Even living in the United States, have always been a fan of Filipino entertainment. Used to rent Filipino moves from Netflix (when they used to send DVDs in the mail); watched clips of television shows on YouTube; even sent money to family members in the Philippines, who, in turn, would send a box of DVDs and CDs – currently have a pretty healthy selection of Filipino movies mixed with the general collection of movies. 

Living in Bacolod City for almost five years, one of the things that has been striking, in an environment where Filipino entertainment dominates the landscape, is this apparent idea that everybody in show business can sing, dance, and act.

Sure, there are some that actually can accomplish multiple talents successfully, but is that true of all “artista?”

There are many instances where an attractive guy or girl transitions from modeling to acting and offer a pretty bland display when delivering lines, yet they are still heralded for the performance. There are other cases where somebody picks up a microphone and as long as they add a vibrato (even more, if they yell/scream at the end of the song), audiences are standing, clapping, and sometimes crying – but, in all reality, they were just reciting lyrics with those said elements added in for effect. There are also the countless number of actors who are thrown on stage to dance, which in their mind, if they follow the steps the choreographer taught, then its perfection; even if they were stiff as a board while performing the routine.

Thinking about the issue, recalled a viral 2015 Facebook post by Gab Valenciano, son of actor Gary Valenciano – the father definitely a great singer, the son, a great dancer. He wrote about his experience in the local entertainment industry and explained how talent is not necessarily a key to being considered… talented.

“Looking good is a much greater necessity than actually being good,” he explained. “Hard work doesn’t get you anywhere, it’s who you know and how far you’re willing to go to live the dream.”

Valenciano also characterized the industry as “a system that sincerely believes that being light-skinned is a privilege.”

“Every asset is fixated on branding and advertising,” he added.

The last point is particularly poignant, considering how many celebrities appear in advertisements for just about anything. In the US, there is something called “overexposure,” which clearly does not exist in the Philippines. It is the idea where audiences grow tired of seeing the same faces in every facet of media, particularly, if they have nothing new to present.

A 2012 piece by Tamara Abraham for the Daily Mail discussed overexposed celebrities, naming Kim Kardashian as the most “overexposed” – just a couple years prior, it would have been Paris Hilton, who today has returned to obscurity. She quotes Gerry Philpott, the CEO of E-Poll, the company behind the overexposure poll, who noted, “A decade ago being overexposed was the kiss of death, but today it’s necessary to fuel reality TV.”

However, he went on to say, “If you want to be a serious movie actress maybe you don’t want high overexposed numbers, but if you’re going to be a successful reality star, you need those numbers.”

Is that where the Philippines is? Try to give every celebrity the exposure of a reality star? Personally, an individual who can genuinely sing, dance, or act is above a “reality star.” Although, with shows like “It Takes Gutz to Be a Gutierrez,” it would appear some are willing to shed a career primarily geared towards acting in exchange for being recognized as a “reality TV star.”

From the perspective of this column, the most overexposed personalities today would probably be the Kramer family. They lend their name and faces to seemingly every company that makes an offer, which leads to commercials featuring them, at times, played one right after another.  This was the case before with Kris Aquino, who still shows up on one-too-many commercials.

The western mindset definitely takes over in this situation considering, given the lack of creativity when it comes to local advertising, top it off with throwing in the same people for every product, it makes the advertisement even more ridiculous – particularly the one where Cheska Garcia Kramer tries to pass herself off as a teenager.

Valenciano noted in his post, one of the qualities of the Filipino entertainment industry is “it is okay for corporations to believe in a quantity over quality business model over excellence.”

This idea of people being talented across all forms of performance – this refers to both established celebrities and those who appear on variety show displaying what they purport to be talent – is equivalent to the American phenomenon of giving trophies to all participants in children’s sports, both the winners and losers.

Lauren Knight wrote an article on the subject for the Washington Post in 2015, where she explained, “The act of telling a group of children that they are winners just for showing up waters down and devalues the very concept of winning; who can feel the true joy of a victory if trophies are handed out just for participating?” In the same way, somebody being told they can sing, dance, or act, with reality saying otherwise, devalues the talent itself. If somebody who acts by primarily looking good and delivering lines insipidly is seen as level with one able to deliver emotion and proper intonation with their dialogue, it makes the craft of acting meaningless.

Knight goes on to discuss how the experience of failure can be a benefit as it teaches one resilience; learning how to bounce back; and understanding it is alright to fail at times, knowing one can eventually succeed in something else.

Michael Sigman discussed the same issue for the Huffington Post in 2012, using the example of the American education system and how some have done away with honor systems because it “discriminates” against those who did not earn such distinctions, along with some school districts manipulating grades in order to have a “successful” student body.

“The ‘everybody gets a trophy’ mentality basically says that you’re going to get rewarded just for showing up,” he explained. “That won’t build true self-esteem; instead, it builds this empty sense of ‘I’m just fantastic, not because I did anything but just because I’m here.’” Much like the local entertainment industry, where despite not being that great at whatever talent is being claimed, the adulation encouraged by many media figures only builds up a false recognition of talent – is it that difficult for people to understand everybody is not good at everything?

Michael Brunner talked about the effects of such a coddled mindset in a 2011 article for Forbes Magazine. He shared his observations of young professionals and a common attitude witnessed in today’s offices.

“Many lack interest in working hard and investing time in a career or an organization that doesn’t consider their needs before all others.” Brunner explained. “The Facebook generation has its priorities well-established: These folks care about themselves first.”

He goes on to discuss the environment at the ad agency he runs, saying, “We tell them the truth – the hard, raw, unvarnished truth.”

“Sometimes that means criticizing them and—gasp!—telling them they aren’t so special,” the writer added.

Are people afraid to tell the hottest matinee idol, who may have the most chiseled abs or the most beautiful face, their acting is dry, they can’t carry a tone, or they dance with two left feet? What is the obsession with constant adulation? The same can be seen on social media, with the general public always snapping selfies and publishing entire albums of just a person’s face with 20 different expressions. Once, saw a Facebook album said to be documenting a child’s birthday party, but it was over 30 pictures of bathroom selfies (the party was in a banquet hall, not a public restroom).

The need for public adoration has, at this point, turned into a compulsion.

As Valenciano noted in his social media post describing the local entertainment industry, “Your self-worth is based on the number of followers you have;” sad thing to see that idea now permeating amongst the general public. With the way Filipinos judge everybody in front of a camera as singers, actors, and dancers of identical ability, it probably results in some having to distinguish themselves by utilizing overexposure, which, as has been demonstrated elsewhere, is not a long-term venture./WDJ