I AM one of those lured by Marvel Studio’s marketing savvy. My family was in the theaters when some of Marvel’s superheroes dissolved in the Thanos “snap” in “Avengers: Infinity War. “Was it really the end of the line for them? How can Thanos, who was seen atop the rice terraces, be defeated? And then there was the intriguing introduction of Captain Marvel.
I must admit I was initially ignorant of Captain Marvel, said to be the most powerful woman in the Marvel universe. So I did some initial research after Infinity War was shown. And again, lured by Marvel’s marketing savvy, the family went to the theaters for “Captain Marvel” with actress Brie Larson taking the lead role. I was impressed. But it got me asking, how did Captain Marvel stack up with DC Comics’ own most powerful woman, “Wonder Woman”?
Or should I say, how did Brie Larson compare with Gal Gadot? Wonder Woman can’t compare with Captain Marvel’s superhero powers. But Gal Gadot surely has the sexier outfit befitting her sex appeal. Okay, forgive me for saying that. That could be taken as a sexist joke. So back to Avengers.
What is interesting in the scheduled showing of “Avengers: Endgame” in the country is the announcement by some theaters in Metro Manila to add Chinese language subtitles to the film. Why would they do that? Apparently they want to lure into their moviehouses the Chinese nationals flooding the country as an offshoot to government’s pro-Chinese policies.
So the Chinese “invasion” is not only in the Spratlys but inside the Philippines as well. The first complaint we heard about it is about Chinese workers being placed in the luggage of Chinese firms wherever their projects in the Philippines are. What is sad in this influx of Chinese workers in the country is that they are paid better than ordinary Filipino workers.
Another thing. After the Duterte administration made a lot of fuss about the Boracay cleanup, that premier tourism site is now awash with Chinese firms, some of whom are hiring Chinese workers. Will Boracay eventually become another of this country’s Chinatowns? As we Cebuanos would say it, “Simbako! “
The joke seems to be that at the rate the current administration is going, we are fast turning into a province of China. This has become a painful joke considering that, according to some surveys, China is not particularly well-liked as an imperialist power, unlike the United States. That is shown in the criticism by some sectors of some theaters in Metro Manila showing the Avengers film with Chinese subtitles.
Cebuanos actually felt something like this in the past with the influx of Koreans in the province. Their presence at times sparked peace and order concerns. Those Koreans, like the Chinese now, are mostly not fluent in English but they could not influence the theaters here to show films with Korean language subtitles. And the two Koreas--north and south--are not even claiming the Spratlys as their own.
Sad.