The joke’s on us
When Nancy Binay attended the 2015 State of the Nation Address wearing a better-fitting terno dress, a vast improvement over last year’s fashion boo-boo, people still had a number of things to say against the Senator’s fashion choice. Her previous bubble skirt gown prompted a viral meme, making her outfit the butt of online jokes. But even if she went for a more classic cut this year, the memes still kept pouring. Her face was imposed onto sapphire-colored cartoon characters, comparing her to the X-Men’s Mystique, Ursula, Maleficent or Cookie Monster. None of the memes were even really good memes, to be honest.
If it wasn’t the general public putting in the effort to keep the joke running, it was the media that kept reporting on it, ruminating over the fact that the supposedly comical outfit existed in the first place. Headlines about what the Senator wore to the SONA passed the “newsworthy test,” by today’s sketchy standard of journalism. It seemed to be just as much a news story as the President’s speech.
Which makes us ask, what does the SONA actually mean to people today? Has it merely fizzled down to some kind of a joke for social media? Has it become an event that appears to be much like any grand social affair, complete with a red carpet, the fashion police, VIP sections and celebrities? Why is Nancy Binay’s dress making the news?
Nancy Binay has been made fun of ever since she entered the public spotlight — almost like she was baptized into public life as a meme. She has been poked fun at for the color of her skin, her fashion choices, and her appearance — just more signs of the influence that colonial mentality continues to have on Filipinos today. It’s the after-effects of their rule; some kind of inferiority complex ingrained within the Filipino, the thirst to be accepted by “white” standards. We are criticizing the Senator more for her appearance than we are concerned about what she has to bring to the table. She is getting so much buzz from hecklers that online advertisers deem her story more “click-worthy” than the actual speech of the President itself. That’s why she bagged a headline, because people are talking about her.
This is wrong, but who should be blamed? This is a country made up of the working class and the masses, one in which they spend more than eight hours doing work, some very hard labor, only to earn a measly salary that cannot be sustained long-term. The commute to and from the office is just as horrendous as the work itself. Besides waking up at 5 a.m., dealing with the boss, coming home at 9 p.m., and spending time with the kids — where in this kind of life is there space for politics?
A top local TV news director told me once: politics is the spectator sport of the rich. People wonder why stuff like Nancy Binay’s dress is making the news. But this is the discourse of the masses. What’s more interesting for them to see: a senator who walks into the room, or a senator who walks into the room hand-in-hand with Heart Evangelista?
This situation is in no way ideal. How should we correct the way we approach our politics? Where do we even begin? Is it in the empowered and knowledgeable student activists? Is it in the hardworking and tired classes trying to endure the daily grind? Is it through responsible media and ethical journalism? Or does it come from the very people on top?
How can a country, one that has been disillusioned by politics numerous times, restore its faith in the government? This is the question that many have asked. Many have promised us an answer — if we elect them. It’s not easy to reform an entire country given that each president is only allowed a maximum number of years. With P-Noy stepping down, the person who will be placed after him will either make or break everything that was built. Who knows where we will be then? But until somebody finds an answer — whenever that is — these political memes are going to keep on coming.
