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FOR a nation that likes to describe itself as “predominantly
Christian,” Filipinos can sometimes be quite mean. Rather than
practice charity and compassion they can quickly turn cruel and
hurtful under certain circumstances, revealing in the process a
disturbing flaw in national character.
Take the case of Janina San Miguel, the
17-year-old who won the Bb. Pilipinas World title even though she
fumbled the interview portion of the beauty contest. The pageant
night was not yet quite over when text messages ridiculing her
confused and ungrammatical answer began to circulate throughout the
country.
In the days that followed the movie press
gleefully insulted San Miguel for her “carabao English.” In
cyberspace, blog after blog screamed in hypocritical outrage: Would
you want this girl to represent our country? Thereafter, email boxes
were inundated with links to video clips of her interview on
YouTube.com.
Even politicians tried to get into the act. One
congressman took the occasion to bewail the depths to which the
standards of education—especially English language
instruction—have sunk, as if it had to take a beauty contest to
realize as much.
The mainstream media did not do any better,
preferring instead to liken San Miguel to another beauty
title-holder who has also been panned for her malapropisms. Hardly
any effort was taken to get her side of the incident—and to give
her a chance to redeem herself.
San Miguel’s blooper was not the first
committed by a nervous beauty contestant—and perhaps it won’t be
the last. However, the gravity of her error was nothing compared to
the disgraceful behavior of many journalists and other sanctimonious
commentators who eagerly added their voice to the mob.
San Miguel’s encounter with nerves was
actually preceded by another beauty contestant’s experience last
year. Following the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, Caitlin Upton also
became a YouTube sensation after giving a confused answer to a
question about why many Americans cannot find the United States on
the world map.
Although Upton too was ridiculed in cyberspace,
the 18-year-old from South Carolina was at least given a chance to
make up for her mistake before a nationwide audience by a major US
network.
Guesting on NBC’s TODAY show, Upton ascribed
her pageant-night jitters to being human. Then the show’s hosts,
Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, gave Upton a retake of the infamous
question during the exclusive interview—and, as one reporter said,
she nailed it.
Before that, however, Upton had to relive the
moment. According to an online article by TODAYShow.com
contributor Mike Celizic, she watched the embarrassing video clip
for the first time with Lauer and Curry, and could only shudder and
laugh.
“I am sitting here laughing at myself,”
Upton said. “Is that really me? It’s like I’m not in my actual
body.”
No such chance has thus far been given to San
Miguel, who continues to be the butt of vicious jokes. Nonetheless,
she seems to be handling quite good naturedly the scorn relentlessly
being heaped her way.
Of course, not all the online commentary on San
Miguel has been disparaging. Some have even been quite supportive of
the Bb. Pilipinas World—albeit with a twist of rich irony.
On the blog “Scrapbooking Mommy” is posted
the following:
“Janina, Janina…
“Nope, this is not going to be a post of
ridicule. You have had enough of that already. Tama na!
“Look at the bright side:
“You are now an instant celebrity.
“Your videos are among the most watched vids
in Youtube. (No kidding!!)
“You already have a [captive] audience once
you battle it out for the Miss World title. You can use this as an
opportunity to show ‘em your stuff. Minus the wrong garammers,
errrr…., grammar. (It is not so bad to have wrong grammar!)
“In spite of almost everyone saying that you
are a disgrace, think about this: When you are in the Ms. World
pageant, I am sure that more than 50% of those who ridiculed you
will be rooting for you. If there is Internet voting, we will vote
for you!!!
“You are still young. At age 17, you are
allowed a few mistakes here and there. Some young people your age
are making worse mistakes than speaking poor English.
“We, Filipinas are not perfect. But we can
decide and do our best to improve ourselves. Show them that you are
a true Filipina: able to accept criticisms and willing to improve
your self.
Perspective lang… Improve yourself… then
show ‘em!”
Wiser words on San Miguel’s case have yet to
be said. Go, girl!
mlatimes@gmail.com
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