Saturday, November 15, 2008 So: Bias! Bias! By Jocy So Unraveling
MY STUDENTS and I were discussing Europe's colonization of the world and I was enumerating some of the Latin American nations -- Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela -- when one piped up, "Ma'am parang Miss Earth!" That comment then segued to a short discussion on who won Miss Earth 2008. A student said Miss Philippines topped the beauty contest and this led others to immediately cry, "Bias! Bias!"
Was it? Did Miss Philippines win because the competition is based and held in the Philippines? Did she win because she was the best candidate or because she was Filipino?
The thought remained in my mind after the latest episode of The Amazing Race Asia III (or TARA3 to its avid fans) had concluded. The lone Philippine team of Geoff and Tisha are in the final three and will vie to redeem the heartbreaking lost of TARA2's Team Mark and Rovilson who led most of the way last year before faltering at the very end and settling for third place.
I almost did not want to watch to see if Geoff and Tisha would indeed end up in the top three. I had some weird premonition that they wouldn't make it, being that almost all the other teams seem to hate their guts and that both had made unpopular choices like U-Turning the Singaporean participants while in India and making them do an extra task, even though one of them was experiencing stomach cramps.
Geoff and Tisha aren't the greatest racers too. They fumbled over challenges, misunderstood some information, bickered with each other, and had an uncanny knack of getting lost driving to places. They swear a lot and Geoff constantly loses his cool, even with the locals in the countries they visit. I don't need to read TARA blogs and chats to know that their list of non-fans is probably growing.
But still, I was glad they made it to the top three. As the credits rolled from the last episode, I admitted to myself that my support of Geoff and Tisha is not because of who they are as people and racers, but because they are representing the Philippines (even though they are citizens of New Zealand and Canada respectively). I support them because they wear shirts with Rizal's mug, have scarves inspired by the colors of the Philippine flag, and often proclaim they are from Manila.
If TARA3 is a judged competition like Miss Earth and I was a judge, I do not know how fair and unbiased I would be towards Team Philippines. But, even if I am a mere spectator, does that mean I can knowingly be as biased as I can be? Is there anything wrong with supporting a team or a person only because you identify with that them?
Before newly elected US President Barack Obama won in a face-off with Republican John McCain, he had to go against former First Lady Hillary Clinton to become the official candidate of the Democratic Party. I wanted Clinton to win the nomination, partly because I admired her as an experienced politician, but also partly because she is a woman. When other women began criticizing her, that irked me, it was as if they were being disloyal to womanhood.
When Obama won the nomination, there were also discussions about whether the election would be about race and that people would vote for the candidate that they can -- color-wise -- most identify with. Obama's win, many political analysts said, showed that parts of white America disregarded color during the voting, but it would be interesting to also see what percent of African-Americans were also color-blind voters.
However, if people did vote for Obama because he was black and they were black, is that wrong? If Filipinos rally to vote St. Paul's Subterranean River, Tubbataha Reef, Chocolate Hills and Mt. Mayon into the Seven Natural Wonders of the World list is it acceptable if this is just based on national pride and not actual analysis of the other nominees? If they do win, will the fact that it was mostly Filipinos who voted for these wonders tarnish the victory?
That question flashed in my mind when I read that "Himala," the movie starring Nora Aunor and directed by Ishmael Bernal was voted the top Asian film in a CNN online poll, besting films by Ang Lee, Akira Kurosawa and Wong Kar-wai.
I cheered upon reading the news, my mood only souring when the article said that the win showed the power of Filipino netizens who voted for "Himala" in waves.
So did the win prove how great a film "Himala" was or did it only prove how powerful Filipino online voters are? Did the Filipino voters choose "Himala" because they have seen and liked the film or only because it was the only Filipino film in the list? Was the poll results a showcase of the power of democratic voting or simply highlight our "Bias! Bias!"?
(Jocy L. So teaches at Davao Christian High School.)
