Pinoy Literature And Pinoy Shows

A lot of people lament at what the showbiz industry is churning nowadays on TV and on film. From reality shows, to soap operas, to chick flicks, everything are mere rehashes of concepts already explored before on the same medium.

And that is sad.

Because, based on my experience, there are a lot of great stories written by Filipino authors just waiting to be told, waiting to be translated into the big screen. I would go so far as to say that these stories are more Filipino and more reflective of our society today than the run-of-the-mill shows they feature on the tube.

Take for instance, consider those shows about superheroes with exotic names and equally exotic costumes. Although most of these characters are based on comics written by Filipino artists, these characters are but mere caricatures - copycat versions - of their more famous Western counterparts. The creators of these shows have probably not discovered the wealth of material hidden in local folklore and legends.

And that is a pity.

Maybe, the showbiz industry is just lacking some imagination recently. Maybe, it needs fresh minds. Maybe, it just needs people to write the screenplays of the stories which are worthy to be told and which speak more truthfully of our diverse culture. Or maybe, the establishment is just afraid that their ratings may drop or that, by trying other stuff, they might alienate the masses (and so the masses are left again with bland shows featuring predictable formulas and story lines). In any case, this situation is unacceptable, especially since much of our world-class literature is locked away in private libraries (in Palanca anthologies, journals, dissertations, expensive books, and the like).

And that is a shame.

So, I'll try to do my part. There's this wonderful collection of short stories by the genius, Leoncio Deriada, and I am considering it my personal mission to translate them to the big screen, or at least to write a screenplay about this collection (similar to Kurosawa's "Dreams"). It's going to be a daunting task and I hope I'm up to it. Anyway, whether this leads to mere wishful thinking or a tour de force, at least I've voiced out my discontent over this situation.

Imagination must never be in short supply. Unfortunately, our showbiz industry reveals this problem all too well.