This is about Rowling’s revelation of Albus Dumbledore’s sexual preference. However, let me make it clear that I’m not here to start a gay rights issue. I am not making anti-gay statements, for the record.

According to her statement, she had never mentioned anything about that till then because “she had never before been asked directly.”

The funny thing in my opinion, is that for how casually Rowling mentioned that he was gay, never did any proof of that statement appear in the novel. Who’s to say whether she really did have that in mind from the beginning, and didn’t just think that up later on to “shake things up”? If she was trying to sent a pro-gay message, then why not just come out with it in the novel itself? Her only supporting evidence of it was her statement that Dumbledore was secretly smitten with Grindelwald, but who’s to say that that wasn’t just something she decided to add on a whim?

“He is my character. He is what he is and I have the right to say what I say about him,” defended Rowling.

The question was whether he would find true love or not. Even if he was gay, you wouldn’t expect her to say it like that unless her decision to do so was driven by a goal that required her to say, outright and above all, that he is simply gay. Why not something that answered the question instead of something that scratched her itch (and that of the fans) to include a gay character in the story?

Because technocally, his sexual preference was never an issue in the book. If she really wanted to fight for gay rights and not just make fans and the media and bloggers go crazy, she wouldn’t have done it this way.

In the end she does admit that her book was written for political purposes, against authority, bigotry, and the like. But to me at that moment, she stepped out of her shoes as a woman of literature, threw that statement out in all directions to see what happens. It seemed to me in poor taste.

She cannot honestly say that the fuss surprises her. Really.

Technorati tags: rowling, gay, harry potter, dumbledore, grindelwald, carnegie hall

Sorry I’ve been gone for some time. Anyways, I found out about some arguments regarding the Teri Hatcher issue, and I’d just like to expound on my views I suppose.

On the argument that Filipinos have racial slurs as well against other countries, which are “perfectly alright” for us:

In the first place, I don’t think those slurs on our side are okay at all. Indians or Chinese people should blog/write/rant about it if they feel the need to. It was politically incorrect, in my opinion, regardless of the fact that some Filipinos do it too.

On the argument that Filipinos should be used to democracy as a free exchange of such slurs, as part of freedom of speech:

As for democracy, that is not the way it works. There is always responsibility involved, that’s why there are still things like “slander” and “libel”. It isn’t the terrible racial issue that people are (or should be) reacting to, it’s the implications and repercussions of people thinking that Philippine med schools are in fact, not good enough to develop good doctors. It’s the same reason Mattel apologized to China, because although the stigma may have some truths in it, it is not fair to generalize.

On the argument that it is just a show:

I agree. In fact I didn’t give much emphasis to it. I was just reacting to a simple slur, in a show. A short post, that’s all, in fact the worst I said was “Misinformed much.” BUT I don’t presume to know how actual Philippine med students/school officials feel about it, nor should any of us discount their position, if they should be offended.

On the argument that Filipinos shoud get used to it, as they will always be a minority in the US:

I both agree and disagree. I agree, because I somehow feel that this was blown out of proportion, even with discussions like this, this isn’t really about Desperate Housewives now, is it? I agree that Filipinos should take these things in stride, as we can never control people’s opinions. I also disagree however, to the implication that Filipinos should not react at all. When you are slapped, don’t just laugh and shrug it off. Don’t slap back, but make it clear that you do should not be slapped.

That’s all. Actually, I may be saying too much already, and may be contradicting myself with the “didn’t make a big deal of it” stance. But, for people who say we’re overreacting, they sure posted a lot as well, for an issue they say should not be this big.

What are we really arguing about?

Technorati tags: teri hatcher, racism, discrimination, desperate housewives

From Desperate Housewives. Much ruckus about it. If you missed the news that’s got the Philippines extending her claws, here’s the scoop:

The officials cited a recent episode where actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asked whether the person attending to her during a medical consultation “can I check those diplomas because I want to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines.”

Taken from AFP.

Well I’m not a doctor, but I can imagine it’s a real bummer to have stayed in school for about a decade and then be told you’re below par.

Fact: The US is actually looking for foreign nurses and healthcare professionals, Philippine nurses in particular, what with the scarcity of nurses on a critical level. Philippine nurses make up 10% of all practicing nurses in the US.

Filipinos are not given additional training before being allowed to work in the US.

Misinformed much.

Technorati tags: teri hatcher, racial slur, racism, philippines, filipino, medicine, nursing, nurse, doctor

You may have seen Fox’s coverage of the Sally Field speech, where she made a statement about the war. She won the lead actress award for her role as a mother whose son served in the army in Afghanistan. Toward the end, Fox censored her speech. Watch the video, you’ll see.

Just two points:

One. Why did they censor that way? Why not just bleep it? Or take out the sound? I don’t get it. I don’t think what she said was out of line, that they’d cut out that much.

Two. Despite how panicky she seemed, I actually admire her much for that. I hope that mothers got something from that, anything at all, for whatever it’s worth.

Technorati tags: sally field, emmy, mother, war, afghanistan, speech

Okay I have nothing against Kathy Griffin prior to this, and although I am not denying my bias, her Emmy speech was just uncalled for.

After receiving her award she said, “a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award,” but “no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.”

“This award is my God now!”

Well the last line, a lot of people say, and that’s her deal. But with the first part, she was just looking for trouble. How much thought does it take to realize that for many people, that doesn’t count as a joke?

Well, I hope along with being famous, she wasn’t intentionally looking to be notorious. This is definitely gonna stain.

Technorati tags: kathy griffin, emmy, Jesus, God, speech

The UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, as seen on pay-per-view and some cable channels, has become the most popular mixed martial arts organization. It’s become more popular than the NBA playoffs (as shown by number of viewers), and apparently even HBO’s 2006 PPV boxing matches. If you aren’t familiar with MMA (though I doubt it), it’s free-form caged matches — bloody, brutal, ugly — all in the name of sports. This is what some dub as “real fights”, because since there is no fixed way of doing things, you really have to rely on your instincts, quick thinking, skill, and hope your body’s tough enough to take the relentless blows. This is a totally different level of fighting. 

Depending on your way of thinking, the above picture could either be simply surprising, liberating or it could be disturbing. Female fighters in an MMA arena — one about to deliver a heavy punch, and the other in the fetal position. What do you think?

FFF stands for Fatal Femmes Fighting. It’s a female MMA event, where apparently some females with otherwise ordinary lives have are getting their excitement. To quote one of the fighters:

“To be able to potentially break somebody’s arm is pretty cool for me.”

Umm okay. First yes, let me admit that I’m NOT a fighter (most I’ve done is punch a boy in 3rd grade) nor am I all that athletic. I don’t have a terribly exciting life, but it isn’t all that boring either. UFC president Dana White (male), says that they have no plans on making a female division, and that he doesn’t like the idea of girls beating each other up in cages. Is it condescending, sexist even? That’s surely how some, especially Fatal Femmes, choose to see it.

But there’s something odd with these matches, in my opinion. Even the men will say that these all-female catfights are “more brutal, more barbaric” than those in the UFC. And that quote up there is something that brings shivers up my spine.

Have we been so consumed by the image of weakness that society’s associated with us, that we so hungrily jump at this opportunity to demonstrate power? It does sound barbaric, it does LOOK barbaric, and in some lights and angles, it doesn’t even seem like a sport anymore.

I’m not a follower of MMA, so I do hope this doesn’t apply to all fighters. When we demand respect, I hope we don’t overdo it. I hope that’s really not what this is about.

Technorati tags: ufc, fatal femme, mma, martial arts, fighting, ppv

Journalists and other people concerned seem to be in an active rebellion against the almighty system that dictates what’s newsworthy and what isn’t. MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski made good use of her airtime to make this clear.

On last Wednesday’s (June 27) Morning Joe, she refused to read the lead story her producer gave her which is about Paris Hilton. She said she’s “done with the Paris Hilton story”, so she took the script, tried to burn it, and when that didn’t work she tore it to pieces. The second copy given to her ended up in the shredder. Later, Willie Geist (the guy beside her on the Morning Joe) had a web-exclusive interview with Brzezinski and noted on the shredder bit (which had been taken out on Brzezinski’s request) that that was a stunt. I quote Geist:

“The journalistic community has heard your statement, and it thanks you.”

She wanted to make a point, and I believe she did that. But what exactly was the point that she made? Don’t get me wrong, being a Journalism graduate myself, I’m certainly not for bombarding dear viewers and readers with Paris Hilton day-in and day-out. I’m certainly not for covering her stunts like we did Hurricane Katrina. We all know she’s enjoying the publicity, and I’m one with the crowd with the whole Paris-is-spoiled idea. But being a fan of irony, I’ve come to present you with an especially tasty one right now.

The effect of Mika Brzezinski’s “stunt”, although very noble (watching it on YouTube, I had to fight the urge to clap while in my quiet office), doesn’t quite hit the mark she should want to hit. Her name is big and juicy now, and many more people than usual will be struggling with her last name, but unfortunately, the all the current headlines with her name on them also have the word “Paris” in them.

Dr. Phil was on The Tonight Show, and he was talking about this irony:

…everybody is just tearing her up and ripping her up and saying that she is exploiting this whole thing. Then why are they talking about it? Anderson Cooper was doing it. I like Anderson. He’s a good reporter, but he’s on there talking about how absurd it is that he spent an entire hour talking about it.

And yet, there he was, also spending time on the issue. Heck, here I am, spending time on this issue.

The way I see it, the thought that journalists and other professionals cannot treat this issue like just any other issue, probably means that it isn’t. To me it feels like people are so adamant against it just for the sake of it, because people do care about it, enough for them to post so many comments on YouTube, enough for them to react. As long as people “fight” the issue, it’s never gonna die. If it’s true that the issue truly isn’t newsworthy, as Brzezinski (I’ve been copy-pasting her name all this time by the way) believes, then it’ll die down on its own.

But not if journalists, and bloggers like me, keep talking about it. Hey, I didn’t say I was blameless, I just said I’d talk about the irony.

Technorati tags: paris hilton, mika brzezinski, msnbc, morning joe, dr. phil, jay leno, the tonight show