Anti-Filipino remark on ‘Desperate Housewives’?
October 3, 2007
The mob is at it again. Filipinos have recently forwarded emails, posted blog entries, and signed online petitions decrying the supposedly “racist” remark that Teri Hatcher’s character in the US TV show Desperate Housewives uttered in last week’s season premiere.
The “offending” line:
Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas because I just wanna make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.
A clip of the scene is here:
An online petition calling for the show’s producers and writers to apologize for the episode’s “discriminatory and hurtful” remark has already gathered more than 12,000 signatures as of this posting (Oct. 8 update: now make that 108,000, wow!). But do all these petitioners really know what the issue is about? Or is it merely a case of not being left behind by the mob?
They said it was offensive to Filipinos, I’m Filipino, therefore, I should be in.
At worst, the remark was a jab at some schools, not just the medical schools, and diploma mills in the country that continue to produce graduates who are not skilled enough for work. Watch the video again. Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher’s character)’s line was neither a racist comment against Filipino doctors nor against Filipinos in general.
As long as we have a place called Recto where fake diplomas can easily be bought and licensure exam fiascos that undermine the credibility of our professionals, the state of Philippine education will continue to be the butt of jokes.
Hell, even we ourselves do it. Don’t we laugh so hard whenever the latest batch of school-bashing jokes are out?
UST - UP Sana Tayo
DLSU - Di Lumusot Sa UPCAT
ADMU - And Daming Mali sa UPCAT
MAPUA - Meron Akong Panaginip, UP Ako!
FEU - Failed to Enter UP
CEU - Can’t Enter UP
PUP - Parang UP
AdU - Ako’y Di UP
PLM - Pangarap Lang Mag-UP
PNU - Puro Nagsibagsak sa UPCAT
PWU - Puro Wishing UP
How is this different? Because it was delivered by a foreign country? In that case, Indians should complain (hell, yeah, they should file a government protest!) that we continue to call them “Bumbays” (from “Bombay,” the city), and we knowingly use the term derogatorily, not even as a joke.
Had the line been mentioned matter-of-factly in a news or documentary program, our protest would have been valid. But lest we forget, Desperate Housewives is a dramedy — a drama AND a comedy. Everything said there should not be taken seriously. For one, Susan Mayer was definitely in character — insensitive, arrogant, and stupid — when she delivered the line.
Locally, GMA7’s Bubble Gang has, for almost a decade now, continued to poke fun at Diego for being “ugly and gay” and at Mykah for being “baluga or dark-colored.”
Where’s the rage? Is it because those are now accepted as “legitimate” jokes? They sure don’t sound funny to gays, the dark-colored, or the ugly, but why are people not complaining?
It’s time we quit having double standards. It’s also time we improve the quality of education in our schools.
But please, mob, it’s not time to call for another boycott.
UPDATE: The show’s network, ABC, has issued an apology for the said remark:
The producers of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines. As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful images of all communities featured in our programs.
In the end, however, all this hullabaloo only created more buzz and publicity for the show. Desperate Housewives still wins.
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Have your own thoughts? Join the discussion here.
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November 25th, 2007 at 11:59 am
To Liz again! You talk of the Chinese gangs gang raping as their favorite pastimes, when it’s Filipino fathers who rape their own children and fathers who rape their own daughters in laws! Don’t believe what I said? Then do dig up the old issues of Philippine Newspapers that have headlines of FILIPINO dogs raping their own children!!!
November 25th, 2007 at 11:55 am
To Liz.
You should be ashamed of yourself and your biased remarks against Chinese-Filipinos in the Philippines and believe it or not, whether you like it or not, Jose Rizal is half-Chinese. You talk so much about Chinese gangs in Chinatown in Manila, when it’s the Filipino gangs, rebels and terrorists that do the most damage and killing in our country. Your own kapwa, you brown assed boastful arrogant Flip gook!
And you’re an engineer? Let me tell you something, go be and engineer and leave the political and social talk to those who know what they are talking about. Filipinos, not Chinese or any other nationality are your own worst enemy, YOU are our own worst enemy!