NOTES
Marvin P. Bionat

10 October 1998

FIVE PERSPECTIVES ON THE DANES/RIVERS ISSUE

Within the same week, I received numerous e-mails condemning the remarks made by Hollywood personalities Claire Danes and Joan Rivers. Danes reportedly called Manila a "ghastly city" which "smelled of cockroaches ... (and where) the people have nothing." During the Emmys, Rivers made a reference to Filipinos as a dog-eating race: "We're going to a commercial break, so you have time to feed your dog, or wash your dog, or if you're Filipino, eat your dog."

The following are different ways of looking at the issue. The people "interviewed" are virtually real:

Nikolai Bolshevik Bayani, student activist
"Coming from movie personalities in imperialist AmeriKKKa, the remarks are not out of character. To these exploitative, colonialist Caucasians, we have no value except as a source of cheap labor and raw materials. Note how both revealed their patent bourgeois tendencies in their choice of terminology: Miss Danes--‘(The people in Manila) have nothing’ or Madame Rivers--‘We’re going to a commercial break ...’ See? Catch my drift? Possessions! Commercialization! These are the buzz words in the Evil Empire. They're absolutely incapable of relating to our militant economic and cultural nationalism. Ibagsak ang imperyalistang Amerikano! Yankees go home, and down with the comprador class that conspire with the ugly gringos!"

Congressman Juan P. Demaisip III, politician
"The statements made by Claire Danes and Joan Rivers are a grave insult to the Filipino nation. We are a great people. To say that we are not a great people living in a great country smacks of the virulent racism that prevailed in the early part of this century, that dark period in the U.S.-Philippine relations when American military officers and politicians looked down upon us as gooks and savages--opportunistic little brown creatures devoid of morality. We cannot allow this ignorant insensitivity to continue at this time and age. To my beloved constituents in the first district and to all the proud people of this proud country, I feel your pain. But let’s lift our chins up and reclaim our dignity. Today, I shall pass a resolution condemning Danes and Rivers. If you support my 2001 bid for the Senate, I will vigorously sponsor a bill that will authorize the PNP to abduct and swiftly punish Hollywood blabbermouths who dare to insult our great people."

Pilosopo Tasyo, philosopher
"Define ‘ghastly.’ Does it mean ‘ugly’? Is Mr. T ugly? If you were walking down the street and someone yells, ‘Hey Mr. T!’ but you’re not Mr. T, will you feel offended? ‘You’re ugly!’ but you’re not even ugly, will you consider that an insult? ‘Manila is ghastly!’ but Manila is not really ghastly ... Or maybe it is ghastly on account of the serious offense that many people took? If such is the case, can sand flow upward in the hour glass? Can you re-live the errors of yesterday and right them? Can you take away the evil that was spoken, the pain that was caused? Maybe, maybe not. Let’s define ‘sand.’ Is it the powdery variety found on the shores of Boracay or ...?"

Christitita Ak-wee-no, talk show host
"That slut doesn’t know Manila. We’re a cosmopolitan, sophisticated city. Many of us have luxuries middle-class America can only dream of: full-time maids and full-time drivers. We have giant malls that sell Armani suits. Whenever I make my regular visit to Hollywood and interview the likes of Harrison Ford, Tom Cruise, and Robert De Niro, I don’t want them to think that I’m from a downtrodden, God-forsaken city. I want them to look at me as a cosmopolitan, sophisticated talk show host, living and working in the beautiful side of town--where cockroaches are strictly forbidden. How can she claim that people in Manila have nothing? We have five of the world’s richest billionaires listed in Forbes magazine this year--and that doesn’t include former Marcos cronies and drug/gambling lords who prefer not to declare their real worth. Claire Danes is a wicked, horrible witchy woman! We should not watch her films. Boycott! Boycott! Boycott!"

Mang Pandoy, man in the street
"Huh? Claire Danes who? Rivers? Aah, you mean Pasig River? That place stinks! Eat our dog? Which dog? Oh no, no, no, no, no, no ... Blackie is still a puppy, and my wife and the kids like him ... Maybe that noisy, mean dog next door. Heh, heh, heh ..."

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Update:  Claire Danes has issued a statement of apology (didn't mean to insult the people; it was a specific comment made about a specific part of town; the people were in fact great--basically the right things to say), while Joan Rivers continues to offend pretty much all ethnic groups ...

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Comments?

mbionat@post.harvard.edu

Prior Notes