Category Archives: Culture
Reading Native
Did you grow up with foreign fairy tales or local legends? If you were fortunate, your childhood was prominently graced by both. Sleeping Beauty and Snow White were occasionally interspersed with an “alamat” or two featuring disembodied body parts growing into fruit trees. It’s actually nice to contrast those narratives between local and international now that we’re old enough to appraise them side by side. It’s hard to find a fairy tale analogous to the sad story of Aging who had his hand cut off by his lady love’s father leaving her to grieve and bury his hand which led to the growth of the first banana tree. It’s surprising that young children told native folk tales don’t have more nightmares. I certainly didn’t. One of the coconut legends is even more grisly. It follows a similar plot to the banana tale and concludes with a coconut tree sprouting from the burial site of a man’s disembodied head. The coconut is supposed to resemble a head. Definitely food for thought next time you’re having a coconut drink or dessert.
There are also the stories of Juan Tamad which encourage us to be more industrious. There’s no use sitting under a tree with your mouth open, waiting for fruit to fall into your mouth. Releasing crabs bought at the market and trusting them to go home to be cooked leads our hero nowhere fast. Most of his tales ends up with him being heavily chastised for his laziness but he never seems to learn. Instead, we’re expected to learn in his place. Amusing cautionary tales are there to spur us on and keep laziness at bay. These are the sort of stories best told by a grandparent from memory at bedtime. It makes a young mind wonder how older people are capable of remembering so much until they grow up and realize that they know the stories by heart too from listening to it for so many nights.
Reading the same stories now offers a trip down memory lane. We look at the story of how Pasig supposedly got its name from a drowning Spaniard who was out on a boat with a girl named Paz. He fell out screaming “Paz, sigue me” until he was claimed by the depths, gurgling “Paz, sig…” as his last words. We end up wondering about things like cultural context. I always thought that the Pasig River has something to do with the native word “dalampasigan.” However, the story of tragic love is certainly fanciful and conjures up an image that’s most likely to inspire poets and artists.
Children born in this country shouldn’t grow up with just mainstream fairy tales. They should know these old folk stories as well. It’s all part of the tapestry of our culture and demonstrates the Filipino penchant for storytelling. Some of these stories predate the invention of writing and yet they’ve survived this long. We can’t let them die now. Do yourself a favour and read up on some old native tales one of these days. You might be surprised at just how interesting they are.
Election Fever
The recent Senate elections have proven to be particularly polarizing for the country. From social media to the streets, everyone is eager to express their opinion. The news is flooded with the latest tally of results and commercial breaks overflow with commercials endorsing candidates with cheesy jingles and campaign promises. It’s practically a circus reminiscent of the chaos described in the film Chicago as Richard Gere croons “Razzle Dazzle.” “How can they see with sequins in their eyes?” It’s hard to know how to cast your vote with earworm melodies in your ears, a surplus of campaign posters outnumbering any for a blockbuster, and free t-shirts being shoved into your hands. You’re being dragged every which way with sweet promises to go with the jarring jingles. In all this mess, it’s hard to tell what’s true.
Talking to friends, classmates, and co-workers only further complicates matters. People tend to gravitate toward those who share their opinions so arguments are bound to erupt when you’re not rooting for the same candidate. Alongside the conflict between the candidates, we find ourselves in conflict with the people we regularly interact with. This tends to be the case whenever people congregate to discuss matters they happen to be passionate about. Over the course of election season, some people just find it hard to live and let live, looking to sway the opinions of stubborn peers only to be met with a brick wall. This is probably why politics is a hot button issue most people hesitate to touch. It just gets hard to ignore when everything around you is saturated with it though.
This extends to the social media sphere with comments and posts in excess that involve political opinion. It’s not uncommon to see threads between “friends” descend into bickering once politics comes up. Memes are a dime a dozen as well with photos of candidates being subject to Photoshop both for the sake of laughs and propaganda. The political circus out on the street is wild but it could be argued that the circus on the web is just as wild if not wilder. The factor of anonymity is thrown into the mix so people are far more frank while bordering on hateful. As much as people dislike Nancy Binay for propagating a political dynasty and lacking experience, must the line really be crossed to poke fun of her personal appearance? It just goes to show how thick your skin has to be if you even want to consider politics.
Once the senate is elected, there’s no doubt that there will be grumbling over both the winners and losers. If you voted, you have some right to your discontent. After all, you did your part to fill those seats with who you believed to be the right choice. If you didn’t, you’ve surrendered your entitlement to whine about it. Just keep in mind that after a few months, the circus will die down. The airwaves will be back to carrying their regularly scheduled ads and the streets will lose their political clutter. Until then, sit tight and let the fever burn itself out.
Trekking on Tumblr
Tumblr is proving to be quite a versatile form of social media. With its focus on sharing images, it affords users a chance to tell stories through pictures. From memes to images that evoke nostalgia from decades gone by, there’s practically nothing you won’t be able to find on Tumblr. Sometimes, images even gain a new dimension as users add captions to it, giving it an entirely new meaning. GIFs featuring moving images evoke an era gone by. It’s like the silent films of early cinema have come back into fashion in this digital age. Based on all these wonders, it’s not surprising that celebrities would be attracted to this platform. It’s a lot less mundane than Twitter.
One celebrity who has recently joined Tumblr is George Takei, an actor most famous for his role of Hikaru Sulu in the original Star Trek series. He’s also well-known for promoting equality as a member of the LGBT community. The man’s a hero both onscreen and off-screen. With the recent buzz around the sequel to 2009’s Star Trek franchise reboot, his Tumblr is a nice little glimpse into a man who helped turn the sci-fi series into a cultural phenomenon. Besides, there’s a certain joy that comes with his quirky sense of humour along with the excitement that he may very well end up re-blogging one of your posts.
The first thing you’ll notice about George Takei’s Tumblr is his love of puns. He makes a point of posting many images with witty lines of his own. For instance, a picture of Barack Obama photo-shopped to look like a classical musician features the line “An instant classic.” He also posts a picture of an action figure Thor accompanied by “Here’s to a Lo-ki Friday, friends.” Two horses kissing in a meme marked “A stable relationship” gets Takei to quip “Just a little horsing around.” It’s his cleverness made short and sweet while accompanied by visuals. Once you click on his Tumblr, it’s likely that you’ll find yourself scrolling through for hours. It’s definitely a great way to pass the time while waiting to see the latest Star Trek.