Category Archive for: star creation

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dreaming of Marian’s freedoms

If there’s anything that’s true about Marian Rivera, it’s that she doesn’t care what we all think: she presents to us what she is, which is probably the closest to a private self we’ve been treated to within the public space that is local popular TV and movie culture.

And when I speak of Marian’s private self, I mean the one that we don’t usually see of our celebrities, I mean that which is usually deemed unworthy of being made public. But Marian doesn’t seem to care that she doesn’t sound as classy or doesn’t move with as much finesse as the usual female star.

But maybe this is telling as well: Marian ain’t the usual run-of-the-mill female star that we see on local TV, and while she isn’t what we expect, I daresay that she’s exactly what we’ve needed all this time. And no, this is not the case of a diamond in the rough – that would mean having to smoothen it out and make it more acceptable. Marian, in fact, for all the negative publicity about her, need not change anything because she’s already the image that’s important for our times, and especially for women who consume popular culture.

the rest is here!

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would you marry Robin Padilla?

a friend and twitter/facebook contact was asked this today. that he’s a boy apparently didn’t matter. right now of course, what we’re told is this: that what matters is love. Robin and Mariel have fallen in love and have gotten married, and as Tina Monzon-Palma attests, you can see it in their eyes.

and yes, we grant them love. that’s easy enough. do we grant them credibility? that is the question. and this is what the above question’s about.

so would i? marry Robin Padilla, i mean? well, i’d begin my answer with:

(1) that i understand his appeal, this bad boy action star dirty rugged image, the one that just works with his history as a bad boy, and the way his icon has been created/fashioned/rehabilitated/ revived so it may keep at being the quintessential Pinoy macho.

(2) which is connected to this: in the midst of metrosexuality as capital, his value as Pinoy macho has shot through the roof because there really is no one else like him. add to this the fact of a divorce from longterm wife Liezel, and tadah! binata na ulit si Robin. oh, the appeal of that! (yes, i’ve swooned elsewhere.)

but is he marrying material? interesting question. in truth it never seemed like Robin was married. ever. because when we imagine marriage, we imagine it in the sense that the husband doesn’t flirt on nationwide television with the women he’s paired with in movies and on tv. in the sense that he is loyal and a one-woman-man. in the sense that we don’t hear news of him getting it on with other girls while he’s married.

add to all this the layer of celebrity, the kind that has allowed them, the couple and their managers, to have a plan. this might be contrary to their press releases, but really, you can’t tell me that your wedding in India was a surprise even to you both, when all of it (including what I was wearing, nandon! Mariel squealed) is on the next issue of Starstudio Magazine. you cannot say that this is about a love that is private and only yours, when you were prepared for a photoshoot with obviously choreographed and staged poses at the Taj Mahal. i do not doubt that there’s love there, but also there’s celebrity. and there’s capital. there are obviously their careers, now bound together into one career that’s about the two of them.

the lowest point in all this of course, was the media’s bombardment of these images. i don’t care that the showbiz talkshows feature it again and again, or that it’s in the chikaminute segment on Saksi and showbiz news on TV Patrol. but to actually deem it as breaking news? in the midst of everything else that’s of national interest, goodness gracious, why o why?

realize that this isn’t about the public wanting to know about Robin and Mariel. it’s about news and public affairs departments deciding that this is important enough to give to the public right away.

anyone who knows me would know that i am all for love at first sight, for swift courtships and secret marriages. i am all for falling quickly and easily, because that does happen, and sometimes it does work. but to bombard us with this particular love, given the trappings it comes in? and to deem it as important and valuable as the aftermath of the hostage crisis, and P-Noy’s trip to the States.

ah, but undoubtedly the Robin and Mariel story meant ratings. the kind that P-Noy might not be getting? and in which case, good job media practitioner! good job on losing your credibility.

next time i want more relevant news, i’ll watch my showbiz talkshow.

kultura

the Charice challenge is on!

This isn’t so much about Charice Pempengco herself, as it is about an audience in this country that’s overly critical of her by default, that obviously doesn’t care much for her. And it has to be said that it’s class, social and otherwise, that allows for this double standard when it comes to national pride, which disallows Charice from being properly celebrated as a high point in Philippine popular culture history.

Even when she’s had the song “Pyramid” on the Billboard charts for a while now. Behind her she’s got David Foster, American icon, music producer and star, who has put her onstage with international superstars. She has Oprah Winfrey as manager and modern fairy godmother. She’s got Hollywood contracts for singing and acting, has done duets with Celine Dion and Andreas Bocelli, and will be in the second season of Glee.

You’d have to be in denial to think all these to be unimportant; you’d be wrong to think that just because there’s little of Charice on TV and in the papers, she isn’t as big a star as Oprah imagines. Because whether we like it or not, Charice’s international stardom doesn’t seem like a one-time deal. In fact, it looks like she’s in it for the long haul. The world has got Charice Mania to prove it. It’s also a response to you, critical Pinoy non-fan.

via GMANews online, the rest of it is here!

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Cherie Gil, world class

<…> as with many women, Callas also just wanted love. And this apparently, was her failing. Seeing her teach this master class though, is a testament as well to her spirit. She was stereotype, yes, she was diva, as expected. But too, she’s a woman who knows not to rest on her laurels, and instead actually wants to share it. That soft spot is what’s startlingly overwhelming about her persona.

Cherie portrays Marie

One realizes two things in watching Master Class. First, that the struggles of woman, image and otherwise, public figure or private, are the same in many ways, and that as you empathize with Callas’ story, you realize how sisterhood lives, beyond death, across races, despite differences. Second, that you do not know a world class Filipino performance until you watch Cherie Gil do this play.

read all of it here!

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today: grieving for FrancisM

a version of this essay appears in the Philippine Daily Inquirer: Mourning for FrancisM

I can imagine that this doesn’t apply to many Filipinos of a different social class and generation from mine. But for a particular sector who, in the 1990s, was enamored by American pop and rap, who were at an age in which they needed a sense of identity in the context of this country, there was Francis Magalona.

And this is not to say that he began in my consciousness as a rapper. If memory serves, he was singing and dancing on That’s Entertainment, acting in Bagets 2, and rapping the top 10 song countdown on Lovli-Ness, before he became the Master Rapper of this country. In fact, when he broke out as a rapper in the album Yo! and the song “Mga Kababayan”, it seemed to me like the most natural progression, for someone like FrancisM who seemed more intelligent than many of his generation, and who really did have something to say that was different and new. At least to my 14-year old ears, and my 17-year old brother’s, and I guess to many friends I’ve met since then, who now mourn with me and cry the tears we would normally only have for loved ones. (more…)