2006 January 21 | ES2PIDO|Estudyanteng Pinoy Dormitorian

MINSAN SA PALASYO NI JANG-GEUM

21 Jan 2006

This is my column article for our January Issue of The Gazette. The title is subject to change, since I haven’t finished the article. Probably tomorrow I’ll post it.

My topic is about the trend of imported TV series, the eminence of ‘escapism’ and the connection of Jewel in the Palace to our society.

Maybe you could give me suggestions. I need to submit this tomorrow.

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MINSAN SA PALASYO NI JANG-GEUM

Perverted: Neil Brian Bernardo

I STARTED watching telenovelas since the day my dad stopped feeding us with his favorite Ginisang Kalabasa; he left the Philippines to work as a sculptor designer in China. Since then, we never had primetime nights without watching TV—except of course during each 2^nd day of our high school periodical exams where almost all the dreadfully cursed subjects were compressed in a single day suitable for ex-grade conscious students like me. Duh…

I was addicted to telenovelas, if not Animé programs. My mom’s the culprit. She hides the remote controller underneath the Tupperwares in the kitchen or sometimes, she just blatantly holds the remote while comfortably sitting on the sofa. We can’t complain. I had no choice but to watch. Eventually, I was moved with the stereotypical sob story of Mexican telenovelas, complete with haciendas, family feud, horses, love triangles, queridas, ‘cleavage’, and the hairy chests of the males who seemed to have undergone gym workouts as requirement to stardom.

We’ve seen those in all the telenovelas I’ve watched: in Thalia’s classics like Marimar, Maria la del Barrio, Maria Mercedes, Rosalinda; and the latest, Betty la Fea, Rosalinda, Camila, Paloma, Alicia, Daniela, Rubi, Basilio, Crispin… I mean, they were essentially and technically similar with each other. I was too much fed up with all the Mexicans and the Venezuelans, I actually passed out and got tired of them. Until I pressed no. 13 on the remote control and witnessed some good-looking guys and gals swordfighting and exchanging kamehame waves mid-air. Few weeks later, I found myself singing “Oh baby baby baby” with my pet dog Micky. Golly.

The bloom of pocketbook-inspired Latin dramas swallowed by an overwhelming influx of Asian dramas appeared to be the greatest shift of daytime and primetime Filipino TV programming (I’m referring to the majority). We get used to the tall, the blonde, the yellow and the hairy and now, we are embracing the short, the black, the white/brown, and the chinky-eyed. And the less-hairy, of course. Caucasian to Asian flavor—we are getting closer to other Asian countries.

Like most of us, I was hooked to Meteor Garden. I was hooked to their outrageous hairstyles, cartoon storyline, and F4 merchandise. I actually printed out its whole 30 paged synopsis and read it until some scalawag stole it from me. I was so spoiled I stopped patronizing it and got stuck with other Taiwanese blockbusters in GMA7 like MVP Valentine and Lavender. I became Taiwanese every afternoon for several months, until I finally changed my citizenship.

Not literally, I mean, there’s this Korean tearjerker that killed me when I first saw it. Endless Love, it was entitled, and my love for Korean melodramas seemed to never end. Unless a boom of Bombay or Mongolian series would change my mind.

And the trend went on… from Taiwanese fad, now Filipinos are kissing the feet of Koreans who are so magnificent in their melodrama masterpieces. I was frozen by the voice of their Winter Love Song, “Is this the Stairway to Heaven?” I asked myself, Suddenly, some Lovers in Paris found my frozen body floating At the Dolphin Bay. They told me, “A Little Mermaid named Irene Saved you during her Last aquatic Dance and suggested us to melt you using the Scent of Summer”. Oh yes, the lovers brought me to the Full House. Jessie and Justin gave me shelter in the Attic and fed me like a Cat. While they were feeding me, I heard clashes on the first floor. I snapped. Some 18-year-old Sassy Girls with Green Rose on their ears are inside the house. Jessie screamed, “Magnanakaw! Ninanakaw ang Jewel in the Palace!!!” I found myself gaining weight afterwards.

Jewel in the Palace (officially entitled Dae Jang-Geum or “Jang-Geum the Great”) is a 50-plus-episode, multi-million-won Korean drama whose background is based on a true story of Seo Jang-Geum, the frst and only female royal physician of the King (or the President) in Korean history. Though most of the write-up is anecdotal and only romanticizing Jang-Geum’s existence, the series is splendidly a masterpiece by simply making the Royal Kitchen the axis of political warfare and conspiracy in ancient Korea—where even the cooks of the White House can collaborate with the highest powers to topple down puppy President Bush.

The scenes are basically of intelligent cooking in which every single ingredient being served by the Tagapaglingkod ng Palasyo (Royal Servants) comprise of detailed explanations like nutritional value, historical background, therapeutic claims, and social relevance. It also focused on the Royal kitchen propagandas—where they are cogged to manipulate the Royal family with their served meals through clandestine acts, political dynasty, bribery, and everything else post modern in administration.

Say for example, the plot of executing the queen dowager of Seong Jeong’s regime by mixing poisonous nuts, the Choi’s plot of execution of Myeong-I (Jang-Geum) to ensure Lady Choi’s seat for the next Punong Tagapamahala, the Choi’s kitchen dynasty, the decision-making of the Royal family—the Kusina ng Palasyo has a great influence in politics, in monopoly, corruption, and manipulation of wealth and power. Imagine, it’s just the Royal Kitchen. Ano pa kaya ang ibang sangay ng palasyo?

It was superb. You see, the Choi clan has dominated the Royal kitchen for 4 generations. Their clan was able to inflate their wealth and their social status clandestinely while they secretly cooperate with the Ministros and the Kusina ng Palasyo under their control, their annihilation of their adversaries, inside and outside the kitchen—the very same setup in our country and other administrations as well; blatant graft and corruption, TraPos dwelling among provincial bailiwicks, the hidden demobilization and destabilization plots of the Senate and the lower Houses, coup d’etat rumors of the military (which are obliquely true), the 31^st Metro Manila Film Festival noises—and just imagine if all of these started in the dining room of Malacañang or in a restaurant with the jurors of award-giving bodies. Truly, Jewel in the Palace is a magnificent narrative of, not only the contribution of Jang-Geum in breaking the barriers of sexual discrimination and female inequality, but a metaphorical setup of modern politics and social structure. I sometimes consider this series a televised yet mild Korean version of Alexandre Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo and Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere infamous Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

No wonder I gradually gain weight while watching Jewel in the Palace on TV. Not only that it’ll educate you implicitly about social science and politics, but it also increases your appetite and cravings for spicy food. Burp!

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Kidding aside, watching entertaining shows just proves how Filipinos want to evade the political and economic travails in our country. It’s evident in the recent 31^st Metro Manila Film Festival—producers of Exodus, Mulawin, and Enteng Kabisote not scared of spending millions of pesos despite the fact that our economy’s status is submerging and politics is still politics, horrific and atrocious. Empress_maruja quoted in my blog that we are conditionally under ‘escapism’. I agree to that—the word speaks to itself.

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Though my dad’s practicality and political awareness resides during our dinner conversations about Fulgoso telepathically conversing with Corazon and Marimar, his insistence of not watching teledramas never reduced our monthly thousand peso electric bill—he too was enjoying Ghost Fighter and Hunter X Hunter during the times when GMA replaced all Mexican telenovelas into animes.

Tags: Jewel in the Palace, The Gazette, CvSU