"Businesses may come and go, but religion will last forever, for in no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure. "




July 18th, 2007

I hate Filipino culture

Now before you post hate comments, let me first say that I’m no elitist. I’m not even rich in the first place so I have no right to be elitist. I’m not one of those snobs who wouldn’t recognize the country of their origin either. I’m actually quite nationalistic. Read the entry in its entirety before commenting

I hate the inter-cultural ignorance that permeates our society.
Few cultures condone racism. It wasn’t too long ago when Whitney Tyson was regularly made fun of in TV shows because she was part black. And still, today the term negra is a term that can be used very liberally, in public, with little consequence. The sad part is that instead of quelling it, mainstream media is actually responsible for encouraging this type of mentality. When a Filipino sees a black man, either he’d stare at him, snicker or give a derogatory comment. When I was in grade school, the “conductor” of our school bus was African American. He got a lot of stares from people and I felt a sorry for him. Ironically, Filipinos are very sensitive when it comes to issues about their own race. When a biscuit was named after us, a lot of people were offended. And when Claire Danes made some negative comments about the Philippines, she didn’t only receive hate mail, our government actually banned her from ever entering the Philippines. That’s just embarrassing. Who the hell elected emotionally insecure kids to run our government?

I hate wowowee and eat bulaga. I hate their brand of humor. I hate the way the members of the audience bounce up and down and laugh like escaped mental patients as they sing their favorite novelty songs. My blood pressure shoots up whenever I hear novelty songs like “itaktak mo” and “boom tarat tarat”
I hate entertainers who dress up like drag queens and make fools of themselves for the sake of comedy, which isn’t even funny in the first place. It disgusts me. I don’t have much respect for people who have no sense of dignity and self-respect
I don’t get Jimmy Santos. Why is someone getting paid so much money for intentionally speaking carabao English. Is that supposed to be funny? Maybe so if it was unintentional. Majority of Filipinos talk like that naturally. They’re a lot funnier than jimmy santos but they don’t get paid a single centavo. Why is pun and slapstick always the main course in Filipino comedy? It’s not even witty pun. It’s just pure dumb “if-you-replace-a-word-with-a-random-word-that-sounds-the-same- it’s-funny” type of pun. I occasionally laugh at slapstick humor but not when it involves people who get slapped in the back of the head for nothing and make weird whining noises after. That’s just annoying.and demeaning

I hate our religious zealotry. When faced with a challenge most Filipinos would reply with “If that’s what god wills, then let it be” or “Let’s leave it up to god”. Why take action at all if god will determine what’s going to happen anyway? If something good happens to them, it’s because of god’s good will. If something bad happens to them, it’s also because of god’s good will. It’s a win-win situation for god and a lose-lose situation for Filipinos. Why don’t we give credit to whom credit is actually due. Filipinos love shifting the credit and blame to higher authority. They blame or praise anyone but themselves. Instead of praising themselves for their accomplishments, they praise god and instead of blaming themselves for their failures, they blame the government. If you’re unemployed or underemployed, you could blame the government or you could also look in the mirror. There are a lot of job vacancies in the Philippines but employers tend to not want incompetent people in their workforce.

I hate it that the word “ambisyosa” or “ambisyoso” has a negative connotation here. Our society dictates us to conform and not to stand out. Our society stifles creativity in the name of practicality. Our society suppresses assertiveness and encourages submissiveness –Kids can’t argue with their parents and students can’t argue with their teachers. We’re raising generations upon generations of drones and servants when we should be raising thinkers and leaders. I actually think that our schools are making us more stupid.

I hate the lack of respect for human life. I hate the way people would make more children than they can feed in the hopes that those children would generate them some money in the future. It’s a reproductive strategy that is reptilian in its primitiveness. Higher animals like the great apes and dolphins produce just one offspring at a time and nurture it for years and years with care. Same is the case with higher civilizations. We, on the other hand, produce armies upon armies of generic offspring and leave them to fend for themselves, the way insects and reptiles do. Why wouldn’t we? Our religion says contraception is evil. No one will question the word of god I hate how religion has so much power over the state.

I hate the fact that so much of our lives revolves around idolatry. I hate the fact that Filipinos can’t tell the difference between what is real and reel. Why did people vote for lito lapid and erap? Because they killed a lot of bad guys and saved a lot of good guys in their movies. Politicians bombard us with intellectually insulting, emotional arguments and shallow entertainment because truth of the matter is, most Filipinos are shallow people. And for shallow people, you don’t need to present intellectually gripping arguments or detailed blueprints. You just need to appeal to their emotions. There was one episode of Dong Puno live before where a woman from the audience was asked if endorsements from actors would influence her vote. With a wide smile on her face, she wholeheartedly said She’d vote for any candidate whom “Juday” endorses. While jumping and clapping like a crazed lunatic of course, the way eat bulaga and wowowee people do.

Am I bashing all Filipinos? No. Am I referring to a certain sector of society? Yes. The sector that makes up the bulk of our society, the same sector of society that politicians abuse for their own ends. The same sector of society that elected Erap into power, The sector of society whose votes can be easily bought with just a few pesos. The sector of society that has the most voting power. Am I referring to the poor? I will not use the word poor. I do not like classifying people by their financial status. That s just discriminatory. But I don’t mind classifying people by their way of thinking and by their culture or lack thereof. I am referring to people who subscribe to “masa culture”. A culture that is rife with Crab mentality, dragging down anyone who wishes to rise up into their own pit of communal stagnation; a culture that is so practical that it lacks awareness and interest on matters that do not immediately concern their day-to-day living, A culture that puts so much emphasis on idolatry that independent thinking becomes muffled

Kids who are exposed to foreign literature, foreign media and foreign cultures usually grow up to have more open and creative minds. I believe one reason why our achievements, as a nation, pale considerably to those of our neighbors is that “our” culture is inherently flawed. Those of us who succeed here are either of a foreign culture (the Chinese) or those exposed to western ideals. Masa culture isn’t Filipino culture. Mainstream media makes it seem like it is. We shouldn’t be proud of it. We shouldn’t embrace it. Masa culture is a byproduct of ignorance. It’s also a purveyor of ignorance. A vicious beast that feeds on itself


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Posted by jaywalker_1982 at 02:17 AM in Philosophy/Society/politics, uncategorized/personal stuff | 24 comments

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brittany (guest)

Comment posted on June 17th, 2010 at 01:40 AM
Look here if you hate so many things maybe your mom should of swallowed you! THERES GOOD AND BAD IN EVERY RACE! THERES RACIST PEOPLE EVERYWHERE NO MATTER WHAT SKIN TONE THEY ARE! YOU ARE IGNORANT, OH MY GOD DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS ! CHINA MASS PRODUCES TOO, ALOT OF COUNTRIES DO! DIDYA EVER PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND SEE THAT!

Slim68 (guest)

Comment posted on November 4th, 2007 at 01:04 AM
Finally! Another article that feeds the mind. You should post it to different website with forums so that Filipinos can see what IS the real problem in our society. I'm ambivalent when it comes to our culture. I love it and I hate it at the same time. You know why? Because there are some parts of our culture that show positive traits of the Filipinos, such as the use of "po" or "opo", use of mano, hospitality, and patriotism. What I do not like about the Filipino culture are the discrimination of our Muslim countrymen, the act of being a "pakiilamero" and "pakiilimera", and the rest that you have mentioned. The racism part of your article is absolutely true. Most Filipinos tend to look down on dark skinned people (i.e., Blacks, Arabs, Indians.) and they either talk behind on their back or they stare at them as if they are mocking the person. What really disgusts me is when most Filipinos call the wealthy Anglophone, "konyo" (which really means "cunt" in Spanish), while on the other hand, they call the poor, "squatters" or "jologs". I hate it when most Filipinos crave for whitening creams, soaps and all those whitening bullshits! They wannabe white because they think that it is more accepted in the society. I've been living now in America and I see the difference between the Filipinos in the Philippines and Filipinos in the U.S. Despite of the hate towards the negative culture of Filipinos, I still love Philippines due to the beautiful memories that I've left. Nice blog! Hope to see more of your articles that make sense.
Comment posted on November 4th, 2007 at 02:14 AM
thanks. I'll try to post more articles like this :)

Slim68 (guest)

Comment posted on November 4th, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Kapatid, I think you should add more about negative Filipino traits. There are more that you didn't mention and you should also post the positive values of the Filipinos as well.

alice (guest)

Comment posted on August 28th, 2007 at 07:51 AM
what's most unfortunate is the fact that masa culture reeks of exploitation no matter how you look at it. how can we open your mind to anything else when there aren't any alternatives? And even after the Wowowee stampede, we still aren't any less short-sighted and easy to please. In fact the whole incident could have made us even stupider considering that noontime shows and watered down game shows are still big business.
Comment posted on August 10th, 2007 at 01:46 PM
nicely done. what better way to show how much you love filipinos and how you want to change it for the better. :)

i don't know why, but i suddenly miss Batibot. hehe
Comment posted on August 2nd, 2007 at 06:40 PM
my thoughts exactly...
Comment posted on August 4th, 2007 at 09:54 PM
Thanks for visiting mooch

Glad to know we're on the same page
Comment posted on July 31st, 2007 at 01:41 PM
blog hopping i went to ur site..
super agree ako. with the program concept ng wowowee. and i wish you were on the pinoy congress '05, in the face of charo santos-concio regarding the "quality programs" issue. students of mass com/com arts from diff univeristies appealed regarding the type of programs ABS CBN cater to the masses. iyon DAW kase ang GUSTo NG TAO. sinong tao? nino? sino sila? nakakadepress mang isipin pero tama ka. may tamang kanta para dito ang itchyworms, ung Soap o Pera.

i watch eat bulaga. i had my OJT there. yes. medyo bias. but at times when what u really wanted is to watch decent program, i do not recommend eat bulaga, lalu na wowowee..(pagkatapos paiyakin, pasasayawin ka na parang asong ulul in national television).
Comment posted on August 2nd, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Ey thanks for visiting.

"pagkatapos paiyakin, pasasayawin ka na parang asong ulul in national television)."

I couldn't have worded it any better :)

liz (guest)

Comment posted on July 24th, 2007 at 06:41 AM
i always thought criticism is pointless if the one who criticizes provides no solution to the problem.

i've been thinking about the debate between liberalism and communitarianism as democratic principles. wala lang.
Comment posted on July 24th, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Reminds me of a debate we were supposed to have. What’s your position?

Lauren (guest)

Comment posted on July 24th, 2007 at 06:23 AM
Whoa. This is pretty much what I feel about Filipino culture and "the masses", except you said it in a more articulate manner than I ever will. When I was in high school (which was mostly populated by, er, "jologs" people) my classmates often said I needed to lower my standards because they were way too high. They also picked on me because I speak English. :P Well, if I compare myself to them now, I'm definitely in a much better place than they are.
Comment posted on July 24th, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Ey lauren
I’m glad that I was able to articulate your thoughts for you =) thanks for visiting
Comment posted on July 23rd, 2007 at 05:36 AM
i totally agree with you. and yes, i have been accused of being elista. i'm not. i just discriminate stupidity.

the thing with wowowee that i really hate is how degrading they make woman seem. i'm far from being prudish but kids watch noon time shows basically coz their yayas' do. and what kind of concept do they learn from it? sometimes i get bothered by the things i hear from my kiddies. and it's hateful how they seem to elevate being poor? like the more drama you give, the more money they'll give you. you help people who help themselves. condoning the paawa effect helps no one in the long run.
i have too much anger. hahaha!
Comment posted on July 24th, 2007 at 12:05 PM
[QUOTE]i totally agree with you.[/QUOTE]
See geeks also make sense sometimes.

[QUOTE]the thing with wowowee that i really hate is how degrading they make woman seem.[/QUOTE]
touche
Comment posted on July 25th, 2007 at 03:29 AM
geeks ought to make sense.

it ruins the whole point if they don't.
Comment posted on July 25th, 2007 at 07:36 AM
but you said... you said geeks don't make sense. The sole purpose of this entry is to prove you wrong

dizzy (guest)

Comment posted on July 22nd, 2007 at 08:24 AM
i just want to comment im new here

you may hate these shows when you're in phils but once you live in the states or UK(i've lived there for 5 years as a nurse, i'm now in canada), hahanap hanapin mo rin ang mga shows na ito

they say nakakabobo ang mga shows na to but it's just for pure entertainment
iba ang shows sa UK, medyo liberal sila( they even have sex education shows where they show sex organs and sexual intercourse on tv) you get used to these things and find them boring as time goes on. ngayon ang hinahanap hanap ko mga tagalog shows and movies

try to be think outside the box
or better yet try to live outside the philippiens for a while to realize how important these shows are for us filipinos. that makes us distinctively pinoy.
Comment posted on July 23rd, 2007 at 12:36 AM
Thanks for commenting dizzy.

It was never my intention to offend. I never implied that people who watch the shows i mentioned above are "bobo" or that those shows are "nakakabobo". I also watch my fair share of "Pure entertainment" programs.

I personally don't find the shows funny or entertaining but I won't take it against anyone if they like those shows. I'm just not a big fan of humor that focuses on the "physical shortcomings" of others, as is usually the case with the programs i mentioned above. But as they say, to each his own.

cyberpunk (guest)

Comment posted on July 20th, 2007 at 11:13 AM
I've already told you that i agree with this post :)

Don't apologize for it. It's your blog, it's your opinion. Some may agree; some may not. But so what?

Anyway, this is a positive criticism. We Filipinos are aware of the issues you've pointed out, but some of us are in denial. So expect some people to become defensive.

Strongly worded? Hardly, my dear. Don't sweat it :D
Comment posted on July 23rd, 2007 at 12:38 AM
ey thanks for visiting
Comment posted on July 18th, 2007 at 05:44 AM
Nice rant :-P

I don't know though if it's true that "few cultures condone racism." As someone from a Chinese family, I can say that "our people" generally seem like a pretty racist bunch.
Comment posted on July 18th, 2007 at 07:12 AM
Haha. I was having a bad day earlier so this is a bit more strongly worded than my usual stuff
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