LEO Valdez INQUIRER file photo
Thanks to Leo Valdez for sharing at a press conference for his upcoming Resorts World show that, when he was still learning the ropes in show business, our review of one of his early performances motivated him to address some of his shortcomings as a performer.
Actually, the appreciative recollection is also a tribute to Leo, for having the humility of spirit to learn from his perceived mistakes.
Quite a number of other talents would have smarted from such a “critique” and imputed all sorts of vile and subjective motives for the “attack” – but, thankfully, Leo is made of sterner and better stuff. His willingness to keep on learning has served the singing star well in his long-running career, both locally and internationally.
Lesson
Newer and younger talents and their handlers could also learn a lesson or 10 from Leo’s sterling example. Most of the time these days, when a talent’s performance is negatively commented on, the offending writer becomes the object of dastardly accusations and vituperations fit only for the abbatoir, toilet or vomit room!
And some of their fans are even worse! We recall having been savaged by the admirers of some top singers and actors just because we didn’t share their fond and fanatical delusions about their idols’ ostensible and alleged pluperfection!
And yet, we didn’t write a single word of criticism about the stars as persons, basing our comments completely on their performances.
So, why were they reacting in such a vilely personal and vicious manner? Because most of the time, stars are used to getting praised to high heavens by paid hacks, so they and their followers are shocked when their insufficiencies or excesses are brought out into the open, no matter how objective and performance-based the critiques may be.
Only very occasionally do we get feedback from today’s stars and starlets that admits to their shortcomings. Most other “talents” forget that their performance is only one element in the communication and entertainment process, and that objective audience feedback is the key step that subsequently completes that process.
When aggrieved stars and fans villify “negative” commentators, they negate viewers’ right to participate in and complete that process. How autocratic and dictatorial can they get?
Stars and starlets who can’t take criticism are actually to be pitied, since they end up never learning how to improve their performances.
Offers
Surrounded by similarly subjective handlers, fans and hangers-on, they actually believe the glowing press releases they have paid for, and go from one inept performance to the next.
They finally wake one day, only to belatedly realize that the offers have stopped coming – because they haven’t gotten their act together, because they haven’t been open and accepting and humble enough to learn from “negative” reviews, while learning was still possible.
We hope that Leo Valdez’s recent “sharing” will open their eyes, minds and hearts to the reality that, in performance, nobody’s perfect (to say the least!), there’s a lifetime of learning to be had, and that viewers, represented by reviewers, have the inalienable right to react to stars’ performances, as long as they limit their comments to hopefully objective notes on the actors’ or singers’ work, not their personal lives.