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Know your future under showbiztocracy
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo
The Philippine Star 2007-01-03
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Traditional politicians and patronage politics ruined our country. Then movie personalities discovered how easy it is to win in elections. Tragically, the masses got sucked into the world of illusions, thinking that the solution was in the stars.
Betwixt and between the poor and the rich is the middle class. A lot of social movements have relied on the middle class to lead and direct change. Note how the world’s major revolutions were led by members of the middle class: Lenin of Russia, Robespierre of France, Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam and Mao Zedong and Chou En Lai of China. EDSA was a middle class production that was usurped by the oligarchs.
The members of the middle class have the education and the moral perspective to initiate reform. They have access to power and the powerful, and to media and organizations.
The upper class is too preoccupied with their rarefied world and vested interests — hardly the type to disturb the status quo. Just look at how our top businessmen are rallying behind the Arroyo regime, seeing that their businesses are picking up. They are impervious to the growing decadence — the corruption and the political killings — even if these have already shocked the rest of the world.
Half the nation may already be dead from malnutrition or murder and the Donald Dees who represent business in media will likely keep mouthing their "support the regime" spiel so long as their businesses are making money. Didn’t Jesus Christ say that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? The real face of showbiztocracy
How do you convince the masses that the screen idol of unblemished complexion and dreamy eyes does not transform to a Prince Charming in the political world? How do you make them understand that public service and governance is not a question of personalities and popularity but of competence, capability and moral leadership?
In this endeavor, the middle class is in the best position to do the job. For one, members of the middle class occupy important positions in the academe (teachers, professors) and media (writers, editors) — the two important sectors needed to spearhead the essentially value-formation task.
Alas, seeing how media operates today, we are far from seeing that happen. News today is produced like showbiz while showbiz news stories are by far the most popularly read.
Have you seen the viciousness and depravity of that February 24, 2007 edition of GMA Network’s STARTALK where they milked the rating potential of the Kris Aquino-James Yap matrimonial row? Instead of promoting values that uplift, that STARTALK episode sowed intrigue, strife, voyeurism, bad taste and everything filthy. This is one time when I will not fault Mike Arroyo if he sued the producers of the show for libel against Filipino sensibility.
Isn’t that STARTALK episode representative of showbiz and its talk shows? This television genre has long been under attack for its propensity to project the inane, the silly, the depraved, the pathetic and the pain of people so that people can feast on them like flies on rotting flesh. There have been instances in the past when these inane talk shows were boycotted by major advertisers despite their big ratings — something that ought to be revived.
Nowadays, you have showbiz personalities who behave as if they couldn’t care less about morality. It is amazing how easy it is for them to broadcast the name of the person they are now fornicating with as though it were a badge of honor.
What kind of a country will Pilipinas be with these degenerates in command? Do you really think that Joseph Estrada was unusually loose and that he did not actually represent showbiz morality?
We hoped that our people would have shunned showbiztocracy after Estrada’s ignominious exit. But they keep coming out of the woodwork. Those who are now in the Senate — Ramon "Bong" Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada — are reported to be nurturing presidential ambitions. Do you think that Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano will settle for just being a senator if they manage to win this May?
When I was 18 and in second year college, the young political stars we looked up to were Ninoy Aquino and Doy Laurel. Now our youth are attracted to the Bong Revillas and Jinggoy Estradas. Imagine what Pilipinas will be like 10 years from now.
The masses are the main victims of the showbiztocracy con job, the shell game with a photogenic smile. And unless those in our society who know better get out of their comfort zones and do something, we will likely see more showbiz pretenders in positions of power where they stand to make our bad situation worse.
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