Monday, December 08, 2008

If It Weren't For Marky Cielo, Well... Color Me Ambivalent...

.:You Will Be Missed:.

I am by no means a big fan of Marky Cielo, having really only seen him from his stint on Zaido, and never having followed Starstruck 3. Despite that, he seemed to be one of those guys who was really down-to-earth, and it really radiated in the way he would speak or think whenever I'd see him on TV.

Here's to one of those few shining beacons on Philippine TV who gave me a glimmer of hope that we'd be slowly heading back to that golden age of show business we had decades ago.

Marky Cielo will be missed. Fan or no fan, here was a kid who did everything he can to be the best that he can be. Whenever we lose a truly decent human being, I believe it's cause for mourning. We have so few of those in this world, sadly...

.:Oh. Manny Pacquiao Won Again...:.

Color me ambivalent, then.

He's a boxer, he wins. Good for him. To have to attribute the "uplifting of the Filipino people" through his win just rubs me the wrong way, y'know?

He is *not* the be-all and the end-all of Philippine civilization. I find it insulting to us as a people to believe that our dignity hinges on one man, when it should hinge on the entire nation instead.

If he wins, good for him. If he loses, too bad. Just don't expect every single person to worship his every move, to want to find out every single meal he had prior to his fight, to ogle his training regimen, or in short, to put their lives on hold just for him.

If you're wondering what brought this annoyance on, lemme give you a hint...



Gentlemen, welcome to idiocy-ville. Here, we have someone taking some prediction from Nostradamus and turning it into a fluff piece to make it seem like Pacquiao's win was written in the stars. The link between the two is tenuous at best, and they're proclaiming it as some sort of second coming.

The last item was especially annoying, considering how it's racism, quite frankly. Why would the "white people" not be pleased that Manny Pacquiao won? Hades, if even Oscar Dela Hoya himself was a good sport about it, I don't see why a country with a black president-elect would have a problem with a Filipino winning.

Manny Pacquiao did not magically keep street kids off rugby, or heal the economy, or resurrect dead journalists. I'm sure he'll do his part if he can, when he can, but everyone else has to pull their share. He won, congratulations, now, can we all get on with our lives instead of speculating who his next opponent will be?

Seriously, guys. He may turn out to be God's gift to boxing, but he's just one man. Stop making spectator sides of your lives, and make something out of it. Manny's doing just that. Why can't we?

I am so tired of people trying to make such a big deal over someone just because they're famous. So what if they are world champion? So what if they are followed by legions of fans? What does this mean to you? Surely, someone else's "success" isn't an excuse for someone to just sideline themselves for keeps, right?

And that, my friends, is true.

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