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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Just Shallow That Road

Last Sunday afforded me a chance to watch more TV than is "appropriate" (although, really, who determines that?), and I had a chance to scroll through many shows, and one that grabbed my attention was "Rated K" hosted by Korina Sanchez (married to DOTC Secretary and former running mate of our current President, Mar Roxas). The episode was focused on things that are "natural" which always piques my interest.

(Photo courtesy of abs-cbn.com)

As expected, there were product placements in the guise of "natural medicine". I've seen this many times on her show over the years, and while I normally don't mind people placing ads - everyone has to eat - I was also under the impression that Rated K is somehow slanted towards investigative journalism reporting, so it always throws me off when they start pushing products in people's faces.

Then they announced that after the break, three celebrities would be sharing their "secrets" for looking the way they do (read: camera-ready).

Model Tweety de Leon (I'm not sure of her married name, but this is the name she had making her mark as a "supermodel") exhibited her prowess in squash, espousing health as her beauty regimen. (Which I wholeheartedly agree with: the "beauty aspect" is a bonus, regardless of appearances, I always encourage people to be as healthy as they can.)

Model turned TV and film actor Derek Ramsay claims he doesn't go to the gym, and instead plays a variety of sports to keep his body fit. Add to that the fact that (he says) he eats a "meal" every two hours, and you have a recipe for unrealistic expectations. (He obviously has the time and the metabolism to engage in that kind of "lifestyle", which the majority do not have the luxury of indulging, nor are lucky to have.) But kudos for spotlighting healthy habits, albeit not very realistically for an average person.

Model turned actress Angel Aquino  has a special plant that she tends and consumes, eats healthy, then showed viewers how applying coffee on the body - and not ingesting loads of it orally - gives her that "beautiful skin". The discussion moved on to "beauty tips", but it was still natural, so it's still all good in my book.

Then Korina ties the three stories with these words (I'm paraphrasing, I don't recall the exact words, but I remembered enough to get the meaning): "Tandaan, ang tunay na kagandahan ay nasa kalooban!" ("Remember, real beauty is from within!")

Did I miss something?

After focusing the better part of her show about the physical, she suddenly wants to make some kind of "beauty queen" statement about inner beauty? (Which, by the way, is stupendously hilarious: A "beauty queen", whose assets consists of her bikini measurements, and is judged accordingly, is the last person on earth who should be giving advice on "inner" beauty.)

I think I hurt my jaw gaping when she said that.

As my friend would say, "Where's the connect?"

If your show is how to have a beautiful body, a perfect complexion, how to look like a movie star or model, then own it. And own up to it. Be shallow, for all that's worth.  

Panindigan mo na ang pagiging mababaw.

But for heaven's sake, stop trying to inject motherhood statements about "inner beauty". If that was your intent, why am I looking at models?

When I hear of "inner beauty", I tend to think of a person's kindness, an ability to look beyond one's needs to focus on others and what they need. I hardly think that someone whose job in life is to look pretty - and for the cameras yet - speaks about a deep internal life. I certainly will not be asking about personal philosophies from someone who wakes up and makes a living out of their "perfection".

Yes, I'm ranting. But hey, you're still reading.

2 comments:

  1. notice that most of the people who say that inner beauty is more important are those who are born beautiful.

    and they are exactly the poeple you will see in beauty salons, spas, skin clinics etc.

    what an irony

    ReplyDelete
  2. What annoys me most about "Rated K" is the brash and intrusive product placement. The show clearly believes that the viewers are idiots with the manner that they endorse these products.

    ReplyDelete