RINA JIMENEZ-DAVID has written an exhaustive article detailing how Teri Hatcher’s life will “be hell from now on” considering her character’s comment on the show. I wonder, has the latest season of “Desperate Housewives” even reached the Philippines? But again, that shouldn’t matter. Or should it? Should it really matter to look at the context of the joke before passing judgment? After all, it’s the context that determines whether something is funny or insulting. Take for example the movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” which can be seen as insulting, incredibly anti-Semitic, and sexist. But as Sacha Baron Cohen (who happens to be a devout Jew) pointed out, if you look at the context of the jokes and the movie itself, you will soon realize that the jokes are there to poke fun at American society and their prejudices and not against women or Jews.
A lot of comments have been already said about this controversy, but here is what I think the context is about and why I think ABC really didn’t meant to offend anyone. First of all, my mom, just like a lot of Filipinos here in Canada or in the US, is a nurse who was educated in the Philippines. Despite this, I honestly think the comment was taken out of context.
If you actually look at the context of the joke, the comment was supposed to poke fun at the image of the American (not Filipino) medical student who got rejected by all American medical schools — due to low grades or horrible MCAT results for example — so they end up studying overseas. The writers could have chosen any country but decided with the Philippines as an afterthought. I’m sure if they chose any other country, say India or Mexico, not only will this not be a big deal, but I bet most will find it funny. In the US, it is usually thought of that if someone cannot get into an American medical school and they really want to be a doctor, they usually end up studying overseas where admission regulations tend to be not as competitive. It wasn’t about Filipinos (the doctor in the scene was white) but American med students who could not get into a US medical school.
Sure, the comment implies that medical schools in the Philippines are not as good as in the US, which I am sure is the basis for all this rage. But is that assumption really that far-fetched? For most Americans, arrogance notwithstanding, they view their universities, especially their medical schools, much better than what you would expect in a developing country like the Philippines. Just look at the news or watch programs like “Dateline NBC” or “60 Minutes,” once in a while, they will feature stories of botched plastic surgeries or other forms of surgeries performed on Americans who’d undergone those operations in say, Mexico or somewhere in Latin America. Even in Miami, patients have been suing foreign-educated doctors (mostly from Latin America) for malpractice. Could you blame them in their high regard for their medical schools and their stringent admissions process?
This makes me to conclude that all this controversy is mainly due to a cultural misunderstanding. Generally speaking, most Filipinos would not get that context (poking fun at American doctors who were educated overseas because they couldn’t get accepted in a med school in the US) nor would they get American humor all of the time. On the other hand, writers for the show would not get the socio-economic sensitivity of the medical profession in the Philippines, which is understandable considering that they are writing with an exclusively American audience in mind.
So yes, Rina Jimenez-David is right: pity Teri Hatcher. Her character’s comments have been taken out of context and fallen victim to an unrelentless mob. The writers should just have mentioned Mexico instead of the Philippines and none of this would have happened. It would still have the same punchline and without the controversy.
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October 29th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
he very fact that they didn’t mention US medical schools (which, as was claimed, are so, so hard to get into), and focused instead on non-US schools (which are so easy to go into), mean that they indeed belittle non-American medical educational institutions. if that isn’t racist, then what is? racism is, after all, making your race seem better than others by belittling others!
for those who fail to see why the fuss about this, maybe let’s use as a joke, too, how everytime there’s a pregnant teenager in any show, we mention the American influence; how when somebody goes on a murdering rampage, let’s mention, too, the great american lesson; how when we feel a country isn’t acting the way we want it to, we can threaten to invade them as Americans almost always do; and how we can call all our fat and obese American-induced…
if Americans, and those on their side, do not at all fel offended, then everything’s fair game. otherwise, if they get offended somehow, then…
we need not attack others to make anything funny - i thought slapstick’s age is over!
October 19th, 2007 at 12:25 am
Whoever thought of the script about Philippine Medical Schools must be really “UNCOMFORTABLE” with the way Filipino Doctors and Nurses are making waves in the the Health Care Industry in the US.
It is not uncommon that Filipino Medical Practitioners are being acknowledged and recognized for their invaluable contribution to the Health Care Services not only in the US but all over the Planet Earth.
The situation depicted in the “Despetate Housewives” episode is certainly far from reality. While there could be a grain of truth in it, it is so insignificant that anyone in his right mind can just say, “whoever wrote the script must really be out of his mind”.
Let’s stop being “onion skinned” and move on. Whatever it is, I consider it only a BIG JOKE. And laughing at ourselves more often than not is ALWAYS GOOD THERAPHY FOR EVERY BODY.
October 17th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
To All Kababayan,
Why we are concentrating to this Desperate Issues.
Marami tayong dapat na pagtuunan ng pansin,hindi lang ito maraming katiwalian sa gobyerno ang laganap na.Why dont we make this an issue na dapat nating pagusapan.
Isa na yung pamimigay ng pera sa Malacanang,ZTE,Jok2,,Hello Garci marami pang iba.
Yes, We understand the discriminating punch line on the one of the series of Desperate Housewives but they already send an apology to all the viewers especially filipino.
Hindi natin makukuha ang hinanahanap nating kubutihan ng bansa natin sa issue na ito.
Maybe nangyari narin ito dahil siguro sa mga facts na nangyari tungkol sa ibang Filipino Doctors everybody knows that no one is perfect…
Sana naman ang isipin natin ngayun eh kung paano tayo makakatulong sa bayan nating naghihirap na dahil sa mga magnanakaw sa Gobyerno…Paano Ba?
Since na napaguusapan narin yung Medical Sana yung mga Doctor natin sa Pinas eh kahit Paano wag naman sana maningil ng mataas sa mga pasyente lalo na mahihirap extend sana nila yung tulong na abot sa puso.Marami tayong kababayan na hindi kayang gumastos lalo na pag maysakit.
Since na maraming magagaling na Doctor sa Pilipinas . Sana yung Gobyerno magkaroon ng Batas tungkol sa Free Specialist Doctors Consultation at hindi lang Free Medicine..Para sa Mahihirap.
October 15th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
With the same anger and righteous indignation, let us Filipinos fight for the rights of our Kababayan in the Middle East and East Asia, who experience abuse far worse than some stupid insult on some shallow, superficial t.v. program. Or better yet, let’s fight to make our country better, free of tsismis, istambay, corruption, star worship, foriegner worship, white man worship, actors in politics
October 15th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
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