smiles and laughter

We often say that the Filipinos are a simple and happy people.

I guess this is true since we did get at the top twenty in the Happy People Index four years ago.

We usually say that this is because of the very colorful history of the country. The Philippine culture is a blend of different cultures and the process is going on even today. Think about it: original Malay roots, Spanish Catholicism, American flavor, Japanese and Chinese influence.

One Filipino professor spent ten years on his research about why the Filipinos seem to be happy most of the time. He found out that this is because of the “sharing is loving” mentality of the Filipinos.

“It is the opposite of the individualistic culture of the West, with its emphasis on privacy and personal fulfillment. It is also the opposite of certain collectivistic cultures, as one finds them in Confucian societies, that value hierarchy and ‘face’. …

… By contrast, Filipino culture is based on the notion of ‘kapwa,’ a Tagalog word that roughly translates into "shared being."… Everything, from pain to a snack or a joke, is there to be shared.”

Filipinos value togetherness very much. “Bahala nang maghirap basta’t sama-sama” - a very common line in primetime teleseryes which Filipinos love to watch every night together with family members, neighbors even.

Whenever a family member or a friend, even the newest acquaintance, feels down, we can’t help but feel the same way, or at least symphatize with the individual. That’s a typical Filipino characteristic. Even the pettiest concerns like somebody backbiting at you or your “sundo” coming late (based on experience) are meant to be shared.

Filipinos find it a bit rude not offering food to other people when eating. “Kain tayo”, we always say. Although it’s not really like we would expect them to sit down with us and help us “extinguish” our single piece of fish with fried rice, the noble intent is there.

All these things about togetherness and sharing explain very well why Filipinos give the impression that they are happy most of the time. It makes Filipinos feel less lonely. And when people are less lonely, they’re supposed to be happy, right?

The actual situation in the Philippines is so ironic, though. Catastrophes –natural and man-made, disfunctional system, and poverty are not uncommon. These are no reason to be happy.

It just seems like the Filipino people are not serious enough to face life.

Even the most downhearted Filipino facing a calamity can still afford to smile when in front of a camera. This may be good, but this is one of the many reasons why we do not excel in so many things. We just want to relax and be happy – no pain.

Happiness is always associated with smiles and laughter. And we Filipinos are very fond of these things. One prominent figure that makes us smile and laugh is Kenkoy.

Kenkoy is a Filipino comic icon who is still widely recognized up to this day. The Filipino comic magazine is a post-war product. Kenkoy made the Pinoy comics. He is a comedy idol that first appeared in Liwayway magazine back in the late 1920s. He was at the height of fame from the 1940s to early 1970s. He became the representataive of the colonial minded youth of the 30s. Kenkoy was so popular most people during that era would recognize him more easily than political or social personages. It was so famous that even when all publishing houses were confiscated or severely censored by the Japanese during their reign over the Philippines, Kenkoy was still allowed to continue (though there were a few conditions, like the topics should be about the healthcare programs by the Japanese). The comics presented happenings in the life of the teenager Kenkoy, including his views about things in his life, like the problems of the community and politics, in a rather humorous manner.

Since then, comedy has been the best-celebrated genre in Philippine comics even after the appearance of Pinoy comic superheroes.

American comic writers were the pioneers of the superhero genre. In 1929, the stock market collapsed, signaling the start of the “Great Depression”, rapidly spreading worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement. As if that wasn’t enough, the “Dust Bowl” conquered land after land which took away people’s source of living. It was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936 (in some areas until 1940). The phenomenon was caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation, fallow fields, cover crops or other techniques to prevent erosion.

People needed some sort of encouragement. And then Superman came – “the champion of the oppressed” and all the rest of the superheroes followed. Superheroes fought crimes, punished the bad guys, brought peace and order –in short, they solved problems.

Filipinos made something to let them laugh their problems out; Americans made something to provide them an insight that there is a way to solve their problems. Though superheroes aren’t that realistic, the difference between the mindsets of the two peoples is too big. Instead of facing problems properly, we chose to put them aside and made them look like they were meager issues. It would be good to look at the bright side of things, but it will eventually disappear if we won’t stop it from sinking into the dark side.

We should stop being escapists and start being realists.

Being happy won’t always solve problems. Doing will.

Word count: 800+ words

http://www.redboots.net/comics/supe_history.htm

http://komiklopedia.wordpress.com/serials/a-short-history-of-pinoy-komiks-serials/

http://www.filipiniana.net/microsite/opk/history.jsp

http://malangsantos.blogspot.com/2007/10/filipino-comic-strip.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_the_United_States