“This clip from BBC’s new segment has gained a recent popularity amongst our ‘makabayans’; notice how I use ‘makabayan’ instead of ‘kababayans’. When I had first seen the link on facebook, only a few had been commenting on the clip, most of which disapproved of what the comedian had said. Now though, in my opinion, the issue, which should not have been an issue in the first place, has been blown to proportions of epicness. The fact that it has even reached the pages of abs-cbn, enabling it to be called “newsworthy,” is beyond me.
“Now while the ethics of the “netizens” involved in mocking the joke appear to be non-existent – and I believe I have every right to be as rude and as obnoxious to them as they are being to the poor comedian – this is a post about the article itself and not on the embarrassing demeanor of my fellow citizens (I really hope not). Though I’m pretty sure I’ve said enough about ‘them’.
“The article gets straight to the point where it caught public eye. No pre-made comments, no welcoming speeches and no segues; just a well-cut title and the heart of the issue. It presents clear pictures of both sides, of the comedian and the positive and (alarming rate of) negative feedback. There was no underlying implications on what the writer’s stand on the issue was. She presented an issue, showed every side of the equation and left the reader to make their own decisions. No lines were crossed in how the report was handled and I believe everyone was given a fair chance at the spotlight. I commend her for not hinting at whether or not she found the clip ‘racist’ and treated the story tactfully.
“As for the clip itself. The whole thing was a joke. The person who posted it should’ve posted the whole segment and not just parts of it. Clearly an unethical pursuit according to the code for points of omission and bias. This would have defeated the whole purpose of proving his point but at least I wouldn’t be judging him as someone who was seeking attention: “Oh look, someone said something bad about my country, I should edit this and post it and have people all see how good I was for saving the country.” Srsly? Even then, the title clearly said it all, need I stress on the word “unlikely”? People who took offense from it should’ve just said so but refrained from throwing in names and insults. Solving conflict with more conflict is counter productive.
“I definitely admire how Katherine Ryan stood her ground against the vulgarity of those who opposed her. Even more, I admire the (very few) Filipinos who opposed those who had nothing good to say about her. Ryan was not as offensive. Instead, she helped those who didn’t get the joke understand the whole scenario. She was the ‘bigger man,’ and she gets my approval.” posted by Arvin Reno Labrador
filipinoscribe.com Mark Pere Madrona reports how netizens are aghast over racist remarks against Filipino children by a stand-up comic in a BBC show, at “British actress jokes about Filipino children on BBC show” at filipinoscribe.com/2013/06/17/british-actress-jokes-about-filipino-children-on-bbc-show.
UP CMC student 2012-12727 echoes opinions and ideas by netizens as reported in said blogpost, and writes: “This is not the first time that a foreigner has made an “accidental” quip about Filipinos on a public medium. One might recall Alec Baldwin’s “Filipina mail order bride” joke on David Letterman’s show, which caused an uproar for the insinuation that Filipinas allow their sexuality to be exploited and extorted for money. By doing this, Baldwin ridiculed, cast aspersions on, and degraded Filipinas for their sex and their race–that is to say, his comment was misogynistic through sexual objectification, as well as racist. It was unintended and probably said at the spur of the moment, but such things that are said usually lie in one’s subconscious before they get out. Baldwin’s situation was either that, or it was an attempt at randomness that came out badly. Furthermore, Baldwin has been in show business for a very long time, and he ought to have already known how to guard his words and be more discerning of what he said before a national audience.
“Canadian actress Katherine Ryan recently made a similar mistake on the BBC game show “Mock the Week”, an improvisational comedy show akin to the CBS’ “Whose Line is It Anyway?”. The prompt for a joke in one segment was “unlikely lines from a cosmetics commercial”, and she gave this line: “We don’t use any of our products on animals. We use Filipino children.” By saying the line, she ridiculed and degraded Filipino children by their race–and it is made even worse by the fact that her specific subjects are defenseless and have done nothing to earn such a comment. Those fortunate children struggle against obstacles to living their life fully, such as a lack of access to education, cases of abuse in some families, even child labor. That their hardships were belittled and mentioned in what was meant to be a humorous manner is tasteless and insensitive.
“The fact that the error was committed overseas by a foreign celebrity makes no difference. xxx (S)he had made light of the painful and very real struggles of an innocent group of people, some of whom might have no idea what her words mean. It is an ethical mistake anywhere. I hope Miss Ryan, like Alec Baldwin before her, would be more careful with what she says next time and recognize her responsibility as a public figure–even if it is on an improvisational comedy show.” Written by 2012-12727 using Mark Pere Madrona’s report and amplifying ideas and opinions of other netizens.
