Eric D. Snider
A Mild Pinoyance
Snide Remarks #559
"A Mild Pinoyance"
by Eric D. Snider
Published in EricDSnider.com on October 8, 2007
It was Isaac Newton who said it best: For every action there is an equal and opposite overreaction. This week's overreactors: the Filipinos. Every last stinkin' one of 'em.
Last week's episode of "Desperate Housewives" caused a stir in some sectors when people heard about it and said, "'Desperate Housewives' is still on?! I quit watching that show two years ago!" And the people who actually saw the episode were even more upset. It seems the desperate housewife played by Teri Hatcher went to her doctor for a checkup and was shocked when he said she might be going through menopause. She replied, "OK, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? 'Cause I would just like to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines." And guess who got offended? That's right: diploma manufacturers.
Just kidding. Filipinos, of course! It was front-page news in the Philippines, and national leaders spoke out angrily against it. Everyone was in an uproar! Why, you would think no one had ever insulted the Philippines before, which seems unlikely. One fellow, Kevin Nadal, a Filipino-American college lecturer in New York, posted an online petition demanding an apology from ABC, and it garnered more than 30,000 online signatures. He told the Associated Press he was so shocked by what he heard in the show, "I had to rewind it over and over again to make sure I heard it right."
Mmhmm. What, did she mumble when she said it? What else might she have been saying that only sounded like "some med school in the Philippines" but would have been less offensive? A sampling of possibilities:
"Some dead fool on a hill of beans."
"Cement's cool in Philip's peen."
"Some med school in Vietnam."
Anyway, Nadal painstakingly determined that Teri Hatcher had indeed said "some med school in the Philippines," and he sprang into action. His online petition called the statement "hateful," "hurtful," "racist," and "racially discriminatory."
Uh, hang on. The statement is not racist. Why? Let me break it down for you. "The Philippines" is not a "race." It is what's known as a "country." Now, if she had said, "I don't want some dirty Filipino doctor touching me" or "Those damn Filipinos, sneaking across the Pacific Ocean and taking our jobs," that would be racist. Making a crack about the quality of medical schools in the Philippines is a slam against the Philippines. It makes no comment about the race of the people who live there.
Nadal's petition concludes with this:
"We demand a public apology to the Filipino American community, and we demand the episode be edited to remove the ignorant and racist remark. We will not allow hateful messages against our community (or any other oppressed community) to continue."
If I were running things at ABC, my response would have been to politely inform Nadal and his 30,000 signers that they can smooch my bum-bum. The day they start paying my salary, that's the day they can start "demanding" things from me. If you don't like something on a TV show, you have every right to stop watching it, to encourage others not to watch it, to boycott the advertisers, and to write letters expressing your disapproval. You're on very solid ground in all of those respects. But issuing demands to the network? Sorry, no. You're in no position to demand things from something you get for free.
The Associated Press story notes that Nadal didn't even see the episode when it aired. A friend told him about it, and he watched it online. If I'm ABC, that makes me even less inclined to respond. What do I care what some guy thinks who doesn't even watch the show?
But I am not ABC. If I were, you can bet "Lost" would have picked up the pace months ago. ABC immediately caved in and apologized for the fictional joke made by the fictional character on its comedy TV series.
"The producers of 'Desperate Housewives' and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines.... As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful images of all communities featured in our programs."
Translation: "Next time, we'll make a joke about a country that isn't so touchy."
It's kind of sad to realize that "All in the Family" could never make it on the air today. Every time the fictional character Archie Bunker said something ignorant or derogatory, you'd have a thousand phone calls from cranky people with nothing better to do than flip channels looking for things to be offended by. And the network would apologize every time, because that's how we do things here. The whining of the .01 percent always outweighs the opinion of the other 99.99. One parent complains that Harry Potter is evil? Take it off the school library shelf! One Muslim is bothered by a Christmas tree in the town square? Remove it! Thirty thousand people type their names in a box expressing disapproval about a stupid joke on a TV show, while the other 20 million viewers didn't care? By all means, fall on the ground sobbing as you apologize for the slight!
As it turns out, they actually have fairly good medical schools in the Philippines. Thousands of doctors in the United States were trained there, came to the U.S., passed our licensing boards, and now practice medicine here. Think about it: The Philippines is in Asia, and you know how good them Asian doctors are. I would have no problem being treated by a doctor who had gone to a med school in the Philippines, as long as he didn't steal my wallet while I wasn't looking.
This item has 38 comments
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ClobberGirl says:
October 8, 2007 at 12:48 am"The whining of the .01 percent always outweighs the opinion of the other 99.9. "
I gotta ask... what's the remaining .09% doing??
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Ev-iL says:
October 8, 2007 at 1:13 amWell, I grew up watching Archie Bunker and died laughing, even as a kid, at his ignorant, pinheaded opinions...but I'd have to say that *everyone* watching All in the Family expected trash out of his mouth. The DH women are trumped-up as desirable, popular, sexy, very pop-culturey iconish (like my term?)...so millions more viewers emulate/try to copy them than ever tried to emulate Archie B. The thought just makes me laugh. I think Terri Hatcher's line was crap and I think the show is crap. I think it's awesome that the dude got 30K signatures....stick it to the broadcasters of crap, that's what I say. I also recently moved from a 95% Filipino neighborhood in Cali. and every one of them I knew was a great person and friend. They are really great people in general, work hard-don't complain-value education- usually exceptional nurses-excellent U.S. Navy personnel, PLUS....they have the BEST food. France has got NOTHIN' on the Philippines for cuisine. So if you're gonna rag on a nation, Eric Sweetie, you gotta pick one with really crappy food. Hey, about the comment that you shouldn't gripe about a show that's free, well, come on me Amigo....if we couldn't gripe about things that are free, then those of us who can't afford to pay for cable (i.e.) would lose out in life. Sometimes it's fun to see what happens when you squeak that squeaky wheel. Or when someone else does! I was really looking for a joke about why there's a Ph in the country but an F in the race. Can't figure that one out....maybe a big plate of pancit will help. LOVED your title!
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Niall says:
October 8, 2007 at 1:19 amA surprising number of (stupid) people seem to think that if a character on a show says something, that's what the show is saying too. A lot of character comedy like All In The Family, Til Death Do Us Part and The Office is based around ignorant or bigoted characters making prejudiced or ill-advised comments - the joke is that we're laughing at their attitudes. If David Brent says that "orientals make very good workers", it doesn't mean that's what the show is saying or that the BBC thinks orientals make very good workers. It's poking fun at the character's attitudes - the joke is on them, not on "orientals". This goes over a surprising number of people's heads.
For the record, orientals do make very good workers. Especially Filipinos. Cheap, too.
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Turkey says:
October 8, 2007 at 5:54 am"I gotta ask... what's the remaining .09% doing??"
Not caring either way, apparently.
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Paul Norman says:
October 8, 2007 at 6:15 amEric, of course it is racist. We all know that when a white person says ANYTHING about a race or members thereof, he/she is talking in code and really means that members of that race are inferior in some way. By extension, when Hatcher's character denigrated med schools in the Philipines, the white exectuives at ABC were speaking in code that Philipino-Americans were inferior to Northern-European-Americans. How could ABC do anything but apologize?
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Dan says:
October 8, 2007 at 6:39 amClobberGirl: "I gotta ask... what's the remaining .09% doing??"
Turkey: "Not caring either way, apparently."
In that case, it's probably more accurately .01% pro-whining, .09% anti-whining, and 99% undecided.
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nate says:
October 8, 2007 at 7:10 amRe:
I tried to think of some Filipino stereotypes that I could exploit for some cheap jokes, and then I realized there aren't any.Au contraire. Everyone knows about the stereotype of "the Wily Filipino." Hat tip to Steve Martin:
http://www.compleatsteve.com/essays/filipino.htm -
Talm says:
October 8, 2007 at 7:45 amI'm decidedly pro-Filipino for a number of reasons, but I have to admit you make some good points. I think the most offensive part of this is that the line is referred to as a "joke", which according to Webster, should contain something "funny".
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Jennifer says:
October 8, 2007 at 7:48 amFor some reason "smooch my bum-bum" was the most hilarious thing in the world this morning. I need to listen to the SnideCast so I can hear Eric say it.
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Randy Tayler says:
October 8, 2007 at 8:28 amI actually can't stop laughing at "smooch my bum-bum".
Interesting sidenote about Filipinos: at Singlesaints I get members from all the world, and without a doubt the ones from the Philipines have the best English. Often better than some native speakers here in the states.(u know who u r lol)
That said, Nadal calling Hatcher's character's comment "racist" is idiotic. ABC offering an apology is possibly even MORE idiotic. Who's running ABC's Apology Division these days? Some cowardly French ninny?
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Jake Waters says:
October 8, 2007 at 9:29 amHa! Loved it! I'm glad you included the song from Avenue Q at the end.
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whome says:
October 8, 2007 at 9:29 amReply to Paul Norman:
Eric isn't racist, he's a sexist. Just ask his film teacher he called "Jackie", and she'll tell you that this episode and its prejudices is really about women's issues.
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Turkey says:
October 8, 2007 at 9:34 amBut common, in this politically correct world of ours, did we really expect ABC to do anything BUT apologize? The thing they fear more than anything is loss of sponsorship and the sponsors certainly don't want to be seen as supporting something "racist," even if the claim is patently retarded. So if the network doesn't come out groveling and weeping, the sponsors will get mad for the benefit of their public (who doesn't care) and make a big deal out of pulling their ads from the show to prove what huggy-and-kissy businesses they are and how they adore everyone on this earth, especially the Filipino medical education community.
And does it bother anyone else that people from the PHilipines are called Filipinos instead of Philipinos?
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Turkey says:
October 8, 2007 at 9:35 amI mean Philippinos. Darn that no-edit function!!
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Bob says:
October 8, 2007 at 10:44 amI don't get it. Michael from "The Office" says derogatory things everytime I watch and there's no big news story after every episode. What's the difference?
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Pumpkin says:
October 8, 2007 at 10:45 amThe only famous Filipino stereotype I can think of is that all the men are gay. My brother in law went on his mission there, and he said he saw so many men dressed as women it was scary, and that even the straight men, when asked, were not opposed to experimenting in gayness...Yeah. So that "joke" about the medical schools in the Philippines isn't funny just because it isn't based on any stereotype, but still, all those whiney people should just shove it. They've made Mormon jokes on Desperate Housewives, and the Church hasn't demanded any apologies.
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FHL says:
October 8, 2007 at 11:22 amNext thing you know, everyone's going to start sending in complaints when the networks make fun of Cleveland (Except for fans of the Drew Carey Show.) or New Jersey.
Or Mormons (Yeah, House, I'm looking at you! I'll mire your ox!)
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JS says:
October 8, 2007 at 11:31 amThis column sucks. I demand that you... oh, wait. Never mind.
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Jim says:
October 8, 2007 at 1:21 pmHey Pumpkin--why does dressing like a woman make a man gay? Does that mean women who dress like men are gay too?
And to Paul Norman--Last time I looked in the mirror I was peach, not white. If people want to complain about political-correctness, shouldn't they be politically correct as well? I'm not directing my comments at Paul, but I'm just tired of the whole white thing. If I have to say "Filipino-American" and "African-American" then I demand to be called "English-Slovak American!" Should I not protest and get signatures from the Internet too? I mean, how many netwroks out there are incorrectly using the term "white?"
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Jim says:
October 8, 2007 at 1:22 pmoops--I mean "networks"
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Turkey says:
October 8, 2007 at 4:32 pmJim: I have often stated that I demand to be called Scottish-English-Irish-American instead of white or Caucasian (what does being peach have to do with the Caucases anyway?). I think we should start that. Right now.
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Sam says:
October 8, 2007 at 9:25 pmTo the producers of "American History X":
We are writing to express concern and hurt about a racially-discriminatory comment made in American History X. In a scene in which Seth Ryan, played by Ethan Suplee, was eating jelly beans and he removed one from the bowl and threw it away just because it was black.
As members and allies of the African American Black Negro Colored community, we are writing to inform you that this type of derogatory action was discriminatory and hurtful, and such a scene was not necessary to maintain any humor in the movie. Additionally, a statement that devalues Black People in settings involving candy is extremely unfounded, considering the overwhelming amount of Black and African American people who like candy. African American's are the second largest immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. (and successfully passing their U.S. licensing boards!) as candy eaters, candy appreciators, and candy consumers. In fact, Africa produces more candy than any other country in the world. So, to belittle the sweet tooth, candy love, or value of African Americans in health care is extremely disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant. Many of the candy factories in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. (and the world) would not be able to operate without its Black and African American staff members.
As African Americans and allies, we band together to ensure that this type of hateful message should not be allowed to continue on our movie screens. Given the recent amounts of media attention that has been given to Michael Richards (against African Americans), Isaiah Washington (against gays), and Rosie O'Donnell (against Asian/ Chinese Americans), it is ridiculous that this type of hateful speech made it through various screenwriters, the movie's producers, the movie's actors, and the film studio itself.
We demand a public apology to the African American community, and we demand the movie be edited to remove the ignorant and racist remark and anything else to do with racism. We will not allow hateful messages against our community (or any other oppressed community) to continue.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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Kirk says:
October 9, 2007 at 7:59 amI'm confused by comments #1 and #4. The column I just read says 99.99 and not 99.9. Did Eric go back and fix it? Or does my computer get the Deluxe Version of Snide Remarks? Or could it be that they learned math in the Phillipines?
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Steve says:
October 10, 2007 at 4:59 amJim: I am not Pumpkin, but I am answering your question in #19, as I also served an LDS mission in the Philippines. It is true that dressing like a woman does not necessarily make a man gay. But in the Philippines, because of the culture, the only men who dress like women are either gay or don't mind everyone fervently believing that they are gay. After all, the Philippines ain't America (anymore), and they are not saddled with all of our nonsense political correctness. If a man dresses like a woman in the Philippines and tries to say something like, "I'm not gay, I'm just expressing myself," everyone will think that he has made a very funny joke. The disturbing part is that sometimes these gay Filipino cross-dressers end up looking like very attractive young ladies.
Also, in protest of the trend of hyphenating all Americans, I insist on being called a Native American. I am white (not albino, but not dark enough to be called peach either, and just be glad if you don't go to the same beach that I do), but I was born in America, which is the very definition of native. I am of European descent, but I am not European (except for that time when my friend asked me: If you're American in the kitchen and the living room, what are you in the bathroom, and his answer was "you're a-peein' ")
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mommyof3 says:
October 10, 2007 at 5:16 amAmen! I absolutely loved the column! I am Canadian and I don't give a rat's bum-bum if someone makes a Canadian joke because I know that deep down inside I have something special. It's called a SENSE OF HUMOUR (spelled the canadian way, eh!)
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Kaydria says:
October 10, 2007 at 8:31 pmWhoa, Nathan Fillion? I almost wanted to watch it for a second there. Almost. As much as I love him, I hate Desperate Housewives so much more.
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Steve says:
October 11, 2007 at 5:58 amHere I go telling people more than they want to know. I must think it makes me look smart.
Anyway, this is for everyone who is annoyed with people of the Philippines being called "Filipinos" rather than "Philipinos" or "Philippinos" or "Philippinians" or whatever. What makes this use of the F for Filipino even more confusing is that when we examine the original Tagalog (national language of the Philippines) alphabet, as shown here,
we see that there is no symbol to represent the sound that is represented by F in English. Of course, the Spanish colonists, in their quest to Christianize (and Spain-ize? Spanish-ize? Spanish eyes?) the heathens of the world, replaced the original symbols with the following Latin letters:Aa Bb Kk Dd Ee Gg Hh Ii Ll Mm Nn Ng ng Oo Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Ww Yy
And still there is no F. That's because the F sound is never used in the Tagalog language. So why does the name given to the people start with an F? Well, it turns out that it's the fault of those pesky Spaniards.
Spanish colonization of the islands was begun under King Philip II, and the Islands were named after him. Now it turns out that there is no 'ph' in Spanish, so when the Spaniards decided to refer to the people of the islands as Filipinos, they had to spell it with an F. Of course, we also have the Spanish to thank for the fact that there is only one L in the name Philippines, which causes me no small consternation, as I have a younger brother named Phillip.
An amusing result of the lack of the F sound in the Tagalog language and subsequent exposure to languages containing the F sound is that modern day Filipinos will use the F sound and the P sound interchangeably, sometimes even when speaking original Tagalog words that should have a P sound only. So, for example, it is not uncommon for a native to refer to himself as a "Pilipino" or to his country as the "Pilippines." Of course, as I said, they will also use the F sound when they should use the P sound, and to this day I cannot sing the hymn "Sing We Now At Parting" with a straight face.
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Amp says:
October 11, 2007 at 1:12 pmHey Steve, that's interesting, but I'm still not clear on why the Spaniards would name the islands "Philippines" but the people "Filipino". Why didn't they just call them "Philipino"? Or the island the Filippenes? They didn't call Philip II (was Philip II French?) Filip, did they?
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Abe says:
October 12, 2007 at 7:19 amI was so excited when I heard about this. I am a filipino american and I have never been opressed before. Now I, too, have been able to feel the pain caused by the insensitvity of the white man. No longer will I have to pretend that, as a minority, I have dealt with the frustrations of racism, for, at last, I truly have. Thank you ABC. Thank you.
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Steve says:
October 12, 2007 at 9:26 amWell, they called the people "Filipinos" because that makes sense in Spanish. They called the islands "the Philippines" because King Philip's name was spelled that way. A little time on Wikipedia reveals that yes, Philip was French (or at least of French ancestry). I would bet the the Spaniards probably did call their king "Felipe," but not on anything official. The main point is that "Filipino" is a noun or an adjective, and thus subject to spelling rules (which are quite rigid in Spanish; they have no "ecxept after c" garbage), while "Philip" is a name, and could have been spelled "Zxqq4" without necessarily changing the pronunciation.
The following may be unnecessary, but it emphasizes a point that I made in passing above (inside of parenthesis, even):
In English, we'll borrow foreign words and keep their original spelling. Examples: bureau, resume, faux. We keep the spelling and some semblance of the pronunciation, even though it violates our own spelling rules. In Spanish, when they borrow a word from another language, they keep the pronunciation close to the original, and then spell it according to Spanish spelling rules. Thus calling the people "Philipinos" would have been ridiculous. It bugs us English speakers to call the people "Filipinos" because it seems inconsistent to us. But to a Spaniard, it would have been inconsistent to do anything else.
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Tom the Bunny says:
October 12, 2007 at 3:28 pmThe only Filipino racial stereotype I can ever recall hearing is a line by Lenny Bruce that for some ungodly reason has stuck with me for years. "So what can you do if you're a Filipino but join the Navy, become a chief, ball a hooker, [sexual vulgarity deleted] and giggle." I can't imagine why that line tickles me, but it obviously does or I wouldn't have remembered it for more than 30 years.
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jds88 says:
October 14, 2007 at 4:15 pmWhat? No jokes about a "Philippine Insurrection"?
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nicely done says:
October 16, 2007 at 12:24 pmKirk what u said was so funny, thanks steve 4 the infos, sorry for the philpino i mean filipino med school who got so pissed off & sorry 4 all the filipino comunity bcoz what abc aired, on another notion i would like 2 encourage the ppl of philipines to start waking up & knowing that most of their kids are abroad ( & they aren't all doctors) doing many bad things just 2 send them money, u go 2 the arab world u see them working as paid . . . coz they have 2 send money 2 their country.
b4 having 30,000 signed e-mail about a stupid notion in a nice show try 2 see what can u do so that ur kids will not leave their country & go work as prostitutes or Bakla (4 guys) so that 2 make money, Plz also try 2 make more tagalog songs not all english. thank u all
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Pangi Popo says:
October 16, 2007 at 10:32 pm#10 is SO wrong. People from Philippines speak terrible English. I live in a place with lots of expatriate Filipinos who are, presumably, somewhat educated and perhaps even a cut above the general population that you'd find in-country.
My top two pet peeves:
1) They throw in the phrases "so much grateful" and "very much grateful" all over the place where they aren't supposed to be.
Example, "I'm so much grateful to be here today."
2) They are CONSTANTLY confusing gender when they speak. He gets mixed up with she, her gets switched with him.Example: (they're talking about my young son). "Oh, John is getting so big. I'm very much grateful to see HER today."
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licia says:
October 19, 2007 at 8:22 pmI QUOTE THIS: YOU SAID......
Uh, hang on. The statement is not racist. Why? Let me break it down for you."The Philippines" is not a "race." It is what's known as a "country." Now, if she had said, "I don't want some dirty Filipino doctor touching me" or "Those damn Filipinos, sneaking across the Pacific Ocean and taking our jobs," that would be racist. Making a crack about the quality of medical schools in the Philippines is a slam against the Philippines.
It makes no comment about the race of the people who live there.
___________________________________________
ERIC let me break it down for you!! how about if teri hatcher said "you didn't get it from a med school in afghanistan did you?" or what about "you didn't get it from some model rocket shooting muslim did you"?
of course what she said was racist! of course it is racist!!! the phillipines is dirt. it is land RUN by Phillipinos NOT CHINESE. do you get what a hypocrite you sound like? a country or a med school is not run by land...it is run by the people who live there..most likely PHILLIPINOS. if i said your gardner is from mexico am i being racist? in your terms NO. but in my terms PROBABLY. it DOES make a comment about the people who live there.
love and kisses. -
Takino says:
November 16, 2007 at 10:11 pm.... what?
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Ben says:
February 13, 2008 at 11:18 amUm, funny thing. I know this is an old article, but I thought I'd just mention that the spelling thing is all moot since there is no standardized spelling in the Philippines (just spell it how it sounds). Since coming home my spelling has been murdered, in case anyone is interested.
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JarHeadPinoy says:
July 26, 2008 at 7:10 pmI would say to all, join the United States Military and you will most likely make friends with a Filipino. We are a pleasant group to go to war with. All this jaw-jackin' about race and ish is BS. Filipinos, "in general", are generally friendly. HAhaHa. We integrate with other culture reps easily because we have had experience with many different types throughout the centuries and have learned survival mechanisms to help everyone reach a win-win situation. Ask the same "professional cultural courtesy" from another culture rep and you will get push-back due to pride issues. Remember peeps, Filipinos are individuals and our national consciousness is currently not of making others feel bad. IMHO, Filipinos across the world just want to see everyone around them succeed and will do the best for them. No wonder Filipinos have such a good reputation here in America! "There is no I in team". Possibly because we take on nationalism with a passion whichever country Pinoys want to settle. That is why you will have someone like me that defines myself as American moreso than "Filipino". In fact, I would probably see myself more as an Ilocano-American than some sycophantic Manila-phile. Semper Fidelis.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
Comments & Reaction:
The way I quoted the "Desperate Housewives" line is exactly as it was spoken by Teri Hatcher. The Associated Press got it slightly wrong: "OK, before we go any further, can I check these diplomas? Just to make sure they aren't, like, from some med school in the Philippines?" Subsequently, most other news outlets (mis)quoted it the same way. The show itself isn't on YouTube, but several TV news stories about it are, and many of them include the clip in question (for example: here), so you can see for yourself that I am a more reliable reporter than anyone at the Associated Press. (Wait, what?)
I tried to think of some Filipino stereotypes that I could exploit for some cheap jokes, and then I realized there aren't any. When you think of Filipinos, what do you think of? Nothing? Yeah, me too. I finally had to go with the Philippines being a Third World country and extrapolate from that for my insensitive, racist remarks.
By the way, the gynecologist in "Desperate Housewives" was played by the delightful Nathan Fillion (of TV's "Firefly" and the movie "Serenity" fame), who also played a gynecologist in the film "Waitress." I hope he stays on "Desperate Housewives" for a long time -- not because I'll watch, but because the guy deserves a comfortable gig on a popular show.