This is not America (vs. Japan vs. Korea)!

(excerpted from my journal entry dated December 11, 2011, a Sunday)

We’ve always idolized the Americans so much that most Filipinos aspire to be “like them.” In a way, I think Americans are our “mentors,” and “role models”—de facto, that is.

I don’t know if that is true for other “young” countries (as opposed to “old” countries, e.g. India or China which has over a thousand years of history). You have young countries like Taiwan and Singapore “mentored” by China, and Pakistan “mentored” by India, but for the Philippines, it seems we turn to the United States for that. And for the longest time, we’ve done just that—culturally, technologically, in economics and politics—no matter how inappropriate.

And it’s really frustrating in a way because our conditions are soo way different from that of the US that I’m not sure it’s wise at all to make the Philippines “one of the places that try to make it feel that way,” i.e., like the US, sabi nga ng kanta ng Lokal Brown.

It’s not like Hawaii, which is a US territory and is directly ruled with an American mindset. Here, it seems we run the country with the aim to be “like America” (just observe the politics and laws of the land, mostly patterned after those of the US), but with a “Filipino*” mindset (which retains remnants of our brand of politics from the Spanish era: Padrino system, Mañana, etc.).

Just a few weeks ago, I saw Youtube videos showing “anti-Korean” sentiments in Japan. There’s this alleged “fake” K-Pop (Korean pop) mania in Japan spreading about, allegedly precipitated by a Japanese TV network who is said to earn lots of money with the rise of K-Pop in Japan. Dito sa Pinas, meron ding parang ganun—mga Pinoy na nahuhumaling sa K-Pop—pero hindi naman mania level.

In a way, I’m glad that little by little we are setting our sights on cultural influences that are closer to home. But it’s funny that, despite this development, I observe that THIS IS THE CASE ONLY because America, our “idol,” has set its eyes on Asia in recent years. Sure, we’ve had “O-shin” and “Samurai ng Shogun” (which didn't make it big with us, anyway) before this. But WOULD WE HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH BRUCE LEE IF BRUCE LEE HADN'T MADE IT BIG IN HOLLYWOOD?

I can’t help thinking that we’re still “Americanized” in our tastes and choices of influence. Gaya nitong animé. Can we assume na naging full-blown hit ang Japanese animé dito sa atin DAHIL NAGING “HIT” MUNA ITO SA AMERICA? But then I could be wrong. Japanese animé has always been appealing to Filipino children, with or without US influence (case in point: Voltes V, which was a big hit back in the 1970s, and Filipino children back then weren’t that “Americanized” either).

But you know what I find really funny? Yung animé hairstyle na usong buhok ngayon. Hindi ba parang buhok nila Cindy Lauper, Billy Idol, et al, noon? At kung papakinggan mo ang “Electric Youth” ni Debbie Gibson, hindi ba pwedeng pumasang Japanese animé soundtrack, gawin mo lang Nippongo yung lyrics? Hehe. Now, what do I make of this? It means we turn to Japan and Korea who, in turn, turn to 1980s America, which we, in turn, looked up to back in its heyday. Parang umikot lang. But then, who's turning to us? Who's looking up to Filipinos? (Obligasyon ata natin yun bilang Pinoy....)

In terms of being “fashionable,” are we Filipinos just late?  Or too early? Or just clueless? Or siguro panahon na para tayo naman ang mag-isip para sa ating mga sarili? I mean, it's perfectly all right to learn as much as we can from our "mentor countries," pero lagi na lang bang kailangan tayo ang “sumusunod sa uso” or “hindi nagpapahuli” (man, I hate that term!) sa pinapauso ng iba? Chapter!

*For lack of a better term, I have no recourse but to call our current political mindset “Filipino” simply because it's Filipino politics I'm talking about. Readers might find this derogatory, but as a point of clarification, I too believe that we have yet to evolve a system of politics that is truly ours and one that truly works for us, sabi nga ni Joey Ayala (if I’m not misinterpreting him, that is).