So very bida, so very Pinoy

I beg to disagree with the American ad which said that there’s a little Imelda in all of us – and I’m not just referring to a penchant for shoes or some such fashion item, either. For truth is, there’s a big Imelda in all of us.

One reason why Imelda Marcos continues to take a hold on the Pinoy’s imagination – and one reason why Imelda the documentary is attracting hordes of moviegoers – is that Imelda Marcos is the most conspicuous representation of an aspect of Pinoy culture we may not consciously acknowledge as being out there, but which in reality is a strong driving force of our behaviors as Pinoys. So entrenched in our culture is this particular aspect – call it a mentality, or a mindset, or a propensity – that we haven’t had the time to analyze it for what it’s worth.

I’m talking about the bida mentality, which I believe in time will be recognized in the same way that the crab mentality or the colonial mentality have been used to describe some of our characteristics as Pinoys.

I dare say that if you want to dissect the countless ills besetting our country today, why, you’ll be surprised to discover just how much of them are rooted in this previously unacknowledged – albeit long-existing – bida mentality of ours.

In our culture, it seems that everyone wants to be a bida. We Pinoys oftentimes take this desire to the extreme, pursuing it for its own sake. Elizabeth Taylor once lamented that one can be famous simply for being famous, and oftentimes, that suffices in our quest to be the bida. Why is it that Filipinos abroad, instead of uniting, fragment into various Pinoy associations just so they can be the president of this or the president of that? Or locally, how else to explain the publicists’ battle cry that negative publicity is still publicity? According to this line of reasoning, as long as you’re in the limelight, as long as you generate buzz, hey, you’re okay.

Truly, the passion for being a bida is nothing short of a national pastime. Notice how, in the lowliest barangays, moms will move heaven and earth – and even spend beyond their means – to ensure that their daughters are crowned Little Miss This or Little Miss That or Muse of This or Muse of That, as if their lives depended on it. When someone in a small town builds a huge house or drives a Mercedes Benz, he or she becomes the toast of the town, regardless of how he or she acquired the house or car (jueteng or illegal drugs, perchance?).

Medical schools leak board exam questions to their students so that the schools can be the bida, the one which produces "topnotchers." In the supposedly august halls of Congress, grandstanding and hours-long perorations are really nothing but the high art of being the bida. Walang magpapatalo, kasi lahat gustong maging bida.

These days, the most popular TV shows are those where the ultimate aim is to be the Star of This or the Star of That. TV networks themselves engage in all-out war, and for what? Simply to prove that one is the bida in the rating’s game.

Why is karaoke singing so popular locally in a way that is not so in other countries? Because in singing even for a few minutes – regardless of whether one has a good voice or not – a Pinoy gets to be a bida, the focus of attention, the star of the night. And why do you think movie stars have kept the public so enthralled, being a star alone guarantees getting elected to the highest posts of the land? Simply because they’ve been bidas for so long – and that for the public, sadly, is apparently enough.

Imelda herself put it so well in Ramona Diaz’s documentary when she emphasized that the Filipino public needs "a standard... a role model... a star." Imelda was smart enough to know this about Filipinos, and she perfected the "art" of being the bida, the one who cranes necks, the one who gets everyone talking, and even if derided often times, the one everyone (secretly) aspires to be – rich, famous, powerful. As shown in the documentary Imelda, from her grand entrances in stunning ternos to her heartfelt singing onstage to woo voters; from her fabulous collection of paintings by Renaissance masters to her jaw-dropping jewelry; from her high-profile forays into international diplomacy and parties with the international jetset – Imelda’s grand gestures and acquisitions were a flamboyant celebration of being the bida. Filipinos understand this somehow, and that’s why, I believe, we find ourselves still in a quandary, caught in that nebulous world between fascination and condemnation, about Imelda Marcos. Our minds tell us that enough should be enough, but something in the Pinoy psyche forgives Imelda because there’s that yearning we can’t shake off – the one that secretly aspires to be the bida.

It’s high time we Pinoys shake off this mentality. For at the rate we are going, we are virtually our country’s greatest kontrabidas. And if only for reminding us of this, the documentary Imelda should have served us in good stead.

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