Category Archive for: kawomenan

kultura

KC as guilty pleasure*

There aresongs that become your guilty pleasure, the kind that you don’t admit you like, just because they’re too pop, or are downright cheesy. Many albums get hidden in the back of your closet, a little secret you keep to yourself, even when you’ve memorized it inside and out.

This is exactly what A.K.A Cassandra, KC Concepcion’s debut CD is. Because truth to tell, there is really nothing spectacular about it. It’s an album that subsists on plenty of remakes of mostly foreign songs (save for “Haring Ibon” by Joey Ayala), and originals that are everything and cheesy (“An Updated Version of Me” comes to mind). Many of the songs remain about love, if not about the universal notions of happiness and going with the flow and relaxing. All of them are pop, in the sense that they are easy to listen to. (more…)

kultura

on the Filipinized Korean-novela

It is such a strange time for Philippine TV – and I’m not talking about reality television taking over our lives and creating many talentless stars in the process; nor about the fantaserye reminding us of how much we need to escape from the realities of rising oil prices and NFA rice lines. Both of these aren’t so much strange as they are sad.

What is strange is the rise of the Filipinized Korean-novela – a unique entity in a country where the Mexican telenovela Marimar was only Filipinized a decade after the original became a TV hit. This remake was something we actually had coming, given the too familiar plot of a poor simpleton turned rich powerful woman, ready to seek revenge, but is softened by her true love. It’s the stuff every other Pinoy soap opera is made of. (more…)

komentaryo

questioning the usual

an essay by Ninotchka Rosca, aptly titled The Usual Can Be Criminal, on the ways in which our notions of womanhood and the roles we play, allow for us all to be victims.

such an enlightening read, even when we can only truly imagine what our domestic helpers are going through as they sacrifice their own families for a life of discrimination elsewhere. my favorite quotes:

“Household work has been historically women’s slave shackles, rendering her a service unit in the family power structure, stunting her growth and development, erasing her sense of self.”

“<…> having a household servant impacts even the employer who slides into this semi-feudal role of patriarch and patron. I hope others will seriously develop a political economy of housework. A serious one.”

kultura

host creation in contemporary times: part 2

Beyond ABS-CBN

It is therefore no surprise that gone are the days when any actor or actress could just gather enough gumption to hold a microphone and instantly become TV host. So much more is at stake now, given the fact that many of these reality shows are expensive franchises. And it is that one host who needs to keep audiences from changing channels at any given time. (more…)

kultura

host creation in contemporary times: part 1

The reality show taking over local television has been lamented often enough; what has gone unnoticed is how this has also brought upon us a set of faces and voices that have become television show hosts. Unlike their predecessors, these hosts are usually created from scratch – they’re not primarily actors or singers who have ended up hosting one variety show or another. Instead, they are groomed to become the “ideal” hosts for any given show, any given network. Ultimately allowing for the hosts to become symbols of not just the shows they hold together, but of the network they are part of. (more…)