Readers react

MUHLACH. There’s always room for improvement.

We’ve gotten more than the usual amount of reader and viewer feedback this quarter, possibly because we’ve been tackling a number of “controversial” issues of late:

A fan of Sharon Cuneta wonders why we have been so “hard” on her by way of our notes on her recently concluded show, “The Biggest Loser.” “You used to be so supportive, but now you’ve changed,” the reader chafes.

Well, perhaps it’s because, when the show was first announced, it promised to offer the unique viewing proposition of being able to see host Sharon losing weight with the obese contestants – and she didn’t do that, at least not all that much.

While they lost scores of pounds and now look so amazingly trim as a result of their rigorously hard work, she still looks plumpish (to be kind). Despite this current glitch, however, we swear that we’re very much in Sharon’s corner – and, we hope she “understands.”

Thespic icon

For his part, reader Rom Barte seethes that we’ve been too consistently negative with our notes on the recent performances of Christopher de Leon. How “dare” we be so snitty when the actor is nothing short of a thespic icon? We agree that Christopher has come up with more than his share of superior portrayals, like his still exceptional performance in “Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon?,” “Relasyon” and “Broken Marriage.”

But, we should point out that he’s acquired a number of unproductive and distracting thespic tics and shticks of late, which “in fairness” to his hard-earned reputation, he should get rid of as soon as he can.

He’s also made a number of questionable role choices, like his really over-the-top portrayal of the mad villain in “Captain Barbell.”

When you’re this generation’s “best actor,” you simply don’t shoot yourself (and your reputation) in the foot like that, even if it’s “only” in a “commercial” and “fantasy” production. Superior standards must always be observed and maintained.

Thirdly, and perhaps most instructively of all, we got feedback last month on our “negative” review of Aga Muhlach’s new show, “Pinoy Explorer” – from Aga himself! Yes, the veteran star called us up to say that he had read the rather downbeat write-up, and was taking our notes seriously.

He promised that the show would soon go on more authentically exploratory adventures, as befits a program with its title, and we said that pledge was good enough for us, so we would keep on watching.

It’s instructive to note that, whereas some stars’ fans hate us to bits for our “harsh” comments, the stars themselves are more open to critiques, like Aga. Perhaps irate fans should take their cue from their idols and also realize that there’s always room for improvement?

Our relationship with Aga goes back a long way in this regard: When he was just a teen actor, we wrote that he had a slight speech impediment (at the time, he had a hard time clearly pronouncing the letter R) that he should attend to posthaste, because it was a distraction from his otherwise felt performances.

Instead of sulking, the young actor and his handlers took the “constructive” critique to heart – and, after a while, the problem ceased to exist! We trust that other stars – and fans – are similarly, positively disposed.