Before, I don’t really mind the commercials I’m watching in television. But, not until I’ve witnessed how it could affect people. There are commercials I’m really annoyed at just like this one…

You might be asking why I don’t like this one. You may think that there’s really nothing wrong in this commercial. But for me, it has a bad effect when it comes on molding attitudes to children. Well, let me share to you an experience I had in this commercial….

Well, my cousins came by our house just recently. We were watching a show in television. Then I went in our bathroom just for a moment and as I came back, I found my little cousin, a chubby girl, crying. Then I ask her what happened and why she’s crying. I found out that her older brother teased her and called her “Baboy”. Here’s the conversation…

Me:Bakit mo ginawa yun?

C:Wala lang po…

Me: Hindi nga, bakit nga?

C: E, mataba naman talaga s’ya e. Kamukha nya yung nasa TV na mukhang baboy…

      I asked my younger cousin what were they watching and she said after her brother saw the commercial of Super Thin, he began teasing her. I realized that the commercial was silently promoting discrimination. Today, we’re living in an impression that beauty was always synanimous to being sexy. We couldn’t really deny that we’re living in a world full of discrimination and injustice, but this kind of commercial was still adding up to that problem.

     As kids, just like my cousins, watch this kind of commercial, they think that all they see in TV is correct. It simply distort the good attitudes they have.Clearly, what they watch in TV manifests in their attitudes.Because of the company’s intention to sell these products , they have never realized how they could it entirely affect people. As we all know, that’s the power of media. Evidently, their commercial presents a biased perspective of beauty. Though they do not intend to affect their viewers negatively, they have unconsiously taken for granted the “value factor” of this ad. It seems that they treat physically-challenged individuals lower than those who were gifted.And since kids treat these things they see in TV as “models”, as a feedback, they create discrimination among themselves.

    The study of Gerbner was very evident in the situation I had. In Gerbner’s theory, he emphasized that those kids who have watched violent cartoon shows grew up more violent than kids who were not exposed of violent shows. In the experience I had, I realized how much shows and programs in television could affect a person. It could either mold or destroy one’s values and attitudes. Being a student of Communication Arts, I have realized that it was also my job to guide people about what they see. Sooner or later, I know I would also play a part in media and it is my obligation, so as a hundred more students of CA, to inculcate important moral values to our viewers.

PS:I’m sorry but, I really don’t like this commercial..;(

      Last Friday night, I was able to watch a program in ABC5 called Dokyu. I could personally say that it was probably one of the best programs we have in television right now. Watching this show doesn’t only entertain people with its timely topics, but it also educates us about socio-political, health and environmental issues. They had shown two documentaries entitled Koreanoy and Putok. For me, Putok was a lot better than Koreanoy. Aside from the filming of the documentary, it has more significance in terms of influencing people. Well, anyway let me take you back to the documentaries.

Koreanoy was about a Korean named “Danny”. He had always been fascinated with film-making but unfortunately, there was no school in Korea that offers the course he wanted and that brought him here in our country. He was taking up Film and Audio-visual Communication in UP Diliman. It was entitled Koreanoy because the subject of the documentary felt that he’s more of a Filipino than a Korean. He has already adapted in our lifestyle and culture. He said “You may know more of our culture than I do; but I know more of Filipino cilture than you do.”

The next documentary was entitled “Putok”. This documentary was about the life and struggles of an indigenous tribe called the Dumagats. One of the biggest problems they have right now is poverty. They considered themselves as lucky if they were able to eat twice a day. Aside from that, their town was hit by Malaria and up to now, this probem has not yet been resolved. Many of them, particularly children, died because of this sickness. They have a little knowledge of Malaria and because of that, they weren’t able to prevent it and to do something to stop the epidemia. The hospital was also far from their town and as an effect, they have not been given the medical attention they need. In addition, they could also not afford the medicine they need and they only relied to herbal medicines their “elders” had taught them. But clearly, those weren’t enough.

The first documentary clearly emphasized that before we try to know other culture, we must understand and appreciate our own culture first. Through this documentary, the makers were able to awaken their viewers. They were calling us to get out of the long-lived mentality that anything which comes from abroad was already the best. They had simply wanted to point-out that we, as Filipinos, must give importance to the works of other Filipinos.

The other documentary opened a new viewpoint to the their audience. Instead of making the viewers think that the Dumagats got sick because they are less-fortunate, they have pointed out that they got sick because they were forsaken and left-out by the government. They have shown that the government had less involvement in helping and protecting these people. It was as if the documentarists were calling us to act.

In watching these documentaries, we could clearly see the influence of effective communication. They have used these documentaries as their medium and with the help of ABC 5, they were able to reach a bigger audience. Thus, they were able to relay their message effectively. They have opened a possibility that a larger number of people would start acting and helping the Dumagats, as well as get out of the “boxed” mentality we’ve been living up to. One role of communication in our life was to enhance our ideas ang knowledge about the things we’re seeing around us and to affect one another. As these students, who made the documentaries, took the first step to do something for the Dumagats; through media they have surely brought change to the tribe’s life. Just like what my friend has quoted, “Media is the easiest way to influence people.” If we start acting right now for the benefit of others, not just for the good of ourselves, we could really bring about change we’ve always been asking. We don’t really have to rely on the government. On our own way, we can make a change.