Showbiz folks should not be onion-skinned

Have you ever wondered why showbiz is called the “lions’ den?”

Very simply, because anybody (no exception, please!) thrown into it is expected to be gnawed to pieces and only the fittest (read: thick-hided and steel-tummied) survive. So why do thousands want to leap into the “lions’ den?” Because they think that in showbiz money comes easy. So what if they end up all bruised, battered black and blue!

Therefore, showbiz folks shouldn’t be onion-skinned. Besides being “cut up,” being “insulted” is part of the territory. If you can’t hack it, stay out of the danger zone.

That’s why when I saw Pokwang in tears on Wowowee while my good friend Willie Revillame defended her from having been called an “aswang” by Eat, Bulaga!’s Joey de Leon in an Internet song (actually John Lennon’s Imagine with new, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, starting with Imagine there’s no seven...), I wanted to hush up Pokwang and tell her to take it all with a grain of salt. If I were her, I would have stuck my tongue out at Joey and said, “Beh! Aswang na kung aswang, ako naman ang pinaka-magandang aswang sa balat ng telebisyon!”

But Pokwang said she was hurting because her child’s schoolmates have started calling her anak ng aswang. If I were Pokwang’s child, I would have scared off my pesky schoolmates by threatening them, “Sige, pag hindi kayo tumigil, ipapakulam ko kayo sa Nanay ko!”

Imagine how those irritants would have scampered away, tails between their legs!

I really love Pokwang, “aswang” though she may appear to Joey, because of her imaginative and innovative fashion style which she showcases every day on Wowowee. She reminds me of Aruray (as Ai-Ai delas Alas reminds me of Chichay) whom I just saw yesterday in the ’50s Sampaguita flick Matandang Dalaga (starring Carmen Rosales and Jose Padilla Jr.) on PBO (Pinoy Box Office). Aruray was very funny, Pokwang na Pokwang ang dating, and she really made my day just as Pokwang does on Wowowee day in and day out.

But wait a minute. Pokwang is not totally without a “sin.” Remember a few weeks ago when she made fun of Raymond Gutierrez by insinuating about his sexuality on her Music Museum show Poohkwang (with Pooh)? It was a “joke,” all right, just like Joey’s aswang crack, it had a “bite” to it. The whole Gutierrez family, led by Mama Annabelle Rama and Raymond’s sister Ruffa, cried “Ouch!!!”, prompting Pokwang to delete that “offensive” joke and apologize to the Gutierrezes.

Moral of the story?

If you can give “it,” be ready to take “it.”

Today at noon, rest assured that I will tune in to Wowowee as usual and watch my favorite “witch” with glee.

(Postscript: In showbiz, ang pikon ay talo.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected])