FULFILLING SOCIAL FANTASIES THROUGH CONCEPTS OF REVENGE IN PHILIPPINE TELESERYE
Cristine Anne G. Pactoranan COMA 192 - Y INTRODUCTION
Poverty has been the gre greate atest so soc cial ial prob proble lem m in the Philippine society and many o the c!lt!ral e"pressions in the co!ntry depict s!#erings and str!ggles o the $ilipino masses d!e to the said iss!e. %his &as beca!se' as e"plained e"plained by (arl Mar" )*roo+er )*roo+er'' ,elde ,e lden n ido& ido&son son'' 2//0 2//0'' the the con3ict o social classes 4basis is economics5 establishes the gro!nd !pon !p on &h &hic ich h ideo ideolog logic ical al co con3 n3ic icts ts arise6 )p. 78. "amples o these ideologies are literat!re and art. Many' especially the cinema ind!stry' have been trying ing to portray the iss!e o poverty' th!s prod prod!c !cin ing g :lm :lms an and d telev elevis isio ion n programs that can bring or re3ect the poverty iss!es. %elevision is the most prevalent medi!m o enter nterta tain inme men nt or or ma many ny o the the $ilip ilipin inos os.. %ele elese sery rye' e' sho hort rt or or televi televisio sion n series series'' progra programs ms have have been rampant in Philippine media or it re3e re3ect ctss so soc cial ial real realis ism m in c!lt c! lt!r !re e o the the $ili $ilipi pino no ma mass sse es. Clich; stories o teleserye' s!ch as rom rags to riches' is a orm o &hatt $re!d &ha $re!d called called as s! s!bst bstit! it!te te grat grati: i:ca cati tion on66
7.=t is a &ay or peop pe ople le to hide hide thei theirr tr!e tr!e &ish &ishes es and ears and !n+no&ingly satisy it thro!gh &atching teleserye and prod!ces an ill!sion in contrast to reality. =n this sense' according to Marc!s Marc!ses es )?anna )?annahan hannah nah'' 2/11 2/11'' Pactoranan
teleserye serves as the ephemeral narc na rcot otic ic that that diver iverts ts peo eop ple@s le@s attention rom their real problems and idealies the present by ma+ing the e"perience o its representation pleas!rable6 and in a &ay manip!lates the conscio!sness o the people. Common storyline o tele telese sery rye e invo involv lves es po pove vert rty y &ith &ith theme that comprises love' amily e!d e!dss an and d ca care reer erss &ith &ith to!c to!ch h o revenge that gives the t&ist' serves as the clima" and in many cases cas es'' provid provides es the !l:ll !l:llmen mentt o the s!b s!bcon consci scio!s o!s soc social ial antas antasies ies o the a!dience. Addition to that' the the stor storie iess al&a al&ays ys clos close e &ith &ith a happy ending. %his +ind o plotlines is very e"tensive e"tensive in Philippine Philippine teleserye teleseryess no&adays. %his paper tac+led ho& do common themes o revenge in tele eleserye eryess re3e re3ec ct the c! c!rr rren entt iss!es in the society and ho& do these themes re3ect social strati:cation' desire or po&er and sel se l- -!l !l:l :llm lmen ent. t. $!rt $!rthe herm rmor ore' e' it so!ght to ans&er i teleseryes are a means to !l:ll lo&er class $ilipinos@ antasy to level &ith or s!rp s! rpa ass the middl iddle e an and d !p !pp per classes. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Clich; stories and rec!rrent patter patterns ns o reveng revenge e in Philip Philippin pine e teleserye can be e"plored thro!gh $antasy-theme analysis &hich !ses
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symbols to analye the val!es observed' learned and associated by the vie&ers rom antasy themes. $!rthermore' another approach' Mar"ist criticism &as !sed in analying the implications o symbolic messages hidden in rec!rrent patterns o revenge and ho& the acB!ired shared realities o the vie&ers proved or contested Mar"ist criticism@s main hypothesis &hich says that media help oster hegemony and maintain societal po&er str!ct!res. ),elden' iddo&son *roo+er' 2//0. One o the orces that operate in stories and dramas is escapism. scapism can in3!ence the a!dience in a &ay that thro!gh teleserye' people observe val!es that can be the +ey to their belies. =n the case o teleserye' one o the orces that move the vie&ers is the concept o revenge that provides the t&ists and clima". One &ay to !nderstand the !nderlying message concealed in concepts o revenge in teleserye is the method called antasy-theme analysis or the symbolic convergence theory by arnest *ormann. $antasy-theme analysis eval!ates lang!age and other symbols observed by a gro!p to create shared realities ),elden' iddo&son *roo+er' 2//0. =n early 19>/@s' *ormann &as interested in investigating speeches o scholar spea+ers and d!ring that time' classical approach is the dominant method !sed to analye speeches. ?o&ever' *ormann got ne& ideas on ho& to e"amine speeches rom *ale@s boo+ o Personality and Pactoranan
=nterpersonal Comm!nication )(idd' n.d. *ale de:ned antasy as irrelevant stories shared by a comm!nication gro!p and later hypothesied that d!ring antasy themes' a gro!p &as b!ilding a common gro!p o c!lt!re oten dealing in a sae' indirect &ay &ith emotional tensions inherent in a gro!p6. *ormann comprehended it as &hen a gro!p is constantly and repeatedly e"posed to antasy themes' the more the gro!p &ill associate the val!es they observe )(idd' n.d. $antasy-theme analysis has several ass!mptions ),hields Preston' Dr.' 1970 that can be !sed in analying. $irst' thro!gh antasy-theme analysis' a gro!p shared symbolic &orldvie&s. %hese &orldvie&s are common not in a sense that the members have only one vision o reality' rather' incl!de either opposing or acB!iescing tho!ghts and concl!sions to&ard the same rhetorical phenomenon. Another ass!mption is that the meanings' emotions and motives !nderlie in the message are intrinsic to the observer th!s providing a lin+ bet&een one@s symbolic maniestation o reality )rhetorical vision and one@s behavior )p. 1/8. %hird' as the gro!p share e"planations o a phenomenon' they !phold dramatistic e"planation o reality to maintain and disseminate the rhetorical vision. Also' according to ,hields Preston' Dr. )1970' there are three basic concepts o $antasy-theme analysis that can be !sed to e"amine symbols E antasy theme'
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antasy type and modal societal antasy. $antasy theme !nctions as the ormation or rame&or+ o social !nderstanding o the &orldvie&s that acB!ired and shared by the gro!p. hen a antasy theme or the plotline became constantly repeated in vario!s stories &ith di#erent characters or rhetorical vision' it developed into archetypal antasy theme or antasy type. On the other hand' a antasy theme becomes the modal society antasy &hen it is an intrinsic pattern in social str!ct!re o the gro!p. %he st!dy made !se o antasy-theme analysis@ basic concepts to analye selected teleseryes. %hese elements are the ollo&ing :rst' the rhetorical vision &hich de:ned as the composite drama in &hich the gro!p &as involved. ,econd are the dramatis personae or the characters that are given lie &ithin the drama6 ),hields Preston' Dr.' 1970' p. 1/F.
that can be disseminated recognie by a larger gro!p. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
and
RELATED
%here has been a remar+ably large n!mber o st!dies cond!cted on ho& the media' especially the television' a#ects its a!dience. According to Charren and ,andler ),chran+' 197F' television can instr!ct' inorm and inspire' as &ell as distract' distort and demean6 )p. 89. People shared a common collective e"perience thro!gh &atching television. =t both re3ects and a#ects o!r behavior to a certain phenomenon. $or instance' they said that' television does not ca!se poverty' ho&ever' the programs re3ects the ace o poverty and a#ects the vie&ers@ attit!de to&ards the poor and their conditions. As stated by PreIoles )2/18 in her st!dy' Promoting $ilipino C!lt!re thro!?Y%gh %elevision' %J soap opera or teleserDye' promote positive $ilipino c!lt!re. ,he said that' as attested by hypodermic needle theory' mass media have a direct' immediate and po&er!l impact to its vie&ers and thro!gh the characters' teleserye establishes' preserves' and promotes val!es that are essential in $ilipino c!lt!re. =n converse &ith PreIoles' in one o the col!mns o Abello )2//7 in Philippine
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lady' oten cl!eless and as someone &ho is easy to deeat. ?o&ever' this Kp!shover@ characteristic o the protagonists is !s!ally redeemed by the characters@ good personality' s!ch as +indness and sel3essness' and g!ides hersel to the s!ccess o her lie and' in many cases' leads in getting the man o her dreams. ,ince this scenario is a rec!rrent pattern in Philippine teleserye' a!diences perceive it as the re3ection o lie and associate themselves &ith these B!alities o the main character in order to have a s!ccess!l lie. On the other hand' the antagonists reB!ently play the role o a sophisticated and rich &oman' oten greedy and someone &ho lives in leis!re th!s' portraying rich people as lay or they have the money and possess the po&er to control everything. %his may also be perceived by the masses that rich people can b!y and manip!late everything and once become :nancially s!#icient' lie &ill be !ncomplicated. Abello contradicted it or' she said' that rich people are hard&or+ing and enth!siastic' th!s concl!de that television dictates stereotype to the masses. Along &ith the negative teachings and val!es o Philippine teleserye is the portrayal o policemen in the stories. As reported by the research cond!cted by *orgonia )2/11' the roles o policemen are oten the helpers o the antagonists in plotting their evil plans. Also' d!ring crime scenes' policemen oten arrive late' and incompetent in capt!ring criminals. %his leads Pactoranan
in people believing that po&er o the la& is eeble and can be escaped and manip!lated. =n another st!dy cond!cted by Castro )2//9' television programs set the ideologies o the a!dience. %he a!thor o!nd that se"!al portrayals o &omen in sit!ational comedies peddles and commodi:es actresses as se" obIects. %he paper panders to the gender relationLtension similar to the social milie! o the masses &here &omen have a s!bordinate position to men. =t delves into ho& the net&or+ peddles pedestrianism by developing or p!rveying pleas!re o!t o the commodi:cation or vis!al prostit!tion o emale characters6 )Castro' 2//9' p. N1.
METHODOLOGY
%his st!dy !sed antasytheme analysis to analye the selected Philippine teleseryes' namely Pangako Sa’yo )2///' Maging Sino Ka Man )2//>' and an adapted teleserye' Marimar )2//7' and Mar"ist criticism to analye the implications o vie&er@ shared realities. =n antasy-theme analysis' the basic concepts to analye symbols &ere !sed' as &ell as the :ve concepts o the theory' in order to analye B!alitatively the three teleserye. $or dramatis personae' the central and negative personae &ere analyed regarding the opposing character@s ace' val!es they present and their rhetorical vision.
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,ettings' plotlines and sanctioning agents &ill also be analyed. %he interpretations o the elements &ill then be the bases or the social reality created by the a!dience.
Pactoranan
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character' at the start o the story' is s&eet and lovable. ,he is the character that sympathies by the a!dience d!e to d!ardo alling in love &ith her despite her being one o the maids in their ho!se. *eca!se o their di#erences in the socio-economic class'
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Analysis of t! Fi"! El!#!nts of Fantasy$T!#! Analysis in Pangako Sa’yo (2000), Maging Sino Ka Man (2007) and Marimar (2008) R!to%i&al Vision
hetorical Jision means the composite drama in &hich the gro!p &as involved. %he a!dience o teleserye programs is mostly rom the $ilipino masses. Pangako Sa’yo (2000), Maging Sino Ka Man (2007), and Marimar (2008) re3ect
the ace o poverty. %hese sho& ho& the poor s!#er in their daily lives and ho& the elites become a medi!m to demonstrate cr!elty' ineB!ality and inI!stice. %he programs display ho& the social economic classes respond to each other. %hat is the reason &hy the $ilipino masses are hoo+ed &ith teleserye programs their ormidable conditions are being mirrored by these sho&s. =n conseB!ence &ith this maniestation' the masses identiy &ith the characters in the programs as &ell as in the story &hich incl!des the str!ggles and ho& the con3icts &ere resolved. D%a#atis P!%sona!
%hese are the characters in &hich the a!dience identiy and others &hom they oppose. Central Personae )the characters in &hich the a!dience sympathie o
Pangako Sa’yo (2000) o
Pactoranan
Amor Po&ers E ,he is a maid rom the d!mpsite &hose
o
Maging Sino Ka Man (2007) o
o
li o"as E a g!y &ho comes rom a poor amily. %he a!dience sympathies &ith him beca!se o the di#erent ordeals to &in the love o an !pper class lady' Dac+ie.
Marimar (2008)
Marimar E ,he is depicted as the epitome o simplicity and innocence. ?er str!ggling rom the cr!elty o the !pper class men and ho& her B!est to claim her loved one is the reason &hy the a!dience moved &ith this character. Negative Personae )the character in &hich the a!dience opposes
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o
o
Pangako Sa’yo (2000)
o
o
o
Maging Sino Ka Man (2007) o
o
*enita *!enavista E she is the domineering o&ner o ?acienda *!enavista &ho sho&ed cr!elty to her &or+ers. ,he opposed the love relationship o Amor and d!ardo beca!se o the di#erence o their social stat!s. Cla!dia *!enavista E ,he is the da!ghter o a political amily &hose &ealth can control and manip!late &ith their o&n accord. Hi+e *enita' she opposes the love relationship o his son &ith Yna' a poor lass &ho &or+s as a maid or them.
Marimar (2008) o
Pactoranan
Angeli+a ,antibañe E ,he ell in love &ith ,ergio and &ants to get him bac+ rom Marimar. ,he is depicted as someone &ho &as !ll o Iealo!sy and hatred to&ards the lo&er class' even tho!gh she came rom this. ,he married ,ergio@s ather
ca!sing the inclination o her social stat!s. ,he &as the ca!se o Marimar@s di#ic!lties. %he a!dience opposes these negative personae beca!se they enc!mbrance the love a#air and the one &ho ca!sed the s!#erings o the characters &ith &hom they identiy. S!ttin'
%he settings o the three teleserye programs are all in a partic!lar locale. %he premises o both the lo&er class and !pper classes &ere portrayed and sho&ed in the teleserye programs. =n Pangako Sa’yo (2000)' the setting &as in ?acienda *!enavista &here in the lives o simple $ilipino armers &ere sho&ed. %he story also tac+led the str!ggles o the &or+ers to have an eB!al and I!stice interace bet&een them and the o&ners o the land they arm. =t also has the ill!stration o ho& the elites live. $rom big ho!ses' l!"!rio!s cars to the ood the !pper class men eat &ere also ill!strated. =n Maging Sino Ka Man (2007), the locale o a province &as also sho&ed E the simple lie o those &ho live o!t o the center o civiliation. =n this place' it is also represented ho& the lo&er class men in the province str!ggle to live despite the lac+ o modern ind!stry in the place. %he other premise portrayed in the story is the b!siness &orld. =n the story' the lives o !pper class men &ere ill!strated on ho& they handle b!sinesses.
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(2008), =n Marimar it portrayed the simple living o the &or+ers o ,an Martin dela Costa and ho& the po&er!l bosses treat their employees. %he other setting depicted in the story &as the locale in &hich the lives o the elites &ere also prevalent. ith these' it &as observed that even the settings o the stories depict the t&o sided lives o di#erent socio-economic classes. =t also sho&ed that there &ere al&ays a big di#erence o the lives o the !pper and the lo&er classes. Plotlin!
Plotline sho&s ho& a central persona str!ggles to solve con3icts in the story. Pangako Sa’yo (2000), Maging Sino Ka Man (2007), and Marimar (2008) constr!cted a
antasy type. %he characters in these three teleseryes have di#erent persona ho&ever' the sit!ation they are in are essentially the same story and belong to common themes. %he stories o cr!elty' love and I!stice are the most prevalent in the three teleseryes. Cruelty . %he :rst thing that &as observed rom the teleserye programs is the theme o the protagonists@ s!#erings6. %he protagonists@ miseries are ca!sed by the antagonists &ho belong to the higher class. ,ince the antagonists hold the po&er' they can manip!late sit!ations in accord to &hat they desire. Al&ays' they are the o&ner o the premise &here the protagonists &or+. Antagonists in the story s!ch as Cla!dia and *enita in Pangako Sa’yo (2000), $idel in Maging Sino Ka Man (2007)' and Angeli+a in Pactoranan
Marimar (2008) ' are ab!sive to the
lo&er class people.
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conseB!ence &ith their impediments' it &as observed that the characters are tried to s!rpass social classes in order to :ght the odds bet&een their loves. ?o&ever' their !phill str!ggles are no match &ith the po&er o money that held by the !pper class people' th!s' their love &ill be p!t to an end. %his con3ict' together &ith the theme o cr!elty' is the reason or ta+ing revenge o the characters. !usti"e. %he ne"t thing that &as observed among the three programs is that' beca!se the protagonists &ere eaten by their s!#erings' they vo& or venge!l actions. ,a+si ang
their adversaries e"perience the same sit!ations they had thro!gh. =n Pangako Sa’yo (2000), Amor' by marrying a rich American b!siness man' can no& control the sit!ation. ,he tried to b!y the cell company o the *!enavistas. ,he thin+s that the &ay or them to s!#er is to ta+e a&ay their means o &ealth. %his thing &as also observed in Maging Sino Ka Man (2007 and Marimar (2008). li' rom the ormer program' beca!se he &as maltreated by $idel and D*' he tried to ban+r!pt $idel@s company !sing the money rom her biological mother. %his &as or $idel to e"perience the loss li had e"perienced &hen the ormer reIects the latter@s as+ing or help. li also did the e"ploitation or him to ma+e Dac+ie convince to marry him' leaving D* behind the altar. %his &as done by li beca!se D* claims that Dac+ie is his. =n Marimar (2008' ater Marimar transormed rom naRve and innocent into an intelligent and sophisticated b!siness&oman *ella Aldama' she tried to b!y the resorts in ,an Martin
%his element is the rationale behind the acceptance o the a!dience to ta+e the storylines depicting revenge as a collective e"pression o the lo&er class
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men@s s!bconscio!s antasy to escape the condition they are in and served as a means o !l:llment in their &ish. #o$e. %his &as the theme that observed ater the end o the stories. %he $ilipino masses got hoo+ed &ith teleserye programs &ith the +ind o storyline portrayed by Panga+o ,a@yo )2///' Maging ,ino (a Man )2//>' and Marimar )2//7. Another reason that lies behind this is that the $ilipinos empathie people rom the !nderdog. ,o as to spea+' people can relate to Amor Po&ers o Pangako Sa’yo (2000), Eli in Maging Sino Ka Man (2007) and Marimar in Marimar (2008).
$ilipinos hope to e"perience the transormations !ndergone by these characters' Amor transormed rom a maid that lives in a d!mp site to a billionaire CO' li' rom a provincial &or+er into an heir o a shipping company and to Marimar &ho described as naRve and innocent to an intelligent and sophisticated *ella Aldama. $rom their transormations' they hold po&er to stop their adversaries@ contin!o!s control. %he masses e"perience almost the same sentiments e"perienced by the characters in the teleserye programs. Poor people are the slaves in the premises o the higher class. %he higher class set their o&n r!les over the society in &hich the lo&er class sho!ld comply. %he storylines depict that there is a &ay to get o!t rom these circ!mstances set by the !pper class people' giving a hope to the vie&ers that the conditions they are in &ill later end and li+e Pactoranan
the characters o the story' relie o lie &ill prevail at the end ater the hardships. CONCLUSION
%he $ilipino people can relate rom the stories depicting characters that s!#ered' t!rn into po&er!l individ!al and ta+e revenge on the people &ho ab!sed them. =t &as beca!se even the $ilipinos are poor' they possess a golden heart &ith ins!perable &ill and I!st &aiting or their time o day &herein they can e"perience the same t&ist e"perienced by the characters. %eleserye programs still remains rampant in the television ind!stry beca!se it re3ects the everyday lives o the maIority o the $ilipinos. People &ho &atch teleserye programs get to see their conditions come alive. $rom the stories' people can derive &ays on ho& to deal &ith their problems as sho&n in the programs. %hey may get inspired b!t the oremost reason o their patronage is that these programs ma+e them eel better abo!t their c!rrent state. =n the end' stories in teleserye programs provide entertainment and sometimes' in this case' revenge in the stories provide escapism.
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Philippines A Political conomic Analysis6. %he Copenhagen Do!rnal o Asian ,t!dies 2>.2 )2//9 Print.
REFERENCES
*oo+s
Minnesota est P!blishing Co.' 19>7. Print. ,chran+' De#rey. Snderstanding Media 8rd dition. =llinois ational %e"tboo+ Company' 197F. Print. ,elden' aman' Peter iddo&son' and Peter *roo+er. " #eader’s $uide !o Con!em%orary &i!erary Great *ritain 'eory .
Pearson d!cation Himited' 2//0. Print. ,hields'
*orensi
+ournal
8.2 )1970 7F-1/1. Print. Do!rnals *orgonia' Gian Ale"is. %he eel Hie o Policemen Mass Mediated $ictional Portrayals o Policemen in $ilipino Prime %ime %elevision
Pactoranan
%eleserye6. Pili%%ine aily In1uirer . Philippine 9/L%eleseryeU ?annahannah. Hie@s a
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Communia!ion S!eardsi%.
and
2nd =nternational Conerence on =nterdisciplinary esearch =nnovations. eb. 1F $ebr!ray' 2/1N T httpLLIeslc!p.comLabstractdetails.aspWrX1F1U
