Reading between the lines

CRUZ. Damage control.

A couple of months ago, KC Concepcion made a number of “coded” revelations about her troubled relationship with Piolo Pascual, and we had an occasionally befuddled field day trying to fill in the blankety-blanks.

Last month, it was John Lloyd Cruz and Shaina Magdayao’s turn to talk about their own tempestuous romance—and it was “code-cracking” time again.

More forthcoming

To be sure, John Lloyd and Shaina were a bit more forthcoming about their less-than-perfect relationship. Sometime back, in another TV appearance, John Lloyd intimated that the romance was so placid that some people found it “boring.”

—Well, no longer. All sorts and shapes of female interlopers have ostensibly been sighted trying to rain on the supposedly loving couple’s parade, and Shaina confesses that it all finally got to her, prompting her to tell the pesky flies and other buzzing insects off!

That prompted her boyfriend to engage in some damage control and apologize for the resulting furor she had caused—which, in turn, may have disappointed her, because she expected him to fully side with her.

So, when they appeared on “The Buzz” last month, they weren’t exactly on all-out, lovey-dovey mode. It looked like they still cared for each other, but they were now saying that there were problems, chinks and issues that needed to be addressed and resolved, before their relationship could go back to being comfortably, satisfyingly “boring.”

John Lloyd even allowed that he had to work on himself and his unstated issues, separately from their “mutual” concerns. Unfortunately, there were no details and specifics to be had, so “decode” and interpret away!

That’s what bothers us about celebrity revelations: They “reveal” only enough to suit the “confessing” celebrity’s purposes—so, if viewers want to sufficiently understand what’s going on, they are forced to resort to their own analytical devices, as we’re doing now.

But, John Lloyd got our attention and respect when he quite frankly hit back at the people who have been “feasting” on his and Shaina’s shared troubles and travails, “insulting” him deeply and fiercely in the process.

As for Shaina, she wasn’t as forthcoming, but it was still the first time we saw and heard her expressing herself as a young woman, instead of the teen ingenue she’s been playing for so long. We trust that her new self-knowledge, earned after so much emotional stress and strife, will make her a better and more secure person from here on in.

‘Surprising’ union

For much too long, some people have been regarding her romance with John Lloyd as a “surprising” union between two “unequals”: The older and more popular male star has been seen as “too good” for her—whatever that means!

After all, he fell in love with her, didn’t he? And they’ve been together longer than quite a number of other stellar pairings. So, why the sniffy and snitty comments?

As Shaina and John Lloyd pursue their  separate paths toward individual and then mutual understanding, the rest of us should henceforth genuinely wish them well, give them the space and time they need—and shut up!