British Comedy Insults Filipinos
Racist? Definitely. Now, how about looking at the details regarding this scandal. The Filipina maid character should have known better than to accept that role. She does look Filipina, and we're hoping she's not or that would fuel a worse brigade that would rebuke her for portraying such a disgraceful character that embarrasses many of our OFW's (Overseas Filipino Workers).
Rep. Risa Hontiveros, a women's right activist, described the sketch as "revolting and disgusting" and calls it an "insensitive and racist attempt to satirize a scene of exploitation."
The producers on the other hand are defiant over the Filipino's demand for a public apology. They say that the show should not be taken seriously. This is also how some people see the current situation.
Should we let it pass just because the show is "absurd"? Whatever happened to cultural sensitivity? Racial prejudice? Or are the Filipinos being too sensitive regarding the matter? Remember the "Desperate Housewives" scene last year with a punch line that used Philippine medical education?
It has to be made clear why insulting OFW's somehow makes the Filipinos tick more than anything else, even more than a corrupt government official. Unlike these corrupt officials, OFW's actually contribute immensely to our economy. Despite the loneliness involved in staying out of the country apart from their loved one, immersed in a whole different culture, they suck it all up to give their families a decent standard of living. As a result, they keep the Philippine economy afloat by sending home billions of dollars in remittances.
It also has to be noted that not only are the OFW's beneficial to the Philippines, but they are just as important to the countries that they work in. Even the British Embassy said that the Filipinos in Britain "are an important part of British society, making invaluable contributions to our scientific and service sectors, and enriching U.K. culture," even though they could not reprimand BBC because of the editorial independence it has.
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9 Comments
Post a CommentI actually agree with most of pinoypoy's comments, if Filipinos would make fun of other people then it's no big deal, but when it's the other way around all these 'moral', self-righteous groups come out... Come on guys... It's Filipino's that need to be more open and the fact that it was a joke should be enough to say that it should not be taken seriously...
...the very fact that it WAS a sketch and that the chosen maid was a Filipino says it all. Sketches are made to specifically hit an issue in the "bull's eye". Sketches also don't come from thin air - they are well thought of because they're supposed to appeal to most of their audience (which was obviously not Filipinos). Do you think Harry and Paul are "prominent Brit comics" for nothing?
If it were another race, I would have found it racist but I would not have written about it - I wouldn't have been involved enough and thus wouldn't have enough material. How can you take the dictionary-issue so lightly? People who joke about the same material that Paul and Harry use are the same people who make those kinds of "mistakes'. Not all mistakes are excusable - to define Filipinos as "helpers" was definitely not excusable. If you think it WAS in fact excusable, then you better rethink how Filipino you are - if you ever felt like you could connect to other Filipino people, if you could sympathize with them. I don't think the Filipinos should change regarding the matter at hand, I think it's THEM that should change, and YOU. What about raising this topic with your mother? She might enlighten you better. Another thing "owmygad", you think I'd write about this if I didn't watch it? That would have been the most stupid editorial if I had. And if you didn't recognize the punchline,
I think we should change! Be more open about these kinds of things. I think we should not let our "culture" hold us back.
one day you'll know better.
our kind of humor is making fun at other people who can't speak tagalog or english fluently :( They don't really mean to offend, And I'm pretty sure they are not making fun of her because she's a maid or filipino!!! nor did they use her for punchline. Its the situation they're laughing at anyway. have you seen it? It just so happens that she's filipino and most of filipino work there as maids.We Better check on ourselves first if this kind of comedy is offending because as I see on our filipino tv shows, I see a lot of these. What is wrong with these country.
What exactly were you offended of? That she was Filipna? You must think it would be ok if it was a maid in other nationality.
And about the dictionary thing. It was a mistake! Did you think they did that on purpose? And whats your with being a helper anyway? I bet if Filipino would be defined as Kings or Queens, you would not complain. seriously. I think we should change! Be more open about these kinds of things. I think
I don't know how sarcastic your last statement was but I honestly believe that Filipinos have a natural ability to do a lot of wonderful things. But setting that aside, I don't think Filipinos are "too moral" (hello filipino government) and I don't think we're too sensitive but I do believe that "it's not our kind of humor" - maybe it's the Brit's kind of humor but that still doesn't mean we have to tolerate it. You think we should change, but there are many of us that think THEY should change (specifically speaking about using other people as punch lines).
There was a time when the world thought slavery was ok and people tolerated it. Now we know better. You might think that making fun of people in that manner is ok, maybe someday you'd know better. Or maybe someday *I* would know better.
And grounding myself back to the topic, how did you like it when the Filipinos were once defined in a dictionary as "helpers" (will have to search for an online source for that but that dates b
I don't really know why but I wasn't offended. But do you really think they intend to offend Filipinos? I think not. It maybe insensitive but don't you think we're just too sensitive? Is it because we are such a "moral" people (?). We just think too highly of ourselves and we easily get offended with something that really doesn't mean to offend. think something is wrong with Filipinos and we need to change that. If I was British, I wouldnt comment anything about Filipinos. Talk nothing about them, Pretend they dont exist because maybe I will offend them in my own country. or better, I would say "go back to your country and lets see if you could pull it through with your too sensitive culture and isolate your self from the rest of the world" Ang galing galing kasi nating mga pinoy, masyadong bilib sa sarili.
Just because Filipinos/Tagalogs call Visayans as bisaya (due to mannerisms or whatever), doesn't mean it's wrong and it should NOT be tolerated. That is the point of my article. You may want to think about how such "comedy show" affects the people - if it's ok to laugh at people in television, it's also more likely that people will laugh at them in person - and that's never a good thing if it involves something moral.
its just comedy. y cant people get that? how does it embarass OFW? maybe its true then? If you really think about it, we are one of the biggest racist ever in this world. We always think about ourselves. How we are get offended and stuffs like that. If you see a Chinese woman in that place, would you react? NO! because we only think about oursellves. If its about culture, maybe its about to change and open our minds about what they really try to send us. i am now more embarass by the way we react on these kind of things. We always want to hear foreigners talk about how great our country is (take a look on tv shows with foreign visitors) but when we get to the bottom of it. What do we get? Nothing really. but we ourselves are afraid of the truth that some filipinos are really not that great. And what is our cultural sensitvity anyway? BTW, racism? How about those "filipino" that calls someone bisaya because of his diction. If you really thinbk about it again, we bisaya should be offen