On Willie

I've been silently following the news updates on Wowowee host Willie Revillame's latest brouhaha, this time very clearly against his home network ABS-CBN. Last I heard, a lot of his fans on Twitter were accusing ABS-CBN of starting a demolition job against him. Like a few equally headline-grabbing celebrities, Willie is just a controversy that keeps on giving.

I've always thought that Willie was lucky to have been so valuable to the network giant, which gave me so many—too many, if you ask me—chances to redeem himself. I know Willie holds the hearts of millions of Filipinos, mostly from the lower class, but so much of what he represents and what he does and what he says, in my honest opinion, is also to blame for our people's continued indolence and our country's worsening poverty.

I've never been a big fan of Wowowee, even if, like many of its fans, I have many times sat and watched, transfixed, at the weekday noontime fiesta on ABS-CBN. I have laughed at his antics, even the ones that are so clear to me should not be seen on air, at a time children still have access to television. I have, like a boy in puberty, gawked at his sexy dancers gyrating in an occasionally obscene way, even as I immediately made a mental note to never let my four-year-old niece watch Wowowee, ever.

Speaking of sexy dancers, here's a story. My best friend Sherwil has family in the States. When The Filipino Channel became big, Filipino-Americans, among them her uncles, started watching Wowowee. Her male cousins, all in their twenties, were weirded out—until the day they caught the Wowowee Girls doing their thing.

And speaking of weirded out, my cousin Joey, who used to be based in the States, once reported to me that our auntie in New Jersey would watch Wowowee and weep.

How the show tugs at our heartstrings! How painful it is to listen to the contestants’ stories of woe! We can't help but think, pity this or that person, give them the money already, they deserve it! But do they, really? I look at the people working in the streets, eking out a living, even in the terrible heat, and I think not.

What Willie has created is not just a game show people go to to try out their luck. He has created a whole culture of “Pity me!” Old people, children, they all practice their sob stories to win the big bucks. But in life, the only way you can win with tears is if there is blood and sweat with it—and even that is optional.

What I believe Wowowee has been teaching people is to desperately cling to luck, to tolerate a few minutes of embarrassment, to tap on all the victim stories of their lives, because it just might win them the big bucks.

That's hardly sustainable. It's hardly right.

I'm not so disappointed that Willie may never be seen on Wowowee again—though I still believe he will be back sooner than we all think. Robin Padilla was a good replacement; he had mass appeal. Like Willie, he always appears to be keeping it real. The Kanto Boys, no matter how much I love John Lloyd Cruz, wasn't as much of a hit, but I didn't really believe they would hit it off with Wowowee's demographic. I hope whoever would be the new host, if there is to be one, would not pander to the people's lack of personal responsibility.

I think would be unfortunate, however, if Willie did lose his career over this little ego tiff. He has been through worse, and he has always bounced back. Of course, nobody's lucky all the time. Not even Willie.

I wish the best for him, even if it's not necessarily the “best” he asked for.

And I wish the best for Filipino viewers. With no sob stories in the picture, I hope.

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