CUNETA. She gave as much as she took.
WE’RE gratified by the informed feedback we get from readers, many of whom obviously share our hope that local show biz people come to a better understanding of the great privilege they have to be able to entertain, inform and inspire hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, and even millions of listeners and viewers.
To arrive at this more enlightened level, however, our entertainers, stars and lesser lights alike, have to stop thinking only of themselves, as many of them still do, and focus on the far more important (because there are so many more of them) members of the great entertainment audience.
A key step forward in firming up their reactions and responses to the entertainment they get is for viewers to dwell less on the lives of stars as people, and concentrate instead on their work.
This isn’t easy to do given the highly personalized star-fan relationship in these parts, where Vilma Santos is Ate Vi, and Sharon Cuneta is Shawie.
But, it’s a step that has to be taken, if we are to help motivate our entertainment people to come up with better and more professional work. This has to include our being less fascinated by “intrigues,” gossip, stellar scandals, and whatever else happens below the belly buttons of our entertainment luminaries.
Odoriferous allure
VILMA Santos INQUIRER PHOTO
Who’s shacking up with whom, who’s carrying whose baby, who’s cheating on whose piteously sobbing wife, who’s neglecting whose children, which hunk is being “supported” by which D.O.M. sugar daddy or D.Y.M show biz executive—these scandals may initially seduce us with their exotic scent of blue cheese tinged with the fetid perfume of gutter water—but, succumbing to their odoriferous allure is bad for our collective psychic health and wellbeing!
When you revel in stars’ sins and miseries, you affect your own outlook and life negatively, as well—so, focus on their work, instead!
That way, you will be raising your standards and expectations for good entertainment, and stars and starlets will be forced to stop coming up with lazy and knee-jerk performances, and instead earn every peso of the extremely extravagant talent fees they get.
While we’re at it, we should also get better at correctly identifying the positive role models in the biz whom we want to emulate. Basically, we should be looking, not for the shallow cuties and flavors of the month who turn in amateurish portrayals, but for entertainers who are not only good at what they do, but also acknowledge their other responsibilities to their fans.
These include the readiness to set a good example, especially for impressionable children, and the willingness to pay society and the audience back for all of the heady and lavish perks of stardom.
Responsible stars should have significant causes to support, not just with smiling lip service, but also with their own donations, in cash and in kind.
They should realize that celebrity and fame are psychic and financial capital that should be invested in projects that redound to the benefit, not only of the stars, but also of the general public, whom they profess to love to bits!