State of Emergency. The President just had to do it. Watching local news has become a trigger for my hypertension since I have reached my personal renaissance. The last time I perfectly recall religiously watching local news was when I was in highschool, and never again had I the time to switch to local channels. It is quite frustrating how the MASS MEDIA (loosely translated as "media para sa masa") has already "innovated" and completely changed its mission and vision to "give what the people like to see and hear." Isn't the "code" of the media TRUTH? Local news tend to hype up the real state of the country. There are just too many reasons for us to hate our country that we don't need the media to give us ideas. What the media can do now is to help unite the people. This is the real power of the MEDIA. I don't remember where I read this -- I think Pope John Paul II mentioned this -- but the media has the power to unite or disunite the people. How I wish the media can use their power to unite the country towards a more pressing need that is our economic dvelopment! Why can't we be like South Korea? What was key to their success is their love for the country. Their president told them to love their country, and they followed him. What could be wrong in what their president said?
How else can we properly show our love for the country? By rallying along the streets, leaving our jobs, destroying the government (the point of unity), and abandoning our family?
I dream that the Philippines rise up from its ashes like the Phoenix. I hope and pray that this happens; with hope, I'm sure it can.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Jewel in the Palace
I am not crazy for telenovelas and moreso of Koreanovelas until I accidentally bumped into Jang Geum, the lead character in Jewel in the Palace. I originally bought it as a gift for my mother's birthday since she's crazy over these things. She already started watching it, when at the same time, at work, my colleagues talk about the "cooking competition" in the said show. When I went home that day, I caught my mom watching the 10th episode and I decided to sit down and watch with her out of curiousity. It was 7:00 pm then. Mom gave me a brief background of the story and I immediately got hooked on it. I promised myself that I'd sleep at 10, but I found myself watching until 1:00 am!
What attracted me to it was the good-natured and mild-mannered Jang Geum. Virtues are indeed attractive. Man's natural attraction to what is true, good and beautiful comes out when watching Dae Jang Geum (The Great Jang Geum - The original Korean title). She embodies a woman of refinement, grace, perseverance, justice, loyalty, fidelity, sincerity, professional ethics, unselfishness, child-like attitude, and reflection. In the beginning, she aspired for the top position, but it did not do her good. Through her mentor/foster mother, she learns to work not for the position but for the sincere purpose of her job: to cook in order to keep the people she feeds healthy. She applies the same princple when after being banished from the palace, she returns as a doctor. Though she had revenge in her heart, and was quite evident, what was noble was that she did not use her talents in order to hold power. She never used her talents and skills in order to do something evil.
(If Jang Geum were Catholic, she'd be a saint!)
What I also liked about the telenovela was that Jang Geum did not physically love Min jung Ho, the officer in the Palace. She struggled against her feelings. She did not throw herself all over Officer Min nor did Min. Their love developed through constant meetings, and from the viewer's point of view, I could see the sincerity in each other's love.
Jewel in the Palace is a telenovela that teaches values and virtues. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this telenovela to everyone. Just make sure that you don't neglect your more important duties just because of watching the shows. It wouldn't be Jang Geum-like.
What attracted me to it was the good-natured and mild-mannered Jang Geum. Virtues are indeed attractive. Man's natural attraction to what is true, good and beautiful comes out when watching Dae Jang Geum (The Great Jang Geum - The original Korean title). She embodies a woman of refinement, grace, perseverance, justice, loyalty, fidelity, sincerity, professional ethics, unselfishness, child-like attitude, and reflection. In the beginning, she aspired for the top position, but it did not do her good. Through her mentor/foster mother, she learns to work not for the position but for the sincere purpose of her job: to cook in order to keep the people she feeds healthy. She applies the same princple when after being banished from the palace, she returns as a doctor. Though she had revenge in her heart, and was quite evident, what was noble was that she did not use her talents in order to hold power. She never used her talents and skills in order to do something evil.
(If Jang Geum were Catholic, she'd be a saint!)
What I also liked about the telenovela was that Jang Geum did not physically love Min jung Ho, the officer in the Palace. She struggled against her feelings. She did not throw herself all over Officer Min nor did Min. Their love developed through constant meetings, and from the viewer's point of view, I could see the sincerity in each other's love.
Jewel in the Palace is a telenovela that teaches values and virtues. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this telenovela to everyone. Just make sure that you don't neglect your more important duties just because of watching the shows. It wouldn't be Jang Geum-like.
CSI Reflections
Aside from entertainment, watching CSI makes its viewers reflect - at least in my case. My most recent reflection is on their 2nd episode of Season 6. I was wondering why the director chose to juxtapose two crimes scenes on one screen. At first I thought they used it to give the viewers some hint that these two cases were related - that is, one case is connected with the other. It was only at the end of the episode, thanks to good direction, that I realized why they had to put these two crime scenes side by side. The last scene of the episode shows the body of Julian Harper, a rich GQ model, was wheeled toward the camera feet first with the tag around the left toe, and the the body of Noi Dipraxay, a Laos native sweat shop worker, wheeled in in the same way beside Julian. When we die, rich or poor, we all are the same carcass. We are made of the same stuff, but the difference lies on how we live our lives as recorded in our incorruptible souls. Whether we question our soul's existence or where our souls go after we die is an existential question we ought to ask ourselves.
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