds intellectually thought of. And most probably they are.

Critic Borat says 2 thumbs up

Just like producing a movie for a film festival comes the campaign time for the next elections. The politicians hire their directors and scriptwriters. These guys create the plot of their campaign strategies. They usually come up with an “award-winning line” that will be used as a slogan. This is very important as the campaign revolves around it. Like in the movies, it can be treated as the “title”. The catchier it is the better. Then they will insert theatrics with lots of drama that would appeal to the emotion of the people. It could be about the candidate's humble beginnings. Or maybe a recent sad personal experience where they will say they can relate to the public's clamor for change. 

Then to put up some action, there will be witnesses of the deeds that were done by the candidate. They might be saying the truth because there were pictures capturing the act. And to heighten it up, the candidate will play the beaten up hero of the antagonist’s dirty tactics and attack to his person. He will again appeal to the people’s emotion for being the victim of this bad scenario created by the enemy.  And by the way, the hero and the villain of the story depend on which side you are looking.

And of course, the love story angle would not be left out. There will be political tandems that sound like a relationship made for forever. And there will be former allies who will be like in an old lovers’ quarrel. And there will be traitors in the “love team”. There will also be love triangles. Someone will be torn between two lovers.  And there will also be adulterers. If love story is your cup of tea, you’ll never run short of it with our politics.

And these candidates know how to end their movie the Pinoy way. They will top it off with a celebratory dance or song number. It can be done during miting de avance or on their tv guestings. A lot of people love this. It’s like showing their human side. That they are just like us. Even the president of the most powerful state in the world was not exempted on this.

For a nation of movie critics, this type of campaign style is cliché. A story that is recycled, actors which aren’t good, scripts which are badly written and an ending that is very predictable, these are signs of a very bad movie. And it is one of those you can tell outright that it’s bad. Yet a lot of us still choose them. It could be the fear to try the new and the unknown. Though in the movies, we already started to embrace independent films. We tried the new and the unknown and we got entertained by this new discovery. And we felt the substance of the indie movies.

And the award goes to...

But we have yet to see that happen in the world of politics. And we can trace the reason for this by simply going back to our logic for choice of movies. In selecting the film to watch, a lot of times we pick them based on the main casts. It’s a lie if we say that it’s always the plot that matters. If that is true, then we won’t have these so-called “marketable actors” locally or internationally. No matter how much we deny it, it is the names of the actors which we give more weight most of the time and we care less on which roles they would play.  Like I said, it’s only most of the time. Because sometimes it is not true. Sometimes, we are actually looking at the plot. Sometimes, we are looking for the substance. And we do that sometimes in choosing the movies.

Judge and miss the choices

I’m guilty of judging people.  Call it “first impression” but sometimes my mind works and talks of a lot of things to me just by looking at a person’s appearance. Though during my college years, it helped me survive incidents like holdups in jeepneys and buses. When I saw people who looked suspicious and acted differently, it’s either I alight from it or move away. 9 out of 10 incidents, I was right.  It’s not an exaggeration. I actually had more than that number of holdups and snatching experiences.

Men by nature are quick to judge. Maybe an instinct. Probably one of our traits that made our ancestors survived. They reacted quickly upon first judgment which helped them escape dangers during those eras.

Run for your lives!

At present, nothing really changed. People are still naturally reactive. And quick to judge on just about anything. The predators who are now more sophisticated and intelligent know this. When they want to make their prey move to their chosen direction, they sow fear. And the prey will react , controlled by emotion most of the time. They thought they have options and that they are thinking freely to move away from danger. Not realizing that they were just being pushed by fire to make them reach the slaughterhouse quickly.  And that prey mentality makes it quite easy for the predator. 

You’ll be told about the dangers of venturing into something else that you’ll stick to what you are doing no matter how much you hate it. And that you need to support this idea because if not, we’ll starve to death. Or something like that. We were told that we can only vote for these people and we have no other options. That they are the only ones who are capable and experienced to run the country and therefore we should not experiment with unknown guys.  Then you judge at first glance. And lose sight of other options.

Sila lang daw puede (photo from kapatiranparty.org)

But keep in mind that some of these warnings and dangers are true. And the only way to recognize which is authentic is by using logic above emotions. And only a few are able to manage and calculate their actions. And only some take the risks. And by doing so, they attain better control of their emotions and reactions. It gives them more room to think thus having more options compared to those who just react to fear. These are the ones who are not pushed around to forced choices.

These individuals see the better options. They will find more worthwhile things to do in their lives.  Or will think of a more beneficial idea for the people.  And will find better candidates or parties to vote for in government positions. And will think, hear and speak of better things amidst the noisy choral emotional crowd.

Currently, I’m training my mind to refrain from judging people quickly. I always give other people the benefit of the doubt. Or no doubt at all. Just a blank page without presumption of character.  We can’t like everybody. We also can’t be liked by everybody. But we can be civil and tolerant. Though being tolerant has its tolerance. And before reaching that point, leave. So you can keep cool and calm. And that we may all live happily ever after.