shlep along

Just like I did with Falcon Crest, I’ve reached my saturation point with Dynasty. These didn’t happen more than two decades ago, these are very recent events. I was trying to make sense of what I was watching and what I was reading as a kid and I got a snapshot of a soap plot that seemed incredulous. As my husband says, “it’s what you call drama.” But drama or not, it makes one feel empty. There are loopholes in the storyline. I felt the same way with Desperate Housewives where I got tired of the characters’ shenanigans and the ever evolving cast that I decided to drop the show altogether from my list.

I have only one tiny complaint with Habang May Buhay. It’s actually a fixture in most Pinoy dramas as the writers are besotted beyond doubt with confrontational acting. I know the heroine should stand up for herself, ya diya, diya, diya. The other characters meanwhile, the villains, can showcase all forms of bad behavior. But the main protagonist should behave within the norms of propriety. She should not be the one to instigate a catfight. Attacking a person just because she resembles somebody from the past who may and may not have wronged you is not model demeanor. Even if it becomes a future plot for a shady lawsuit. Kids, the masses, even most of the Filipino middle to upper classes watch the primetime staples of soaps and more soaps. And seeing a heroine confronts a barely-recognizable person from 15 years ago by pulling her hair, in the case of Jane towards Ellen, the impressionable minds would reckon it’s within the norms of civilized society to behave in such a brusque and unbridled manner.

However, it’s my view that television or movie antagonistic scenes are not contributory factors to a person’s upbringing. We are products of our parental guidance and the environment in which we are raised. In watching a drama series meanwhile, we are drawn to the goody two shoes character and since I have huge issues about losing one’s temper in public, seeing a protagonist perform impetuous stunts are a bit off-putting.