i guess every filipino out there who follows philippine showbiz knew what had happened last saturday morning at the ultra in pasig...
around 70+ people had died in the stampede just outside the ultra hours before wowowee's 1st year anniversary...
now, after that happened, i was busy reading a thread at PinoyExchange regarding the tragedy that transpired, and i saw this post by fellow pexer tintura_de_yodo...
i couldn't agree with her more and no one could've said it better... here's what she said...
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Stampede at the Wowowee Anniversary Show at the ULTRA posted by tintura_de_yodo
It's pathetic that a bunch of people died from a game show. Absolutely pathetic.
Yes, I understand, may their souls rest in eternal peace, condolences to their loved ones.
Think about it: what they died from? From a game show? From a freaking *game show*? A place where you can win cash prizes by using skill and nerve and a certain amount of luck, and they die from *that*?
But it has indeed happened: 73 souls who only wished for a dream to come true, and along they way not only their dreams got crushed, but themselves as well, suffering horrific deaths. All those lives, all those dreams lost...for something as simple as a game show.
Perhaps a foreign correspondent reporting on the incident said it best: with a third of the Philippine population living in abject poverty, it's no wonder the poor would line up for a game show that pays out big cash prizes, a ticket out of poverty.
It's hard to think that the human condition has been reduced to this: we believe that only money can save us now. And whatever chance we get, we try to get ourselves some money so we can live. At least those who died were doing it legally and honestly, not like thieves and muggers. Those who perished in the stampede, they died for their dreams, they died wanting and waiting for a ticket out of poverty.
No one wanted for the incident to happen. But the promise of big cash prizes lured them still...it was only a catastrophe waiting to happen. After all, how can you stop people from going into the game when it's all about changing their lives? Wowowee, the game show, has become merely a tool for people so that they can win truckloads of money and live a better life. It's not about the game anymore, it's about the people. And that isn't what a game show is supposed to be.
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A game show, in essence, is a battle between the rules of the game and the contestant playing it. The emphasis is on the risk he must play against in order to win the game. He uses skill, wit, strategy, and perhaps a bit of luck to challenge the game (and sometimes, himself) and beat it. In short, it's not about the player, it's all about how he plays the game.
A game show isn't supposed to focus on the financial status of the contestant. It's all about how he plays the game.
A game show isn't supposed to focus on the life story of the contestant. It's all about how he plays the game.
A game show isn't supposed to care about how the contestant intends to use the money he won. It's all about how he plays the game.
A game show isn't supposed to exploit the misfortunes of the poor. it's all about how a contestant plays the game.
A game show isn't supposed to boast about how much money it has given away. It's all about how a contestant plays the game.
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ABS-CBN has a big misconception about game shows, that it's all about "helping the poor"...as if we the people owe them a debt of gratitude for having created game shows. And that if they hadn't, the Philippines would be a lot poorer. Psh.
Perhaps, they actually don't have a misconception, they intentionally think of the concept of a game show as that, since they've been doing that for a long time. During Game K N B's initial primetime run, it *had* to boast that it has given away P 20 million, and that huge amount "has helped change so many lives". I can't deny that, but do they really have to emphasize it? Do they really have to boast about it?
And now Wowowee...yeah, most Kapamilyas defend it like its a god or something. Willie and his crew give away lots of cash and prizes for the poor, for what? ridiculing them on the stage? Having their life stories told live on the air so that they can be deemed "worthy" of being given prizes?
They have good intentions, but why put their chances of winning at risk by having to play a game, when all they have to do is give the cash straight away? Why the *need* for them to be ridiculed on the stage? Why do they have to narrate their life stories on air? Why not just *help* them?
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I do not blame ABS-CBN for the incident. (There are enough fanatics here in PEx to go around and do the blaming for me.)
But I blame ABS-CBN for their misconception of the idea of a game show, and exploiting the misfortunes of the poor.
I blame ABS-CBN for forcing people to pin their hopes on them so that their lives can be changed, when all they had to do was to give them help outright.
I blame ABS-CBN for putting people's chances of winning at risk by having them play a game, when all they had to was just offer them the money in the first place.
I blame ABS-CBN for having contestants tell the whole world how deserving they are to get some prizes, when all they had to say was that they were poor and had no one else to ask for help.
I blame ABS-CBN for having to boast how much money they have given away, when clearly they don't have to.
I blame ABS-CBN for being so stupid about game shows, when obviously they can be wiser.
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Dying because one wants to fulfill a dream isn't pathetic, but dying thinking that a dream can only be realized through a game show is pathetic.
