Redeeming Willie

Friday, 22 April 2011 00:00

Written by Marvin Bionat

When in town, I have to confess that I actually watch the Willing Willie show (and Wowowee when it was a still noontime program at ABS-CBN). I don’t mean sitting down on the couch and watching it wide-eyed with full gusto; I usually just keep the TV on as I multi-task, like eating dinner and reading the online news at the same time. Of course, I usually check the other channels first to make sure I’m not missing out on something more substantive.

What I like in watching Willie Revillame’s show is that I get to hear the stories of the participants, who are picked because they are poor and are struggling to make it. Their tales of woe are often heart-rending, and to me it’s a good way to stay grounded. Somehow, it reassures me that my sense of empathy is still there, and it is a necessary reminder that, while maintaining a healthy concern for our personal and family needs is important, we still need to confront and slay the gigantic monster of poverty that devours millions of our people. Of course, I kind of like watching the dancers, too, but only when they seem to be enjoying themselves. Unfortunately, there are times when Willie treats them like the uncouth chauvinist that many people think he is, and therein lies his more chronic character problem.

First the pro (in defense of Willie): I’d like to be proven wrong, but I suspect none of Willie’s celebrity critics has redistributed more wealth to the poor than Willie. His show in essence picks the deep pockets of sponsors from big business and merrily hands them out to the poor. One week, he was giving away a car, sometimes two, every single day, in addition to tens of thousands in hard cash. He’s kind of a Robin Hood on steroids, although Robin Hood will probably want to shoot me with his most deadly arrow for the comparison. Having actually watched the show, I don’t really think it’s a case of Willie dangling cash as the salivating masses do whatever he tells them to do. True, he has a penchant for saying the most inappropriate and insensitive things (even in the middle of a participant’s sad tale) and that annoys plenty of people, but the program allows people to show their talents, and those who know their karaoke often end up winning the bigger stash or the car or even the house and lot.

What about the Jan-Jan case? Was it child abuse? I have seen the full clips of the show, including the episode where the parents we’re brought in to air their side. I have also read the scathing commentaries of many who were outraged by the episode. To me, the issue has been overblown a tad beyond proportion. First, Jan-Jan is one of those kids who have an extremely low crying threshold – talagang iyakin. After watching his mother talk, I was convinced he got it from her. They looked alike, and their tone of voice was strikingly similar. I was actually hoping no one in the audience would as much as cough while she was on stage being interviewed, because she might just burst into tears. And I’m not just being flippant, she actually cried, just the way Jan-Jan did, as she started to defend the show from accusations of child abuse.

Now put someone like Jan-Jan in the middle of a big stage: all by himself, cameras on all sides, plenty of people watching, brash Willie asking him questions, in a segment where participants often cry while telling their life stories, and of course he cried. It didn’t help that his talent was dancing to slow and melancholy music like a stripper, but it wasn’t Willie’s choice, it was his parents’ decision. Was it wrong that Willie kept asking him to dance after he cried the first time? It was, and Willie should be mortified for having done that, but to suggest that it was an orchestrated attempt to make money off a dancing child is stretching it. As cited by others, ABS-CBN’s Going Bulilit has kids dancing the same way, with less clothes. The big difference of course is that the Bulilit kids seem to be having fun doing their dancing skits, while Jan-Jan, true to his rather extra-sensitive form, was crying. The issue can be resolved at the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board level, both in terms of sanctions and setting clearer guidelines on children. It will be at the height of national folly to actually have Senate hearings about the case, as some have suggested.

Next the con and some suggestions: Willie’s show reinforces cultural mind-sets that preserve an unjust status quo. First is his attitude toward women. I caught him a few times asserting that women’s rightful place is in the home and that men, because they are men, should be allowed to womanize. I’m sure Shalani Soledad, his co-host, was opposed to that, but she didn’t have the temperament to violently object. TV5 can keep Shalani as a co-host, she’s so nice and sweet, but perhaps they should find Willie’s match, another lady host who will stand up for women and put Willie in his place every time he crosses the line. There’s no industry ruling against airing your personal views about gender roles and philandering, but management can use the power of the purse and be creative to put Willie on a shorter and tighter leash with regard to his archaic world views.

Second, the whole game show mentality also feeds into the thinking that salvation from poverty is a quick process, like winning the lottery. TV and celebrity status are such a powerful combination. Instead of just listening to sad stories and handing out cash, Willie can transform many more lives if he focuses on genuinely empowering people. For example, tie cash awards to starting a business or sending a child to school. If that’s too untractable for the producers, at least actively promote financial literacy and encourage winners to use their winnings wisely, perhaps creating a segment where former winners are checked upon, showing how they made wise use or wasted their windfall. That alone will provide the millions of viewers valuable and transformative lessons. The bottom line is to dispense resources and ideas that can liberate the audience from their current state of penury, not reinforce the fantasies of sudden wealth and prosperity.

Many consider Willie a jerk, but that’s no reason to banish him from TV, as long as he doesn’t break the law. People who hate him have the right to refuse to watch his show, but his show’s formula—sad stories that pull strings in the heart of millions, immediate rewards, wildly talented contestants, beautiful and happy dancers—and Willie’s controversial personality have become a brand that will continue to pull a sizable audience. If TV5 is smart, they can still make a new and much improved lemonade out of this periodically pesky lemon.

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