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>Are we ready for the Big time? who supply >the heart & passion? Regine is One of them!! > > >Are we ready for the Big time? > >First posted 04:22am (Mla time) Feb 04, 2006 >By Pepe Diokno / Inquirer > >ENTERTAINMENT is weird. There’s a big money-making, >capitalist, >cutthroat, aspect to it. But behind it is a lot of >heart and >passion. Without this heart and passion it won’t >survive. > >The people who supply the heart and passion are the >artists. Though >it seems like the Peso is at the center of the >business, without >artists, uh, duh -- death for everyone! (Echo!) > >It’s a symbiotic relationship we can’t deny -- yes, >artists can’t >eat without moolah. Producers can’t produce without >artists. > >But the line between art-making and money-making is >pretty thin >these days. Pop artists are here to sell stuff, not >sing stuff. Few >of our “creative people” are here to innovate -- most >of them are >here to ride fads. > >This is why we still make the same movies over and >over again. This >is why a lot of bands all sound alike. > >(Starving) artists > >But this past year, we’ve seen a lot of people try to >break this >cycle. We’ve seen lots of works that break convention; >people who >innovate and have found their own formula -- you’ve >probably seen >many of them on the pages of this paper. > >It’s interesting how much talent oozes out of small >society. But >it’s also sad to know how little awareness there is of >this talent. > >There are many ways to see this: > >You can say there’s a lack of support from mainstream >media -- or >mainstream producers. Both of these are true. (Few >movies >like “Maximo Oliveros” get the support of Star Cinema >-- and are >released widely, have TV ads... and a music video by >Jamie Rivera. >Shudder.) > >Government support is small too. But then we shouldn’t >really expect >much from like, um, the government. Cough. > >There is an unbelievable mass of competition from >foreign products. >There are maybe, 10 Hollywood movies for every one >Filipino movie. >Advertising budgets are one thousand times bigger. So >distribution >companies are forced to market these movies more than >local movies -- > doesn’t it make you want to cry like a little girl? >(Or not) > >We compete! > >But we are so able to compete with foreign products. >We ooze with >talent. If money were not an issue, and it came down >to concepts, >Filipino movies would absolutely kick ass. > >That is if we put our minds to it. And if we believed >in ourselves. >Snaps for us. >Besides, Filipinos know what Filipinos like. We’re >supposed to >understand our own market. > >But why is it so hard for us to succeed in our own >market? > >Aside from the economic reasons above, it could be two >other things: > >1) Like the government, artists are so out of touch >with the demands >of the masses. >2) The masa is... bad. (Elitist! Elitist!) > >Out of rich > >Do the masses really want to see a movie about Iya >Villania pelting >boulders? Do they want to see a movie about a >kidnapping gone awry? > >Producers like generalizing audiences. Like, “Masa >sila, they won’t >get that!” I’ve heard that a lot. It’s sad -- because >they keep >spoonfeeding audiences crap -- they don’t let the >audience grow. > >People who do art -- and I think anyone in this >country -- must >remember that their primary goal must be to help >elevate our >society. Artists -- filmmakers, musicians, painters, >um, moving >statues -- are here for a reason. Pure entertainment >is a reason but >it doesn’t contribute to the long-term development of >society. > >I say they’re out of touch with society because they >don’t give >society its needs. Entertainment is a need, yes. But a >bigger need >is growth. A lot of our artists don’t give that. > >Other artists -- or crowds of artists -- tend to give >an air of un- >rich-ableness. Like, “If you don’t get it, f*** you. >You don’t >deserve my movie.” And that’s OK. I mean, you please >yourself when >you make movies. > >But again, works of art are more than just j*rking off >-- they’re >supposed to be more than self pleasure. > >Artists need to be patient teachers -- we can’t expect >people to >understand at the snap of a finger. And we can’t leave >our audience >behind. > >B*tching about the masses > >On the other hand, there have been great movies, with >great >intentions, that don’t do well at the box office. > >We can talk about how selective, and narrow, and >shallow our local >audience is. But I don’t think it’s that the Filipino >audience is a >dumb one. Think of them as ... a hard-up one. > >You have to think of every ticket as an investment -- >of it being an >extension of their blood and tears. They are investing >on something >that will entertain them. They wanna be sure with the >P120 they’re >spending. > >The masses see film as entertainment -- and that is >the >responsibility of moviemakers. You have to connect >with the >audience. Like, who else do you make movies for but >the audience? > >Filipinos connect to emotions -- and we will probably >connect to >films intellectually if somebody tried. > >Anyway -- there are a lot of things that keep fresh, >young, >innovative artists from shining. But we should >remember that making >a permanent dent in society is a slow process. It’s >going to involve >a lot of hits and misses. > >Lately a lot of our artists have gotten things right. >The music >landscape is expanding -- there are new forms of >different genres, >and fusions of them. There are movies like, “Maxi” and >the f-ing >funny, “Big Time.” There are great concepts out there. > >There are millions of ideas in this country we >probably haven’t even >discovered. > >Super! is sure that many beautiful movies, and great >music will come >out this year. And we can’t guarantee that the masses >are going to >line up for it. > >But we can guarantee that little by little, people >will start to >watch -- or start to listen. And the minority now, may >become the >majority in the future. > >Editor's Note: Published on page D3 of the February 4, >2006 issue of >the Philippine Daily Inquirer > > >regine_velasquez · asia's songbird!!!!

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