Friday, October 05, 2007

Desperate Discrimination - Why Didn't Terri Hatcher Speak Up?


In the midst of all the hoopla about that highly insensitive remark made on the Desperate Housewives show, one question continues to nag me... Why didn't Teri Hatcher refuse to mouth those objective lines?

I don't know how it works in the U.S. but over here, if an actor or actress finds the dialogue questionable, he or she can always argue with the scriptwriter or director. I've seen it happen personally several times. My mom who is a film and television actress has told me of many instances when she revised the dialogue because it did not seem right.

Teri Hatcher obviously has some sort of clout on the show. Hindi kaya niya nasisip na nakakasakit siya ng kapwa? Didn't she stop and think for one moment what the repercussions of that insensitive line would be? Doesn't she have at least one single Filipino-American friend? Or, wala lang? That to her, and the rest of the cast and crew is was really, no big deal at all?

In the U.S.State department, and the United States, over-all, discrimination is such a huge issue. In U.S. government offices, memos are regularly issued reminding employees about the issues regarding racial discrimination and always pointing out that these will not be tolerated under any circumstances and that if and when it takes place, the necessary sanctions will be issued. Hindi ba sila nga ang nagpa uso ng "WE are an equal-opportunity employer with no bias towards age, sex, race or religion." Obviously, on U.S. primetime television that doesn't hold any water and it becomes a free for all. Okay, which race do we pick on this week?

Lat year, Terri Hatcher had the courage to stand up for and against child abuse and she won my admiration for it. Parang hindi ata siya nag-isip this time around. Because of this incident, unofrtunately, the actress now lives up to her onscreen persona - apparently, she is as dizty off-screen as she is on-screen.

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