Growing up in the United States, whenever there was a celebrity on a gameshow, it was because they were acting as assistance to the contestant, who would be an average person; of were part of a panel. Closer to modern time, celebrities began appearing as contestants themselves, where, in nearly all cases, whatever money they earned would go to charity, which they would announce when being introduced. 

Lately, watching a lot of programming from South Korea and Taiwan, whenever their game shows and variety shows feature celebrities, it is almost always food. Some shows offer a reward of food by playing a game with the featured celebrities; others offer food as the ultimate goal.

In the Philippines, have noticed when celebrities are the contestants, they keep all the money they win. Even shows adapted from American television, including “Deal of No Deal,” “Minute to Win It,” and even “Family Feud” were produced with celebrities serving as contestants (“Family Feud” featured casts of television shows or movies as a “family”).

Famed basketball player and former Senator Robert Jaworski, legendary actress Janice de Belen, famous talk show host Boy Abunda, Journey lead singer Arnel Pineda, and TV host and son of former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, Kim Atienza, are among those who took home P1 million on the Filipino version of “Deal of No Deal;” people who arguably do not need the money, in a country of over 100 million, where over 20 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Actress and former Quezon City Councilor Aiko Melendez won the P1 million prize twice; the second time, she was teamed up with actress and comedienne Candy Pangilinan.

The only occurrence witnessing a celebrity give their money away (and perhaps there were one or two other instances that went unnoticed) was when world champion boxer and Senator Manny Pacquaio asked the hosts of the “Jackpot and Poy” segment of “Eat Bulaga” if he could give his winnings away to the audience, which was then split between several members of the studio audience.

Clearly, Pacquaio doesn’t need the money. Even in the US, many of the “celebrities” that participate in such shows are B- to D-Listers and they still give their game show winnings to charity.

On “Wowowin,” along with previous adaptations of the Willie Revillame-hosted show on other networks, his guests are almost always regular people, who are then given cash prizes and gifts from sponsors; plus nearly all the audience is given money towards the end of the show.

Another example is the “Juan for All, All for Juan” segment of “Eat Bulaga,” one of the most admirable aspects of daytime television in the Philippines, where hosts are sent into barangays (neighborhoods) and one local resident is selected. They go into their home, learn about their families, discuss hardships, and, in the end, the winner is showered with gifts from sponsors and lots of money.

“Deal of No Deal” once took their production into the barangay, but it was just local residents watching their favorite celebrity win money – they weren’t actually participating.

Why does it seem perfectly fine for celebrities to pocket so much money when they do not need it; given the multitude of shows where stars show off their homes or on social media, putting their many expensive items on display (like showing off a designer handbag collection) or presenting their jet-setting lifestyle – and in the case of “Deal or No Deal,” flaunting the money in the face of multitudes who need it more than the hottest television sensation at the moment.

Lynn McCutcheon, founder of the North American Journal of Psychology (NAJP), wrote a piece for the Fair Observer asking “Can Celebrity Admiration Go Too Far?”

“There is an abundance of anecdotal evidence to suggest that many celebrities are no better (and sometimes much worse) than the rest of us when it comes to intelligent or laudatory behavior,” he asserted. “Why should we idolize people just because they are better looking than we are, or they can act, sing or kick/throw/hit a spherical object better than the rest of us?”

It’s one thing to admire, but, for the Philippines, why shower them with cash gifts?

He went on to discuss the different levels of fandom, from those who like somebody for a certain ability to the “borderline pathological.”

How far does celebrity admiration go in the Philippines wherein so many applaud just watching already-rich celebrities win money, yet a majority of the audience is living at or below the poverty line?

McCutcheon conducted a study on the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS), which he describes as “a theoretical model to help explain how people get emotionally involved with their favorite celebrity.”

Based on studies from England, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United States, his survey in the Philippines found a mean CAS score of 66.56, which he described as “the highest ever recorded.”

“The present data suggest that celebrity adoration has become common in this part of the eastern hemisphere,” he deduced. “Females are especially inclined to admire celebrities for the entertainment and social opportunities they provide.”

Tod Lindberg wrote an essay for The Hoover Institute, where he discussed the concept of “hero-worship” and if it exists today in the United States.

“In our age of wiki-culture, the difference is specialization: One need not be a hero to all to be a hero to some,” he wrote. “The Internet allows fanciers of almost any specialty to aggregate and to sort themselves, and by a voluntary process to crown champions.”

“Dissenters are no longer out of luck: They have ample opportunity to try banding together to elevate a rival,” Lindberg added.

“A doctrine of equality rebels against claims of a status of superiority,” Lindberg pointed out. “Freedom dethrones claims of superiority that hold sway by force;” something he said refers to both celebrities and politicians in the US.

It begs the question, with the general population of the Philippines seemingly more than content watching celebrities lining their pockets for playing a game, is there a sense of superiority given to them in exchange for the general public giving up certain freedoms?

It has been discussed on several previous junctures about the lack of freedoms the average Filipino citizen is afforded, whether it is through the red tape that surrounds every government transaction or the overreaching state that controls nearly every sector of the economy; does this fuel a need for “hero-worship?” It would explain why, in the past, heroes were few and far between; and today, the label of hero is given to anybody that does any little good deed.

Even when it comes to showing admiration to heroes, Lindberg wrote, “We don’t bow down to our heroes;” but rather, “We can and do recognize them in a fashion that actually does evoke Carlyle’s ‘everlasting adamant’ to honor achievement: We award them medals and keys to the city, we give them a round of applause, we buy them a beer” – not gift them with heaps of cash, as those looking on would perhaps never see that amount of money over a period of months or years./WDJ