After Valentine’s Day, indulge in these very random musings on the changing public behavior on media (and social media), various art forms and the responsibility and accountability that come with these.
Concerts, live events are in; cinema-watching poses many challenges
It’s a heavy concert season as BINI, The Corrs, A-1, Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid packed the concert halls and venues this Valentine weekend. But how did the films fare?
Not too encouraging.
We went to watch one of the love teams of our generation — Marvin Agustin and Jolina Magdangal’s “Ex Ex Lovers” by JP Habac — which was a fairly good film that capitalized on nostalgia and saw a lean crowd. Why so, when the lead stars painstakingly went around the country promoting the film and reached out to fans like there was no tomorrow?
“It is what it is“ said the cinema exhibitors, even “Captain America” didn’t do well as they expected.
So where are the movie audiences? A curt but emphatic answer was — in streaming platforns. They’d rather go online than watch in theaters.
So what now, Philippine cinema?
It’s exciting to launch new gen superstars
As live concerts and theater acts are gaining a lot of public support, the Valentine weekend had us marking the milestone concert of what director and Pangasinan Congressman Toff de Venecia christened as ”Philippine Theater’s Superstar” Gab Pangilinan!
The audience were in consensus with their praise. “It was deliciously fun. The atmosphere was pure, spontaneous and uplifting.”
Gab’s concert was billed as not a musical. It was a rowdy party, a fun coming out, a celebration of pure talent, and a wild reunion of family and friends.
This is what we will try to achieve again this weekend as we mount “Heart to Heart: Stories of Love” at the Doreen Theater in Arete Ateneo, with two of the most talented male artists today — Toma Cayabyab and Mike Shimamoto, who were classmates until high school and have continued creating good music all these years. Join us and book your tickets via Ticket2Me, and let us launch the next gen’s new batch of important artists.
Again, why are the tickets sought-after? Because this won’t ever be streamed, it is best experienced live!
Posting on social media can be toxic
Again, it’s easy to judge and make comments, but be careful and responsible.
Alex Calleja’s “Tamang Panahon” hit number 1 in Netflix viewing. Due to its popularity, “Bubble Gang” writer Chito Francisco took to social media and made a remark about Alex’s carwash joke, claiming it to be his original.
This caused quite a stir, with Alex threatening to sue. Chito immediately issued an apology afterward.
Chito expressed deep regret for his comments, acknowledging that his false and baseless allegations against Alex caused harm, both personally and professionally. He admitted, “I was careless and negligent in saying that” and recognized the damage caused by viral social media backlash. He stated that his accusations were wrong. “This is no laughing matter” and “I crossed the line when I went public with my accusations.”
He apologized privately to Alex but felt the need to publicly clear the air. “I felt that there was a need to clear the air on this matter and to extend my deepest apologies.” He called on others who shared his false statements to take them down.
Acknowledging the legal implications, he concluded, “I hope that this public statement will peacefully end the issue and settle the matter between me and Alex once and for all.”
To which, Alex responded , “Apology accepted. Now let’s move! Salamat Atty. Howie Calleja and Atty. Lorna Kapunan.”
And his last words on the issue, Alex said, “1. Mag sorry para no worry! 2. Nag sorry, be happy! 3. The truth will set you Pre! Mas mabuti pang walang label kesa naman may kasong libel.”
On another matter, actress Andi Eigenmann also took to social media to address her issue with partner Philmar Alipayo. They have patched things up and left their friend Pernilla Sjoo under stern scrutiny in the public eye. Pern’s friend, Derek Ramsay, defended her and called out Andi and Philmar — to what end? Hopefully, stressing the point that personal or domestic squabbles should be dealt with in private.
Given the changing landscape of social media creation and consumption, the biggest challenge and change for the future may come from us — users seeking reprieve. As we all start to talk more openly about the way social media makes us feel, and as we realize that we are not alone in our addictive behavior, maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to leave our destructive habits behind and enjoy social media for what it is. As writer Katherine Osmerod said: “The best 1 percent of our lives, with the real stuff; the other 99 percent, hidden for only our real friends and family to discover.”
