I was watching “Bitoy’s Funniest Videos” last night at GMA-7, when I saw a very tasteless, insensitive, ethnocentric piece on the “man in the barrel.”  We all know what a “barrel man” is: it is a souvenir item from the Baguio where, after a person removes the small wooden barrel surrounding a native Cordilleran, a spring-loaded penis “salutes” you.  BFV decided to make this a “comedy piece” when they shot an episode in my hometown of Baguio City.

GMA-7 producers: this is NOT funny.

Why am I so pissed off about a comedy segment?  I mean, it’s just for laughs, right?  As a young man from Baguio City, the “barrel man” represents every misjudgment, and centuries of oppression and bastardization, of the proud culture of the Cordilleras.  It’s enough insult to see a once-proud and once-wealthy people reduced to begging for alms at Session Road, or posing for pictures at the Botanical Garden.  It’s enough insult to be mocked by simpletons of rituals like the cañao, and to be degraded as “dog-eaters.”  But “barrel men?”  Indeed!

If we find laughter and humor in something as juvenile as miniature spring-loaded penises, then we, as a people, have a problem on our hands.  We talk about “division,” but no fracture is more divisive than ethnic identity.  No fracture is more sensitive than having different cultural identities across 7, 107 islands of the Philippines that, even in these “modern” times, clash against each other.  It’s a small wonder why some people push for Federalism, or why many ethnic groups from Mindanao would rather move towards independence than autonomy.

This brings to mind a very important point: the media, or as I put it, “The Media,” plays a very important part in molding – and even destroying outright – the social consciousness of an entire people.  One can even make the case that the Philippines is not polarized through political divisions, but by preferences towards the TV stations they watch.  Here in the Philippines, you’re either a “Kapamilya” or a “Kapuso.”  Which means that come 2010, a good political strategy would be to bombard a single station with political ads, and draw their legions of avid fans to vote for you.  It can be as simple as that.

In a country where TV sets occupy a privileged position in a living room, The Media should be very well aware of their responsibilities not towards TV ratings or their company’s stock, but towards the people who watch them.  There are many funny bits out there that I’m sure a TV network could air without offending an entire culture, much less a bored blogger like myself who seethes in rage from a condescending penis joke.

Bottom line: the “comedy bit” on the “barrel man” is crude, ethnocentric, and completely inexcusable.  No offense, GMA-7, but that’s one un-funny thing I find very, very offensive.

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