John Mangun / Outside the Box
IT
always strikes me as a little confusing why members of a particular
culture would bash that same culture they live in. You might think that
the “basher” would most often be the outsider who takes a “better than
you attitude.”
However, the one
defining and almost universal characteristic of “culture bashers” is
that they are considered the elite of their culture. Better educated,
more traveled, and in a position of a kind of culture or intellectual
superiority.
In
other words, those who have perhaps benefited most from the nation and
culture they live in, are most likely to be a “basher.”
A
recent article by an icon and master of Philippine literature described
the Philippines and its people as being shallow or unsophisticated. One
example that he recalled was the nearly standing ovation for a
performance of the tinikling and the muted response to a classical
Japanese dance number by a Filipino audience.
Each
one is entitled to an opinion but to consider Japanese kabuki, for
example, as sophisticated in comparison to the tinikling is silly.
Kabuki
started in the official red- light district of Edo (Tokyo) around 1600
as a way for the prostitutes to display their singing and dance skills,
wearing the latest fashions and playing the latest pop music. The
Tokugawa shogunate banned women from kabuki as being too erotic, the
girls were then replaced by male prostitutes.
By 1842, kabuki was entirely banned and went underground.
With
the fall of the shogunate and restoration of the Meiji emperor, kabuki
came back, this time as entertainment for the elite. Besides, the
foreigners loved kabuki.
The
tinikling dance most certainly predates the kabuki and the Spanish
conquest of the Philippines. This part of Philippine culture mimics the
tikling, bird found in the Visayas. The dance tries to mimic the bird as
it walks between the shoots of grass, runs over tree branches and
avoids the rice farmer’s bamboo traps.
By
what standard of judgment is kabuki more sophisticated than the
tinikling? And why shouldn’t the Filipinos cheer the tinikling and not
the kabuki? The Filipino audience has more understanding of their
ancestors, wading knee-deep through the palayan than they do of the 17th
century marketing methods of Japanese sex workers.
Philippine
culture is also unsophisticated because we do not read enough like our
Japanese counterparts. Perhaps true. And maybe for the better.
The top five Japanese bestsellers in 2010 were:
1. “If A High School Girl Had Read Drucker’s Management,” a book about a high-school girl applying modern business management to her baseball team.
2. “Wrap it and Diet,” a weight-loss book involving a long cloth you wrap around your stomach.
3. “Watching
The Cafeteria Of Tanita,” a book of canteen recipes from a Japanese
digital-scale manufacturer, all under 500 calories,
4. “The Official Adventure Guidebook to Pokemon White.”
5. “1Q84,” a novel about a female assassin and the story of a girl’s life in a commune, where she met a group of dwarfs.
Philippine
television is unsophisticated; all those telenovelas and showbiz talk
shows. I guess that includes the shows imported from those centers of
cultural sophistication Mexico (Marimar), Korea (Two Wives), and the UK
(Big Brother).
Is
the “$100 million woman,” Oprah’s talk show more sophisticated than what
Kris Aquino or Boy Abunda puts on the air? Good Grief.
Perhaps
the most popular television show (three seasons and three movies) in
Japan is Trick, about “a failed moderately chested magician” and an
“arrogant, cowardly, well-endowed physics professor” who debunks
fraudulent spiritualists. Trick definitely has un-shallow written all
over it.
The
Philippines is shallow because our elected officials are unqualified.
Well, if that is a measure of sophistication, the world has regressed to
the culture point of living in mud huts using leaves for personal
hygiene.
Poor
standards in education contribute to Filipino shallowness. Yes, the
Philippine school system is in need of a great systemic overhaul. But
the Philippines does rank No.1 in the world for the number of people who
speak English as a second language. In a study of being able to
correctly identify nations on a global map, PHL is No.1; Japan ranked
111 and the US came in at 96.
It
would be nice to read some time from a well-educated, widely traveled
Filipino elite on how rich and varied and wonderfully unique Filipino
culture is.
Cultural
comparisons are useless and foolish in the same way as comparing a
Filipino basketball player to former NBA player Yao Ming. It all means
absolutely nothing.
Except that we only have 235 McDonald’s; Japan has 3,600. See what being “sophisticated” brings a nation.
E-mail to
mangun@gmail.com and Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis tools provided by CitisecOnline.com Inc.
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