What protesters are NOT saying about Teri Hatcher's line in Desperate Housewives
There is indeed a huge uproar among Filipinos regarding a line delivered by Teri Hatcher's character, Susan, on the September 30 episode of Desperate Housewives: "Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."
Posts on several blogs have expressed sentiments along the lines of, "It's just a character on a show full of bitches. Get over it. Don't be so sensitive, Everyone gets denigrated on that show."
True, those lines were delivered by a rather shallow character on a show full of whiny "bitches." True, everyone on the show gets denigrated. But the problem lies not in Filipinos' lack of humor, nor in a lack of perspective. The problem lies in the fact that her line of dialogue was delivered on a show and in a multi-billion dollar global industry in which positive portrayals of diversity are virtually nonexistent.
When such diversity is nonexistent, and when the only mention of Filipinos occurs in such a negative manner, it negatively shapes the perception that people have of Filipinos. This is especially true among those whose perceptions of others are shaped by the media. And in this day and age, that's primarily how people's perceptions of others are shaped - by the media. Like it or not, that is an undeniable fact.
While Italian mobsters and Irish alcoholics may appear on television from time to time, we won't see much protest from the Irish or Italians, simply because Irish and Italian actors are regularly cast in enough positive portrayals, and in many non-ethnically specific roles. They also have the benefit of their sheer numbers in this country. Not so with Filipino or Asian actors.
When we see more positive portrayals of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans on television and in cinema, lines like the one delivered by Teri Hatcher's character will seem trivial. A line like that would be inconsequential because people will have seen enough positive portrayals of Filipinos to know that Philippine medical graduates are indeed competent. But because today's television and cinema lack such positive portrayals of Filipinos, those viewers with limited contact with Filipinos or Filipino physicians are likely to draw some inaccurate conclusions about Filipinos physicians and the medical schools from which they graduated.
Unless these points are made clear, the environment in which such programming is produced is unlikely to improve.
True, those lines were delivered by a rather shallow character on a show full of whiny "bitches." True, everyone on the show gets denigrated. But the problem lies not in Filipinos' lack of humor, nor in a lack of perspective. The problem lies in the fact that her line of dialogue was delivered on a show and in a multi-billion dollar global industry in which positive portrayals of diversity are virtually nonexistent.
When such diversity is nonexistent, and when the only mention of Filipinos occurs in such a negative manner, it negatively shapes the perception that people have of Filipinos. This is especially true among those whose perceptions of others are shaped by the media. And in this day and age, that's primarily how people's perceptions of others are shaped - by the media. Like it or not, that is an undeniable fact.
While Italian mobsters and Irish alcoholics may appear on television from time to time, we won't see much protest from the Irish or Italians, simply because Irish and Italian actors are regularly cast in enough positive portrayals, and in many non-ethnically specific roles. They also have the benefit of their sheer numbers in this country. Not so with Filipino or Asian actors.
When we see more positive portrayals of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans on television and in cinema, lines like the one delivered by Teri Hatcher's character will seem trivial. A line like that would be inconsequential because people will have seen enough positive portrayals of Filipinos to know that Philippine medical graduates are indeed competent. But because today's television and cinema lack such positive portrayals of Filipinos, those viewers with limited contact with Filipinos or Filipino physicians are likely to draw some inaccurate conclusions about Filipinos physicians and the medical schools from which they graduated.
Unless these points are made clear, the environment in which such programming is produced is unlikely to improve.
posted by SoulSnax at
10/03/2007 11:39:00 AM
2 Comments
