1st of October, 2010 As if entertainment has not been emphasized enough in big time media conglomerates like ABS-CBN, they still take time to feature soap opera rip-offs like Imortal on evening entertainment magazine shows like SNN (Showbiz News Ngayon). I have understood throughout the years that Filipinos have a habit—or more like an unending itch to become second-rate trying hard copycats (see, I can’t even help myself). This applies to the entertainment industry in particular. How many times has it occurred that we open the television to feel déjà vu when we see local shows similar to what we see on cable? If your memory is quite foggy then maybe these would ring a bell: Idol? Rubi? And now, the latest addition to their “shows
we just sweded” shelf is the Twilight-inspired (parody, if I may say) entitled Imortal, starring John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin.
One thing needs to be cleared first. I am not a fan of Twilight. I didn’t even dare read the novels and I swore not to watch the sequel after I’ve seen the first movie. Just to be clear.
Another thing is that there is such a saying that goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Okay, fine, but Imortal is obviously not a book, so I am therefore judging the show by its OBB. Oh come on. Who doesn’t remember Twilight when they see that OBB? I can forgive the fact that the essence of the show is about vampires and wolves because who knows? There’s True Blood and there’s Vampire Diaries. What I do not (and cannot) fathom is the visual concept of the show. It looks like Twilight, and it even smells like it all the way from their Quezon City studios all the way here in my suburban home in Bacoor. It looks like Twilight, from the black, misty background to the red contact lenses. Oh dear, the very, very, creative Filipinos. It makes me feel ashamed of the kind of entertainment we have in the country: copies of the same illusory messages constructed by the west.
As I am writing this now, I can hear the advertisements of the show on television emphasizing the angle of Imortal on family values. To hell with values! Do media know anything about values anymore? With all the crap that they have been producing, I don’t think so. What’s worse is that they’re not even pretty good liars as well.
To be fair, technically, Imortal seems to have some aesthetic value. The shots are properly framed, and the footage is as clear as their brains. It could have been exciting, if only they did not copy something even they would not dare watch.
On the other side of the picture, maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Maybe this is an overdue snooze wake-up call to us students to take over someday, and to start learning to create something better out of practically nothing.
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