Lethal Sniffs of the Dirty Laundry
People in general are nosy about other people’s dirty laundry. This is probably the reason why brainless ‘chismis’ or gossip shows have thrived in television over the past years, and have made unlikely celebrities out of not-so-telegenic rumor mongers like Cristy Fermin and Lolit Solis. Chismis shows are also valuable sources of revenue for their parent TV stations since advertisers typically prefer to place their ads in programs with high ratings.
Over the weekend, an interesting twist happened. Apparently, top-rate advertisers like Coke and Jollibee withdrew their commercials from “The Buzz” (ABS-CBN) and “S-Files” (GMA) amid protests over the airing of alleged sex videos of celebrities like Ethel Booba and Piolo Pascual. People connected with these chismis shows, TV executives and hosts alike, cried foul over this move. Concepts like “freedom of expression” and “people’s right to know the truth” have been argued by the television sector over the perception that their chismis shows have irresponsibly resolved to trashy obscenity to entice the continuing patronage of the public.
While some pretentious factions of the church and government laud this move by the ad giants, majority of Filipino households that stay glued to chismis-oriented shows probably did not even notice the ad boycott, or even cared for that matter. In an article that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), the marketing and production head of GMA even announced that ad load in the station’s chismis shows is practically the same as it was before the ad boycott. This is probably how the world works. People will always relish on the filthy issues, real or imagined, hounding the personal lives of others. This type of gossiping will always be an entertaining fare, unless the tables turn and the rumor hawks turn you their unwitting prey.
An officemate and close friend, whom I shall refer to as “The Queen of Pain and Tardiness” (QPT) from hereon, learned this the hard way. Last weekend, she was booted out of the house by her traditional and overbearing mom for doing actions ill-suited for a “decent lady.” You see, QPT and I spend a lot of time together. We eat our meals at the same time, annoy and ridicule each other over the phone or in each other’s cubicle, and whenever she has evening classes in UP, we share a cab as since I live in-campus. We probably click so well since we have the same demented minds, and she’s amazingly tolerant of my teasing and infamous hypothetical questions.
Our officemates in the company naturally couldn’t resist weaving tall tales about my friendship with QPT. After all, the closeness between a single guy and an unattached girl can never be platonic, right? Wrong! QPT and I are not even remotely attracted to each other. While our office mates wish, prattle and gush about our blissful future together, QPT and I just play along. We thought that if would ignore everything, the issue would inevitably die a natural death, right?
This time however, it was our turn to err. We missed one crucial component in the equation: QPT’s father also works for our company. Although QPT’s folks appeared tolerant about our “budding romance” at first, persistent rumors probably got the better of them. When QPT’s mom had the chance to confront her (QPT) about the real score, sparks flied and ending scene sent QPT and her older sister packing their bags and spending the rest of the long weekend in their grandparents’ house. (I won’t elaborate how her older sister got into the picture. Let’s just say that QPT’s mom really went ballistic and decided to boot both of them out of the crib.)
QPT and her sis have since returned to their house. Their mom’s still pretty pissed though. An outburst such as that will take some more time to cool. Until now, we still can’t believe how one stupid rumor could earn QPT her mom’s volatile ire and her temporary eviction from the family abode. It’s a good thing that QPT and I are not celebrities; imagine what a field day Boy Abunda or Kris Aquino will have with all the “action-packed” and telenovela-like sequences that have transpired over the weekend. Now, whenever QPT laments her parental misfortune to me, I say what any real buddy will utter: “Ha! Kawawa ka naman, buti pa ang mga magulang ko, mabait!”
