What I have observed in Philippine soap operas is that the plot, characters, and the endings are the same. If I'm not mistaken, the classic soap opera goes like this:
Boy is rich (for some unknown reason because they wouldn't discuss how he had gotten there) and he meets this poor girl who is either his childhood friend or their maid. Then almost automatically, they fall in love and everything is wonderful until the boy reveals it to his parents. The boy's parents harass the girl but the boy fights for her and they live happily ever after.How sweet.
Some people justify their watching of telenovelas by saying that it makes them forget their problems during the night. They are not fully aware that the things that happen in soap operas are not real.
I am actually furious about the common character of the leading lady in telenovelas because she's such a pushover. The leading lady always has good values and is good not only to most people but also to the people that put her down. That doesn't happen in real life. No offense to people in the poorer classes of society but you people, especially women, have got to stop believing that your lives will drastically change not because you worked for it but because one day, your knight in shining armor (who is also filthy rich) would come to rescue you from poverty.
The result of all these hallucinations and carnival-like fantasies is people not working hard enough to uplift themselves from their miseries. When I was 10, we had a tenant who was a mistress and she would often tell me that I should marry a rich guy. At that young age, I was horrified with her idea because not only do I not want to use people for my personal interests but I knew that if i were to succeed in life, I wouldn't marry for the sake of getting rich. I do not blame Alec Baldwin when he mentioned something about mail-order brides from the Philippines. I also cannot feign compassion for the women who got hurt by this statement because that's what some women here do. That is a clear result that stemmed out from watching too many telenovelas.
The sad thing about Filipinos is that no matter how much other people try to tell them that they are deluded about their lives as they are with their candidates, they would still persist with their silly ideas. This is where Noynoy comes in.
Over the past few months, I cannot seem to get myself to understand why people, just like when they are watching soap operas, are in a daze with regard to this whole "Noynoy is our hero" or "Noynoy will be a good president because his parents are good people" crap. How on earth can you tell that he will bring change to this God-forsaken country when he himself is from a political dynasty? IS THAT EVEN CHANGE? People think that he can save the country from turmoil for the sake of his dead parents and that he has an amicable spirit. Like what my friend has told me, indeed, Noynoy is the emotional choice and his way of thinking is like that of Charles I who strongly advocated the Divine Right of Kings. Charles I's way of thinking I can somehow understand because he lived in the 1600's but Noynoy's way of thinking is completely deluded and so are the people who support him.
Every time I ask people on why they vouch for Noynoy, all their answers are fantasy – just like telenovelas. Filipinos are full of dramas and it really angers me to a great extent. What's even more disturbing is that even the middle and upper class of the society support him too for some reason I cannot and will never understand. I thought it was only the members of the lower classes who were fond of dramas. I do believe that now, it is fair to say that Filipinos are drama freaks, thinking that Noynoy is the right choice.
Let me just remind you people that like all trends, this Noynoy Aquino trend will fade away and you people will oust him when he's not doing any good just like you ousted other presidents. When that happens, I will just laugh my ass of and say "I told you so."
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