from Rita That is Joey de Leon, an all around celebrity in the Philippines. He’s been in our televisions for AGES now. My parents still reminisce about his films, still listen to his CDs (ranging from 1960s disco to tongue-and-cheek novelty – we’ll talk about the blatant sexism in that some other time). He’s best known for being one of the many (and I do mean many) hosts of the noon-time variety/game show Eat Bulaga! and though I am not a fan of his work (or his dubious history about how he treats women), I can say he makes loads of Filipinos laugh. His work is escapism from poverty (in the case of many in my country) and loneliness (in the case of many Filipino overseas workers). They look up to him, idolise him, almost think of him as part of the family due to his omnipresence in our lives. So this morning, when I read his remarks on depression and mental illness, I didn’t just think they were disappointing or insensitive. I thought they were dangerous. You can read a transcript here, complete with English translations, but here's the highlight: Depression is just something made up by people. They do it to themselves.
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from Rita
I'd originally planned to write about Another Helping today. I was going to tell you why I came to start the project and how it's affected my mental health ever since. And you were going to get a cute picture of a baby hedgehog at the very end as a reward for reading the entire thing. It was going to be lovely. But then I noticed the date. September 21. |
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