The Yellow Card And The Yellow God

The SONA yesterday was quite amazing in the fact that Pnoy somehow resisted the urge to defend the DAP and to take passive-aggressive swipes at the judiciary. Otherwise, it went as expected. He touted the achievements of his administration and painted the picture that the Philippines is fine and dandy.

What was most interesting to me about the speech yesterday, however, was the pathetic retread of the "struggle". If you're Filipino, you know what I mean. The story of Marcos, martial law, Ninoy, Cory and yellow ribbons. At this point, it's not so much our history as it is "his story" - specifically, Pnoy's story where he is the righteous hero of course. The part of the speech where he echoed the words of his father and tried to rekindle that old "laban" feeling is, in my opinion, the most important part of his speech without a doubt. Nothing else matters. The carefully staged part of the speech where Pnoy said, "The Filipino is worth living for." and the camera zoom on the tears of his family was the key. It was the play, the money shot, the climax, the master stroke, etc. 

Did another boyfriend leave her, or something?

The listing of achievements is secondary, as whether or not something is an achievement takes time. The primary thrust of the speech was the reminder that Pnoy was "the one". Just as we Filipinos are slaves of our own wretched history, so is Pnoy a slave to his own mythology - that of the son of the heroes of martial law, Ninoy and Cory.

When you think of it in this manner, it isn't so hard to see why Pnoy acts in such a self-righteous and overzealous manner. For him, the events of the eighties never ended. The story is continuing and he is the continuation. He sees the world as history unfolding in a storybook manner where there are clear sides of good (him) and evil (his critics). To put it bluntly, he has his bald head shoved up so far his own ass that he believes in his own hype and his own aura of do-no-wrong incorruptibility. EDSA was the promise and he is the fulfillment. Why do you think he wears that yellow ribbon on his barong all the time? That's what it's about. That's what it has always been about.

Symbols have weight. (source)

Logically, it does not make sense. Just because Pnoy is the son of Ninoy and Cory doesn't mean he is "good" as the culture portrays his parents to be. But Pnoy believes it. His sycophants reinforce his belief. Again, he is a slave to myth but not history. It's almost like a religion, come to think of it. All of this hinges on the belief that Pnoy is the hero and can do no wrong because he is the son of heroes. He is the yellow warrior, the knight in golden armor who fights monsters; monsters like a sickly old woman and a hapless magistrate.

Maybe I'm going too far, but ask yourself if Pnoy would have been elected if he weren't an Aquino. Remember that the man rode on a wave of sympathy from the death of his mother. Frankly, if Pnoy weren't an Aquino, his speech yesterday wouldn't have any impact.

If Pnoy were smart, he'd be guilty of mere exploitation; of milking the family name and history. Based on his words and actions though, I think the man honestly believes the hype. In a way I feel sorry for him that he is unable to step back and view things from a normal point of view instead of yellow-tinted glass.

The most disturbing part of the speech was Pnoy's assertion that his enemies were not only his enemies but were enemies of the people as well. That is why the reinforcement of the myth was the most important part of the speech yesterday. Pnoy is the supposed force of good. He is the product of people power. Therefore, he represents the people. He is the people. The people are him. He is the Philippines. L'etat c'est moi. So stop wondering why Pnoy acts the way he does. There is nothing more dangerous in this world than a zealot.

In soccer, a yellow card is a warning that you have committed an offense. Pnoy has been warned but for him, the yellow card is one he plays to gather sympathy and reinforce the beliefs of his worshipers. But warnings should be heeded and he who fights the "monsters" of the present should see to it he does not become one himself.

History has a nasty habit of repeating itself.

Silent Hill 3 OST - Dance With Night Wind

Role Playing Gay

Dragon Age:Inquisition is an upcoming role-playing game from BioWare and the latest addition to the Dragon Age franchise. Although I enjoyed the first installment of the series, Dragon Age:Origins, I was sorely disappointed with the second, Dragon Age 2. As a result, I'm on the fence on this one until I'm convinced that they put more effort into it this time.

Anyway, I thought I'd write about something that bugged me about the latest announcement regarding DA:I. They announced a "fully gay" (whatever that means) character named Dorian who will be a romance option for a male player character.

Now let me set something straight here (no pun intended). I don't have a problem with homosexuality. I have nothing against homosexuals in real life so how much more in fiction?

The homosexual trait of the character doesn't bug me. What bugs me is the unusual fixation on the sexuality of the character instead of his importance in the overall story of the game and its fictional universe.

I guess I'm just worried that making such a big deal about the character's sexuality would overshadow everything else about him. I do understand however, the reason why BioWare is hyping up Dorian's homosexuality. BioWare is known for its progressive stance on sexuality in their RPGs and they seem to think that having a gay character going mainstream is some kind of crowning achievement. They can think what they like; I fail to see how it's a major leap for the genre as a whole, but I digress.

If you want a gay character done right, I'd like to give you an example from another game called Fallout: New Vegas.

Arcade Gannon was a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse, a faction in the game's story. As a character, he was intelligent and an idealist at heart, who believed things in the wasteland could be better. He was one of the truly good characters in the game who took his duty, as a Follower, to help people of the wasteland seriously. His sarcasm and wit, while funny, clearly appeared to be a defense mechanism against harsh reality and didn't quite suit him. 

His background is grounded firmly in the game's universe. He expressed anger that one of the game's antagonists and his polar opposite, Caesar, used the knowledge he had  as a former member of the Followers to create an army bent on enslaving people instead of using it for good. Overall, he was a person stuck in a rut. He really wanted to help but wasn't sure how. The player character can convince him to don his family power armor and take the fight to the enemy or to have faith in the Followers and stay with them, to keep doing what he was doing. He was a well-written character with great dialogue. He had hopes, aspirations and a goal which the player could help him achieve. He fits well into the lore of the game and provides the player with insight on the Followers of the Apocalypse and how people like them perceive the world of Fallout. He was also gay.

Yup, Arcade was gay. He mentions it in passing in one of his character lines when you talk to him. His homosexuality wasn't made a big deal. The elements of his character: hopes, ideals, goals etc. were made more important and that's how it should be done. Homosexuality is just a trait. Other than sexual preference, it tells us absolutely nothing about the character; how he sees the world, how he sees the player's actions or how his mind works.

So back to Dorian. I'm just a little concerned that BioWare has put the gay before the rest of the character. I'm afraid that the character will just be known as "the gay one". If you search for Dorian on Google, all the hits scream out "fully gay character" or "homosexual" as if that's all there is to him. That's not a reassuring sign.

Of course, I trust BioWare to be better than that. After all, the character of Dorian has a lot of promise. For one, he's a Tevinter Mage. It would be very interesting indeed to hear from a character coming from the Tevinter Imperium. That mage-dominated society is mysterious. The character's writer, David Gaider, reveals that he comes from a society where mages strive to be perfect and he didn't quite fit that mold. His views on magic coming from a mage-dominated nation would be interesting as well, given that the rest of the world views mages with a healthy degree of suspicion.

I want his character to be more of the paragraph above and less like the Google hits.

Nuts

Today, one of my dogs, Chocnut, had to undergo a minor procedure. She received a cut on her head. I thought it would heal by itself but in retrospect, it was pretty deep and required more attention. When it looked swollen yesterday and still bled despite everything, a trip to the vet proved timely.

She's better now but I still feel upset about it. I should have done something sooner and maybe it wouldn't have been so bad.

Maybe I'll give her a hot dog as a treat tomorrow.

Urbandub - Soul Searching