An Open Letter to Soap Opera Writers/Creators in the Philippines

How's it hanging?

I hope you are all in good health because I am not. I am just about to get completely well from an unexplained fever (scary!), which has caused me backlogs in both of my full-time and project-based jobs, but despite that, I am finding the time to write you.

Before anything else, I would like to stress that I am not writing this as a fellow writer, but as an audience member. I am barely a writer in my own right, so I cannot use that card when I give you tips on how to improve on your craft.

One of the most memorable job interviews I had was for a position in a film production company. I was asked what my favorite TV show was. My answer, without so much as a blink of an eye, was "Lost." The interviewer then asked me if the Philippines was ready for a TV show like "Lost." My answer was an all-caps NO, explaining that our local channels have just begun remaking old materials that weren't even good to begin with, so how can they possibly be ready for a TV show like "Lost"?

Looking back at that now, I realize that I was too quick to pull the trigger. Creatively, yes, YOU are ready. You can surely come up with something just as good as "Lost," you are just too afraid to do so. But there shouldn't be any reason to be afraid anymore. If you think about it, every Filipino on Facebook has an American TV show as their favorite. Everyone I know who download via torrent or stream off Megavideo understands the complexities of American TV-show storytelling. Hell, not only do they get American humor but British humor as well. And those people are in the very demographics that your advertisers need. So what the eff is holding you back? You had some progress when you did "100 Days to Heaven," but then you regressed with a piece of shit like "Budoy." Again, what the eff?

Here are some pointers that you might find useful in coming up with your next project(s):


1. Cut lengthy crying scenes. We already know what is causing that character pain, but to indulge them for a full minute of nonstop wailing? Yes, this includes burial scenes. We already know people who die get buried, and that their loved ones cry, you do not have to show EVERY SINGLE THING!

2. Enough with the separated-at-birth storylines. This is not readily identifiable by everyone. Most viewers know who their real parents are. Surely, there must be other plots you can play around with that call for climactic endings other than a biological parent-child reunion.

3. Consult professional experts. If your scene involves lawyers or anything of legal nature, consult real-life lawyers on how that scene should go. Same goes for anything medical; consult real-life doctors. So many times have you made real-life doctors cringe at carelessly executed ER and OR scenes. If you already have consultants, get better ones.

4. Flesh out your characters, even the antagonists. Most of your characters are two-dimensional. Even kontrabidas need to relate to us like real people. Stop exaggerating their actions relative to their motivations.

5. Be relevant. How about, instead of simply coming up with tearjerkers, you come up with something meaningful? How about a commentary on the Philippine government? Instead of erroneously telling us that lightning can cure autism, you show, um, as an example, how religion can corrupt a society, or whatever it is that you stand for.

I'm sure there are a lot more you can improve on, but it's already late and  I still have to write my open letter to the Philippine music industry, which might be so full of expletives it will make Regine Velasquez's head explode.

I guess what this all boils down to is for you to think of yourselves again as that young writer who never had a project yet, who was but an audience member at the time. Didn't you dream of becoming great? Didn't you plan of starting a revolution? Didn't you want to change the landscape of Philippine TV? If you did, then it's not too late yet.

Be great. Start a revolution. Change the landscape of Philippine TV.

Love,

Lead Character

Best Christmas Episode

Every year, American TV shows typically air a Christmas (or for political correctness, Holiday) episode right before going on their holiday hiatus. More often than not, they make their episodes encompass the holiday spirit, one that is full of love and joy despite situations in their fictional world that make the audience doubt if their characters would have any of it at all.

This year, Community (one of the best TV shows of today that you're not watching) showcased their characters in stop motion animation in an episode called "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas." Community has always been bold in coming up with out-of-the-ordinary episodes (you'll know what I mean if you've seen their paintball episode, and the one with the zombies, and their homage to Goodfellas that explore the power struggle surrounding the supply and demand of chicken fingers in the school cafeteria), and their Holiday episode just proved that they can pretty much kick the butts of every other TV show out there.

Lead Character watched "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" three times, enjoyed it each time, and felt that he was ready to deem it the best Christmas episode of any year, especially that it purported that the meaning of Christmas is the first season of Lost, a metaphor for something with great buildup but with no payoff (classic!).

But then The Good Wife happened.

In an episode called "Nine Hours," The Good Wife showed that a Christmas episode does not have to be set during the holiday season.

The story kicks off with Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) receiving a phone call from a Court of Appeals clerk about the habeas petition she sent out just the night before for their client Carter Wright (Chad Coleman--Lead Character remembers him from The Wire), a convicted arsonist and murderer on death row . The clerk wants to know if she's filing an addendum before that night's execution. Alicia freezes, composes herself, and then asks the clerk to repeat what he just said, to make sure that she heard the word "addendum" right. After confirming, Alicia tells the clerk she'll call him right back. She then calls Senior Partner Will Gardner (Josh Charles) about the call from the clerk. Will himself is surprised about the call, and he immediately phones another Senior Partner, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), who also freezes at the idea that the clerk is asking for an addendum. Since Lead Character does not have any idea what an addendum is, he is immediately sucked into the story.

Lead Character learns that the addendum was something they missed to add in the appeal that could very well save their client from meeting his fate at midnight, and the clerk telling them that it exists even without telling them what it is is already breaking the rules. And so the search for that one tiny detail begins, and they have exactly nine hours to turn in the "last Hail Mary appeal."

You must be wondering now how in the hell could Lead Character possibly deem this as the best Christmas episode if it doesn't even seem like a Christmas episode. The answer is in two words: Jesus Christ.

Whether the writers were aware of it or not, Lead Character could not help but notice the parallelism. The story is about a man who is about to get executed. Didn't Jesus Christ die in the same inhuman way? Well, probably not as inhuman, since lethal injection is perhaps an act of kindness compared to scourging and crucifixion, but just the idea that you are being deemed not worthy to be alive, regardless of what you may have done, is cruelty beyond Lead Character's comprehension.

Carter Wright passing through the prison hallway and getting a few seconds'
glimpse of his daughter accompanied by his lawyer, Diane Lockhart.

What Lead Character comprehends, though, is that Christmas is not so much about the birth of Jesus as it is celebrating his legacy. He is perhaps the grandest symbol of hope and kindness and sharing and love for humankind out of all the characters in popular fiction. Say what you must, but despite Lead Character's beliefs, he still thinks Jesus is an inspiring character. Jesus had him at "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Lead Character is not really a fan of preachy materials, but even if "Nine Hours" somewhat preached against capital punishment, it was able to pull it off with enough subtlety that it barely pressed on his gullet. The result: a touching episode that reminds us that Christmas, just like any other time of the year, is for all of us to be kind to one and all and not kill.

"V"

A blogger that I’m sort of following cites that “V” inspires nothing but eye-rolls. A couple of Facebook contacts of mine state in their status that they do not know what to think about “V” yet, but would gladly give it another chance. Maybe I do not have any taste at all, especially that I am not exactly a Sci-Fi fanatic, but I thought “V” inspired nothing but goosebumps. I thought it had the best pilot for a TV show this year, or probably even this decade (next to “Lost,” of course).

What I like most about “V,” despite some of its characters being worn-out clichés, is that it does not pose this huge mystery that is supposed to unravel in too many years to come. After “Lost,” too many TV shows have tried to put us in this exhausting position of forever waiting for answers. I think one show is enough. “Fringe” started out well enough, but in the long run it got terribly benign I had to stop watching it. Just like “Vanished,” “Prison Break,” and “Jericho,” off the top of my head.

But with “V,” we are treated to the usual fare of good versus evil, of some epic battle that is clearly going to be the show’s finale—whenever that will be, I hope not too soon.

I wish I could write more about the show, but I’ve already been criticized for my entries being too long, that they are not blog-hopper-friendly. The criticisms mostly come from myself, when I blog-hop into my own blog.

So here’s to hoping this entry is of blog-hopper-friendly length.

And oh, by the way. . .oh wait, this has gotten too long. Nevermind.

Fringe

A lot of X-Philes claim that Fringe is nothing but an X-Files rip-off. And they immediately dismiss the show as lousy.

I saw the pilot episode over the weekend, and though the premise can be likened to The X-Files (in that it involves the FBI solving cases involving the paranormal), it also has a mix of Alias (for all the fast-paced action), and Lost (for an elaborate mythology yet to be uncovered). And the result, for me, is just breathtaking. This isn’t saying that this new TV show is better than The X-Files (an obsolete thing that the X-Philes have to get over soon) or Alias or Lost (still the best show ever). This is just saying that for me, Fringe is good enough all by itself.

Fringe refers to “fringe science,” an area of science that deals with things like mind control, teleportation, invisibility, and reanimation—it’s fringe, after all—and the likes. The show’s myth hasn’t been elaborated on yet, but here are a few events cited in the story:

• John Thompson, a normal kid, went missing back in ‘98, reappeared last month halfway around the world—hadn’t aged a day.
• In the past few months, 46 other children who went missing that same year turn up—same story.
• A local fisherman off the coast of Sri Lanka reports a low-flying plane emitting a high-pitched frequency that blows out all their windows. An hour later, same spot, an 8.7 subsurface earthquake creates a tsunami that kills 83,000 people.
• A patient in Lisbon who woke up after years in a coma began writing—just numbers. They turn out to be exact real-time coordinates of the U.S. air-carrier battle groups in the Pacific, intel that’s classified as above Top Secret.

These events are called “the Pattern, as if someone out there is experimenting, only the whole world is the lab.” I have to admit, because of Lost (and probably because of Harry Potter), I have developed a taste for highly elaborate mythology that I will have to be patient for to get to the bottom of (I have to wait until 2010 to get to the bottom of Lost, goddamn you). “Fringe” might just be another one of those delightful treats.

The pilot episode introduces us to FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who gets tasked to investigate a possible terrorist attack. Her investigation leads her to needing the expertise of mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble). But to get to the doctor, Olivia has to blackmail Walter’s son, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who happens to be another genius but doesn’t quite care enough in life to live in order (read: gambling debt). I admit that doesn’t sound a lot, but that was a three-sentence synopsis. The episode is an hour and twenty minutes long, like the length of a simple movie. But Fringe isn’t a simple movie; it’s a TV show whose pilot has an estimated budget of $10 million dollars, and that’s not bad at all.

As for the performances, Anna Torv does quite a decent job. But it’s probably because she looks like a cross between Cate Blanchett and Naomi Watts, and her acting is like Ellen Pompeo’s, but with more heart. John Noble, though, is quite exceptional as the mad scientist. I can imagine him going head-to-head with Michael Emerson in next year’s Emmys. As for Joshua Jackson… well, I guess he’s one of those actors whose acting doesn’t change despite the character he/she is playing (like Milo Ventimiglia and Kris Aquino). But his eyes… there’s something about Joshua Jackon’s eyes that makes you want him to just stare at you. Maybe his eyes are a part of the mythology that’s why he was cast.