Ciara’s reaction to the infamous Takipsilim made me want to post my reactions too. There were(are) a lot of reactions re:Takipsilim, most of them were really negative. Some of the reactors(?) are obvious poseurs and some of them think highly of themselves a la elitista not welcoming any kind of “kajologan” (This might be a little unfair–just as unfair as some critics have reacted). I pity those Filipino commentors who virtually joined with foreigners bash the perceived Filipino production and even the Filipinos and Filipino race in general (shame) on foreign websites. They didn’t understand that media, just like any money-making industry, is a free market (laissez-faire–if they want the more sophisticated term) that caters to the needs and wants of people (ABS-CBN assumed that this is a want. Apparently, it seemed that it is not. But the negative reactions made it more appealing–I’ll call it backfiring. Haha). Even if these protesters rally outside, file a complaint, file an appeal and simply bash the producers at that, they won’t succeed simply because they don’t have the right to do so. They have the right to rant but they don’t have the right to meddle in the official business transaction between the station and the producers. Well okay, they may meddle in the transaction (if they are really that desperate)–but what’s their legitimate and mature rationale? They don’t want it because Rayver Cruz is fugly? They don’t want it because we are a culture of aswangs and not of vampires? If they are against it, then they may opt not to watch it (If I know, they would watch it anyway). Dude, you own the remote.

About Filipino creativity, I believe that creativity is not limited to producing new concepts. It also means giving a new flavor to an already-established concept. That’s how knowledge works, one has to start, the others would bank onto it and the resulting knowledge would be then again be banked onto by others (“Assembly Bonus Effect” as we call it in group communication). But then again, having an original idea would always be better. Ciara has said, in line with this, that the production may become an expression of unique Filipino art when it comes to directing movies and TV shows. The challenge to these artists and actors is the proper contextualization the story, the script (the script!), the show atmosphere and even the acting in the local television.

I’m neither a supporter nor a detractor of Takipislim (if it’s real). I’m just objective about the issue. Cheers. :)