The review by Nickie Wang of the movie The Escort in the November 9, 2016 of Manila Standard is surprising that the success of the film was attributed to the millions of pesos it raked during the first few days of showing. However, this box office performance does not equate with its value and its substantive content. This is due to the blatant presentation of the sexual act in its repetitive rendition and different partners. As indicated in the press releases, there were no cuts so that more people were titillated. Therefore the viewership could not be linked to the social and moral significance value of the film.
Another teleserye that is meandering is Someone to Watch Over Me, which is part of a primetime series. The intention of the soap opera according to its press release is “to raise awareness of the problem (alzheimer’s) and its impact on family relations. However, it has become a series of outbursts on the part of the main actor and crying spills on the part of the wife, which detract largely from the focus on illness progression with its accompanying functional and cognitive deterioration. However, the illness was romanticized and the wife presented as picture of devastation with daily crying seeking sympathy from viewers. In the real setting, the wife or immediate family member becomes pro-active in response to the point of seeking institutional help as the basic functioning of the individual deteriorates. The teleserye, which has been running for nine months, has become stale and repetitive with viewers’ call for the termination of the series since it seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Definitely, the awareness issue has been sidelined in this serye and the emphasis was “kilig” which is uncalled for. What happened to the call of meaningful teleseryes?
There is an absence of venue for teleserye watchers like me to express opinion and concern over teleseryes that are presented. The Fans’ Day column of the Philippine Inquirer has been removed and all that is gotten are few sentences drawn from fans’ gushing over their actors on Instagram. I hope that you will help us viewers to present our comments and critics of your suggestion. Manila Standard is one of the papers that presents an incisive view of current presentations which have an impact on viewers’ values and perception.
Sincerely yours,
Aleli Patron
Nurse – Profession