FINALS
GEELECT 3 Philippine Pop Culture
MODULE 3: PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE
LESSON 5 ORIGINS AND PHILIPPINE CONTEXT
 In his book entitled Revaluation: Essays on
Philippine Literature, Theatre and Popular
Culture (1984), Bienvenido Lumbera traced the
origins of popular culture in the Philippines back
to the Spanish Colonial era. The colonizers were
on a mission to win the hearts of the Filipino
natives or Indios, thus they began introducing
plays and literature to the public.
 The children of the rich natives were also taught
of the Christian and European traditions. They
became essential instruments "in bringing into
the vernacular, literary forms that were to be
vehicles for the "pacification" of the natives".
Popular culture was introduced by the colonizers
to endorse the interests of the Church and State,
replacing the native culture with its various
forms of popular theatre and literature such as
the pasyon, sinakulo, korido, komedya and awit
took flight.
 Soon, the educated natives seized the potential
of popular culture to spread propaganda against
the colonizers. The mediums introduced by the
Spaniards were used to actively promote the
propaganda movement to expose the unjust
treatment of the government officials and the
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friars. For example, Marcelo H. del Pilar‘s work
“Aba Ginoong Barya” was a parody of the prayer
“Aba, Ginoong Maria”, detailing the abuses of the
Spanish friars.
Aba Guinoong Barya
(Parody ng “Hail Mary”)
Aba guinoong Baria
Nakapupuno ka nang alcancia ang
Fraile’ I sumasainyo bukod ka
Niyang pinagpala’t pina higuit sa
lahat, pinagpala naman ang kaban
mong mapasok. Santa Baria Ina
nand Deretsos, ipanlangin mo
kaming huag anitan ngayon at cami
ipapatay. Siya naua.
 Upon the arrival of the Americans, they brought
about a popular culture that had a more liberal
approach than their European counterparts.
Writers, producers and publishers were given
press freedom in various mediums such as printing
press, radio, television and film. The Americans
also introduced an educational system that
allowed access to natives from all walks of life,
a stark comparison to the Spanish system where
only the elites were given privilege to learn the
colonial language. Filipinos were eager to learn
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English—the new language of the benevolent
colonizers, something they were unable to do
during the Spanish regime.
 However, local intellectuals soon realized that
popular culture was beginning to take the route
of capitalism. Popular culture became tailored to
what appealed to the mass market, rather than for
artistic purposes. Writers now wrote what the
publishers thought the general public would like
and consume. Artists forsake their arts‘true form
to fit into the mold of what would make the most
profit.
 With all that in mind, you may not be so surprised
with the answers to the questions we have posed
in the beginning of this lesson. Why do Filipinos
serve the delicious hamon on Christmas but not so
much on regular days of the year? The tradition
of eating ham during Christmas was influenced by
the Spaniards, who also introduced the
celebration of Christianity and Christmas. The
Spaniards began the tradition of eating pork on
Christmas day to affirm their identities as
Christians and differentiate themselves from
Muslims during the Islamic Caliphate in Spain.
The foreigners who lived in the Philippines
brought to the colony the delicious food they used
to feast on back in their country, and the native
Filipinos—especially the elites, copied what they
saw from the tables of the affluent colonizers.
Why do Filipinos love buying branded merchandise
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like Levi‘s or Nike over locally-produced ones?
It is because when some products were introduced
by the Americans to the Philippines during the
American colonization, most of the products they
used were more advanced and some were thought to
be essential and were marketed to be more
appealing and of higher quality. Filipinos had a
huge margin of comparison and felt as though the
native products were inferior.
 In conclusion, Philippine Popular Culture can
trace its roots back to the colonial period and
has evolved in many ways since. The multiple
sources of influence has shaped the way Filipinos
behave, even at the present time. There is so much
more potential to Philippine popular culture when
we break it down to its social, political and
economic aspect. Simply put, according to
Lumbera, "Popular culture is power, and whoever
wields it to manipulate minds is likely to find
its literary and technological machinery turned
against him when the minds it has manipulated
discover its potency as a political weapon."
MODULE 3: PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURELESSON
LESSON 5: B. MEDIA AND PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE
 Before we break down the role of social media in
Philippine popular culture, let us first discuss
a perspective that will aid in our later
exploration of the said topic.
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 Agenda-Setting Theory is a perspective introduced
by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw. Simply put,
the theory proposes that “the media influences
people to focus its attention on something under
a certain agenda” (Garchitorena, 2015).
 This means that the media can influence people to
think that something big or important is going on
even when there is not. It can emphasize something
that may otherwise be overlooked without the hype.
A common example of this theory is the text
formatting on newspapers. The supposed vital news
are commonly found on the front page with bold
and huge headlines. Other news that aren‘t deemed
as important can be found on later pages with text
fonts smaller than the ones found on the front.
How is this theory relevant to the role of media in
Philippine Popular Culture?
 According to Lumbera (who you may recall from the
previous chapter), “popular culture in the rise
of technologies like the television and the radio,
soon deteriorated the notion of art and made it
appear that it is consumable and a commodity”
(Garchitorena, 2015). What he meant by this
statement was that the quality of art forms have
become of lesser quality in order to cater to the
consumers‘taste. Contents are now produced for
the sake of “what sells”.
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 Take the rise of Infotainment as an example. A
Yahoo-Nielsen survey from 2013 concluded that
infotainment content are what was most sought out
in the Philippines. In an essay, Garchitorena
explained that “this meant a lot of irrelevant
news we see on the television or internet that
can be dismissed as a fad but were given the
limelight to amuse people, and people seem to buy
it” (Garchitorena, 2015). Looking at it in another
way, this could also mean that people consume news
not entirely for the information, but for mostly
for the entertainment as well.
 Look at the photo on the left. It was taken from
a Facebook page called “Explained” that is tagged
as a News & Media Website. The photo was attached
to a news article detailing Health Secretary
Duque‘s clarification of his remark on the status
of the Philippines amidst the pandemic. Although
the full article contained a clear coverage of
the news, the headline itself garnered the
attention of thousands of people for its parody
of the song “Just Give Me a Reason” by Pink,
earning more than 14,000 shares as of writing.
While it sparked an intellectual discussion in
the comment section, it also ignited a plethora
of jokes and amused remarks, shying away from the
important information and highlighting the comedy
behind the headline.
 Let us go back to Lumbera‘s sentiments regarding
the deterioration of art into a commodity and
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examine the economic aspect of popular culture
and media. Cross-promotion which can be defined
as “the promotion of an advertisement in a very
subtle way inside another program, or the like”.
Cross-promotion happens a lot in Filipino films.
 Take the movie “The Hows of Us” as an example. Look
at the screen grabs and try to identify the
product that actor Daniel Padilla is endorsing.
In the movie, Padilla‘s character Primo, tries to
sell Kathryn Bernardo‘s character George some
soap and lipstick. While the scene made sense as
Primo was in between jobs and has resorted to a
networking scheme of buying and selling to earn
money, the scene was written with the intent to
highlight a specific brand. Said brand even
appears in the acknowledgment section of the
ending credits. Although the introduction of the
product coincided seamlessly with the story, it
was a form of cross-promotion nonetheless. The
film could have done away without the endorsement
and spent the precious seconds more into the plot
instead. The subtle endorsement in Lumbera‘s
words, is a form of ―vulgarization of art”,
tainting what could have been purely an art form
into something commercial.
 If we look at it, the media can influence
Philippine popular culture in many discreet ways
that we may sometimes fail to notice. When
television networks began airing Mexican
telenovelas in all their melodramatic storylines
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and clichés, Filipino teleseryes took notes. The
same formula could be seen in mainstream
teleseryes nowadays, albeit portrayed in the lens
of Filipino reality. The teleserye Rubi had its
own Filipino remake, along with Marimar and
Rosalinda. There was even a time when local kids
put flowers in their ear to copy Rosalinda‘s
iconic look.
 Then came Taiwanese and Korean dramas,
collectively dubbed as Asianovelas. It paved the
way for Filipinos to welcome their culture with
much enthusiasm. It also allowed a whole new level
of appreciation for South Korean music, food,
beauty products—even the language! You can bet a
lot of people knows what “saranghae” means.
 The internet and social media has allowed for a
convenient proliferation of these elements. Asian
and Western series are easily enjoyable in
streaming sites like Netflix. Social media
promotion has become the norm, and the audience
are allowed to give a quick feedback in the same
manner. This method of promotion is also applied
to music, food and various other products.
 How many of you have heard or even tasted Korean
dishes like “samgyupsal” and the internetfamous
Korean fire noodles? The latter even sparked an
eating challenge aptly named ―fire noodle
challenge‖. It is all thanks to the power of
sharing and hyping online that these became widely
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popular. Recall the question we posed in the
overview section of this chapter, and we might
just understand the power that social media holds.
Was the interpreter to blame that Medina did not
bag the crown? If so, then could we also blame
the netizens for bashing Medina, forcing her to
hire the said interpreter?
 The Agenda-Setting theory proposes that the media
can influence people into focusing onto something
as if it were of utmost importance. Medina‘s
grammatical errors during the pressconference was
criticized, but the issue blew up not because
everyone was credibly policing her grammar. Many
jumped on the social media hate-train due to mere
bandwagon. Although the question and answer
portion was an important part of the pageant,
winning the crown did not solely depend on it.
However, her minute mishap was given too much
attention, garnering thousands of unnecessary
shares and unkind comments online. She had to deal
with stress of dealing with critics mid-pageant
and had to adjust to the unfamiliar presence of
the interpreter by her side, an addition she was
not trained and was only hastily prepared for.
Those, among many other factors, could have
contributed to her not being able to give a
“satisfactory” answer.
 Social media can be used to empower its users.
Several media theories show that the media‘s main
goal is the proliferation of popular culture while
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creating a commercialized world. Whoever holds
the economic power may hold political power as
well. Borrowing a part from Lumbera‘s quote:
“Popular culture is power’. Historically, our
ancestors were able to wield popular culture as
weapon to push for a better society. Imagine our
country if the current generation could do that
as well, armed with a powerful tool that is the
social media-- along with an easy access to
popular culture, to create and educate.
MODULE 4: PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE AND
EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
LESSON 6 UNDERSTANDING EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
What is Experience Economy?
 Let us summarize the economic change in the four-
stage evolution of the birthday cake, as explained
by Pine and Gilmore in the July-August 1998 Issue
of the Harvard Business Review. Mothers making
birthday cakes from basic farm commodities such
as flour, sugar, butter and eggs is a vestige of
what we call an agrarian economy. Later, groceries
began selling premixed ingredients like Betty
Crocker or more familiar brands like Magnolia
emerged as the goodsbased industrial economy
advanced. Later, the service economy rose, and
busy parents ordered cakes from the bakery or
grocery stores, which cost more than just buying
the ingredients. Now, for parents who no longer
have the leisure of baking a cake nor arranging a
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party, they can spend a couple of thousand pesos
more and avail a birthday package—including the
cake—at fast food chains like Jollibee or
McDonald‘s and many other restaurants that
facilitate memorable events for kids. The last
example is what we call as experience economy.
 An experience is as tangible as any service, good,
or commodity. Businesses nowadays try to lump a
unique experience to traditional services but
offer them at a higher fee. Transitioning from a
regular goods-based industrial economy or service
economy may pose its difficulties, but businesses
have a better chance of earning more profit by
catering to the demands of the economic shift and
upgrade their offerings to the higher level of
economic value that is the experience economy.
According to Pine and Gilmore, “an experience
occurs when a company intentionally uses services
as the stage, and goods as props, to engage
individual customers in a way that creates a
memorable event”. While “prior economic offerings—
commodities, goods, and services—are external to
the buyer, experiences are inherently personal,
existing only in the mind of an individual who
has been engaged on an emotional, physical,
intellectual, or even spiritual level”.
Experience Economy and Philippine Popular
Culture
 Now you might think, how does the whole discussion
about experience economy relate to Philippine
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Popular Culture? Recall from the previous chapter
that the end goal of media is the spread of
popular culture while gaining profit. Businesses
now utilize the power of popular culture through
social media in order to sell goods, services and
experiences. The experience industry is booming,
especially now that Millenials are the largest
living generation. Millenials prefer experiences
more than material possessions.
 Incorporating popular culture when designing
memorable experiences can entice consumers into
indulgence. Incoporating trending topics make the
experience easily related and therefore shareable
in the social media. Millenials are big on posting
“Instagrammable” photos online; and creating a
concept that will gain the most interaction or
“likes” will herd the most consumers. Television,
movies, music—even food! – can be more than goods
and more of an experiece worth sharing.
 Take a look at how Warner Brothers Philippines
made the advance screening of the horror film “The
Nun” more memorable for its audience at the
Powerplant Mall in Manila. They hired someone to
cosplay as the titular role “Valak” and had him
sit with the audience during the film. The
cosplayer even went as far as roaming around the
mall and giving mall-goers a jumpscare! This
clever marketing transcends the simple act of
going to the theatre so much more extraordinary
and share-worthy.
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 South Korean culture also broke into the
Philippine popular culture due to the mainstream
success of South Korean dramas and music that
Filipinos began consuming other elements of their
culture such as food and beauty. A Korean-Chinese
restaurant in Davao City offers a unique
experience as it offers more than just a menu of
Korean and Chinese cuisine. Diners may try on a
hanbok, a traditional Korean outfit and pose for
a picture for a fee. Giving the diners a chance
to change into costumes and take photos separates
the restaurant from many others that serve the
same selection of food, thus effectively
elevating its status from being a goods and
service provider to that of a crafter of
experience.
 Eating street food may also be considered an
experience economy in itself. Eating isaw and
kwek-kwek in all its roadside stick-and-dip glory
is a lot more satisfying than eating eat with a
pair spoon and fork inside a restaurant. Pungko-
pungko (which literally means ―to squat”), a must-
try foodie experience among local and foreign
tourist who visit the city of Cebu, is where
customers sit on low benches around a small table
and grub on delectable fried food usually coupled
with a bundled rice called puso. Foreigners who
want to try the local and authentic food scene
have Filipino street food atop their must-try list
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that it has become a thriving economy in tourist-
flocked cities.
 In conclusion, both experience economy and
Philippine Popular culture allows for an
immersion into entertainment and active
participation—elements that are rather
magnetizing to the current generation. It is one
of the primary reasons why these two go hand in
hand, and why businesses are now evolving to
provide innovations that are tailored to its
consumers. In the same manner that Philippine
popular culture is spread because it is made into
marketable products, the growth of experience
economy can be attributed to the utilization of
Philippine popular culture.
MODULE 4: PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE AND
EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
LESSON 6 EXPLORING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF EXPERIENCE
ECONOMY
ABSTRACTION
 Singing has been a huge part of pop culture in
the Philippines since. Several game shows and
reality competitions, such as ―The Singing Bee”,
―Your Face Sounds Familiar”, “I Can Hear Your
Voice”, has singing as the primary focus. To say
that Filipinos love singing is an understatement,
and it no longer comes as a surprise to know that
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a lot of Filipino households have their own
karaoke systems (like the Magic-Sing mic).
 The first karaoke machine called the Juke-8 was
invented by a Japanese named Daisuke Inoue in
1971. However, Roberto del Rosario, a Filipino
inventor holds its patent for inventing the
Karaoke Sing-Along system in 1975.
 Since then, karaoke sing-alongs have become an
integral part in celebrations. Fiestas, birthday
parties and many other special occasions are
usually when Filipinos bust out their singing
skills along with the trusty karaoke setup.
(Karaoke booth in malls)
 Karaoke bars in the Philippines offer a range of
services. Wholesome Family KTVs welcome customers
from all ages, where food is served in big private
rooms that can fit a group of family and friends.
There are karaoke bars where drinks are served,
sometimes with karaoke machines available up
front and other times with a live band to back
your performance up. And then there are
“Nightclubs” which are basically strip clubs with
karaoke. If one wants to sing in the solace of
one‘s home, businesses also rent out karaoke
machines.
 In the Philippines, the terms “videoke” and
“karaoke” means the same thing. The term probably
came from the images of famous locations used in
the background of the screen along with the
lyrics. Companies made a wise move of using the
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popularity of karaoke to promote the tourism
industry in the country.
 Karaoke companies also update their music library
frequently to entice customers who like to sing
the latest popular music. Music videos are also
available to watch in these machines, and people
can watch their favorite artists while taking a
break from singing.
 To briefly describe the kind of popular music
Filipinos enjoy and usually sing at the karaoke,
we will look into how Original Pilipino Music came
to be. Popular music in the Philippines primarily
began due to the influence of the Americans during
the colonization era through the introduction of
music such as samba, foxtrot and jazz. The
American influence was shortly banned during the
Japanese occupation, but soon found its footing
after the World War II with the rise of new genres
such as rock and roll and country music which was
enjoyed by the younger generation. Radios and
television were soon flocked with Filipino
artists who mimicked foreign influences like
Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Soon, Filipino
artists exerted efforts to find the sound that
could distinctively be called “Filipino” and thus,
a variety of movements emerged. The Organisasyon
ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), was created
to address the needs of Filipino popular artists,
along with many songwriting competitions that
encouraged songwriters to produce music in their
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native language. OPM also stood for Original
Pilipino Music, as an umbrella term for all types
of music produced by Filipino songwriters. OPM
songs are wellloved and frequently sang in
karaoke.
 Overall, though, karaoke is an enjoyable family-
friendly activity throughout the Philippines. It
is an industry that thrives at the heart of
Philippine popular music.
MODULE 4: CRITIQUES AND FISSURES IN THE CULTURES
OF POPULAR CULTURE
LESSON 7 A. POST-COLONIALISM AND POPULAR CULTURE
ABSTRACTION
 The first few decades of the 20th century was a
time when most East and Southeast Asian countries
were colonized by either the West or the Japanese.
Others were in domestic and international
conflict. This limited the access to commercial
popular culture. While big cities have access to
newspapers, popular music, and movie theaters,
rural areas continued with folk traditions such
as local operas, shadow puppet plays, song and
dance. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s many
east and southeast Asian nations had begun to
develop their own popular culture industries.
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 The 1970s up to the 1990s brought about widespread
cultural liberalization and improvements in
living standards. This meant that people now have
greater income and could afford to spend on
leisure and entertainment. In the 1990s, media
channels, urbanization, economic growth and close
interaction with other parts of the world allowed
for the flourishing of Philippine popular
culture. American popular culture seeped into the
Asian scene: Korea was the biggest importer of
Hollywood films; Thailand was a big consumer of
American musicals, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra
blared on radios in Vietnam and the Philippines.
Some Western popular culture artists hit bigger
in Asia than in their own home like Michael Learns
to Rock who popularized the songs “Paint My Heart”
and “Take me to your Heart”.
 Western popular culture did not always get
positive reception in other parts of Asia. A
snippet from Inwood‘s article entitled Popular
Culture reads:
“People in the Philippines, for example, bemoan the
“hamburgerization” of Filipino culture and daily
life. American fast-food joints are popular across
east and southeast Asia, enticing patrons with their
Western-style decor, free Internet access,
collectable gifts, and sociable atmosphere.”
 As a result of the Western influence, Asian
cultural forms and practices became “hybrids”:
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Burmese lyrics and Western pop melodies make up success in multiple fields. For example, Filipino
Burmese rock; Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has ventured into
incorporate hip-hop beats and style into music, acting, and even politics, having been
traditional Chinese and Taiwanese culture; elected to Congress in 2010.
Western TV formats like “American Idol” or “Big
Brother” have been adapted by the Philippines and  In wood summarizes the role of media in the spread
many other countries. of popular culture: ―New media have become
essential to the production, circulation, and
 On the other hand, east and southeast Asian consumption of popular culture. East and
popular culture has a considerable impact on southeast Asian countries are creators and
global popular culture. Prominent examples voracious consumers of the latest technologies.
include Japanese cartoons (Pokemon, Hello Kitty), Cell phones, laptops, and portable media players
computer games (Super Mario Bros., Dance Dance are used to access the Internet, play games,
Revolution), horror movies (Ringu, remade in the listen to music, share jokes, read literature,
United States as The Ring), and Chinese martial and watch movies and television. Popular culture
arts films (Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is increasingly participatory in nature, as fans
and stars (Jet Li, Jackie Chan). select idols via short message system (SMS)
voting, engage in spoofing and meme formation,
 Popular culture has also impacted politics. and join communities on Web forums and social
Popular music has often been politically networking sites. American-produced Massively
inflected: artists and audiences alike use it to Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (World of
express rebellion, including in 1970s Indonesia Warcraft) and locally produced titles (Japan‘s
(Rhoma Irama) and Thailand (Caravan), 1980s China Dynasty Warriors) are extremely popular, and
(Cui Jian) and the Philippines (Freddie Aguilar), people spend hours immersed in front of screens
and 1990s Tibet (Dadon Dawadolma). in Internet cafés, offices, and at home.”

 Nowadays, entertainment and fashion hard-carries

popular culture more than politics. Celebrity MODULE 4: CRITIQUES AND FISSURES IN THE CULTURES
gossip occupies the pages of magazines, OF POPULAR CULTURE
newspapers and entertainment website. Singers, LESSON 7 B. FEMINISM
actors, film directors, writers, and sports
personalities are put in pedestals and can achieve ABSTRACTION
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 Feminism has earned a negative connotation in
popular culture. People often picture angry
women- clad in combat boots, flannel shirts and
without make-up- yelling harsh and anti-male
slogans or assert their superiority over men.
While some feminists engage in these such radical
activities, not all feminists do. There are many
types of feminists and feminism is a much broader
concept than the image of a yelling woman
suggests.
 To define feminism, Dials looks into the ―concept
of equity, with a goal of reorganizing society on
the basis of equality for the sexes in all areas
of social relations. Definitions rooted in equity
focus on the achievement of equality for women
with men and the development of opportunities for
women‘s expression and self–fulfillment in all
realms of life, without the constraints of gender
expectations. Feminists who embrace this
definition of feminism seek an equal share of the
opportunities to which men have access” (Dials,
2017).
 According to Hook, feminism is ―the struggle to
end sexist oppression. She explains that to be
feminist in any authentic sense of the term is to
want for all people, female and male, liberation
from sexist role patterns, domination and
oppression. It is a struggle therefore to end
domination” (Dials, 2017.)
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 There are many more definitions and perspectives
in feminism. But simply put, feminism is committed
to ending oppression and domination of all kinds.
In essence, feminism is not anti-men. Rather, it
seeks equity across all genders.
The Importance of Feminism
 According to Kloss and Griffin in their book
Feminist Rhetorical Theories, feminism is an
important lens because it ―validates values and
experiences often associated with women”. Feminism
celebrates and honors meaningful experiences that
involve women.
 It is also important because it gives marginalized
individuals a voice in a society where the
dominant cultures devalue the minority. “Feminism
takes seriously not only the experiences
associated with women but also those of all
marginalized groups, whether people of color,
people with disabilities, lesbians and gay men,
or any other group that is not featured in the
dominant culture” (Dials, 2017).
Women in popular culture
 Through the growing discussion of the feminist
perspective, women have gained traction and
recognition in popular culture. In the last 20
years, there have been more and more female
protagonists in top-grossing films like Katniss
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Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Carol Denvers
from Captain Marvel. Filipino movies also
empowered women through characters such as Laida
Magtalas in It Takes a Man and a Woman and Bobbie
Salazar in Four Sisters and a wedding.
 However it is important to note that despite this
improvement, in a study of women‘s roles in
western films, Murphy observed a rise in sexual
objectification among women. The most common
sexual objectification is “revealing clothing or
lack of clothing”. More and more top-grossing
films in the last 20 years have sexually
objectified women. Furthermore, women in the
background were most frequently objectified in
scenes involving a large group of people – namely:
strip clubs, pools, and large dance scenes. The
objectification was made explicit through the
gaze of one or more significant male characters
in the scene.
 The same observation could be seen in the music
industry. Women are sexually objectified in music
videos and even in the lyrics of rising chart-
topping songs. Songs like ―Neneng B‖ have earned
a number of plays despite the demeaning lyrics.
The Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP)
found by Lino Brocka who is a National Artist for
Films have criticized songs like “Awit”, a song
accused of being transphobic because its lyrics
mocked trans women. In a lengthy post on Facebook
which featured and explanation as to why the songs
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were offensive, they reiterated that the lyrics
"reinforces the idea that women exist to be
fetishized for male pleasure."
 Alongside the criticism, CAP shared that they
believe that art "should be liberative, and not
oppressive," and encouraged aspiring musicians to
avoid "this well-worn path of toxic and fragile
masculinity."
 Furthermore, in an article entitled ―How the
plight of women in Philippine cinema is the
reverse of women‘s stature in Hollywood‖, Paredes
discusses the difference of women‘s roles in the
film industry in Hollywood and in the Philippines.
He also criticizes the portrayal of Filipino women
in films.
 In the Hollywood industry, women get lesser roles
behind the scenes compared to men. This means that
jobs as directors, writers, producers, executive
producers, editors, and cinematographers in the
top grossing films employ primarily men. While
there are no studies conducted in the Philippines
to evaluate the same aspect, Paredes cites his
personal experience: Philippine film industry is
teeming with women directors, producers,
executive producers, and editors. He notes that
“The industry just seems to take it for granted
that women have the creativity, organizational
know-how, and attention to detail required to fill
these roles.”
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 However, he also observes that “We may not be
lagging in affording women the opportunity to work
behind the scenes, but our recent portrayals of
women onscreen leave much to be desired.” He takes
a jab at the depictions of women on mainstream
films that reinforces clichés. He says that ―the
female protagonists of our mainstream movies—
whether they are slickly produced studio fare or
studio fare with a veneer of independent grit—are
all too often addled by love. Or, if they aren‘t
busy making romance the be-all and end-all of
their lives, women are the headlining victims
menaced by the supernatural in horror movies.” He
cites the characters of the 2018 Metro Manila Film
Festival‘s award-winning films as examples and
criticizes that “one had an elderly woman playing
support to her beloved gay husband (Rainbow
Sunset), another had a woman confronting
apparitions on a marooned ship, and another had a
woman facing a quandary in her love life”. These
portrayals reinforced the stereotype where a
woman‘s success must necessarily equal a man‘s
downfall.
 (Gloria Romero in “Rainbow‘s Sunset”) Although the
stereotype is also seen in Hollywood films, female
characters have more and more been taking control
of the narratives of the Hollywood movies they
appear in compared to those of that of the
Philippine cinema. All in all, although there has
been quite an improvement in the roles of women
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in popular culture, both on the limelight and
behind the scenes, there are still many aspects
that could use further scrutiny and discussion in
order for the goal of feminism: equity across all
genders and aspects, to be achieved.
MODULE 4: CRITIQUES AND FISSURES IN THE CULTURES
OF POPULAR CULTURE
LESSON 7 C. GAY, LESBIAN, QUEER AND POPULAR
CULTURE
ABSTRACTION
 The gay best friend character is a narrative often
used in today‘s media.
 Some character examples in movies include Damian
Leigh in “Mean Girls” and Christian Stovitz in
“Clueless.”
 According to Deichmann, the way media portrays
these characters is through humor. They are often
the friend a straight girl would go to for
relationship or fashion advice. However, these
characters are portrayed as having messy
relationships, with little to no love life.
 “They are not usually seen as an actual character,
but more of a prop for the female lead to have
along with them,” Deichmann said.
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 (Gay best friend who is fashionable and gives out
love advice to female leads are a common narrative
even in Philippine cinema)
 In 1984, the first notable gay best friend in
modern cinema was introduced in Buddy from “The
Woman in Red.” Buddy‘s main purpose was to help
the lady in red retrieve the dress, having no
substantial role besides being a supporting
character. Today, films that include the gay best
friend role have not evolved as progressively as
the rest of society. Leigh‘s storyline in ―Mean
Girls‖ does not go outside of comedic relief. The
audience never sees Damien‘s home or love life.
 “He is one of the most popular gay best friends
in modern day, but his character obtains many of
these same stereotypes, such as giving his
girlfriend’s advice and being on the more feminine
side,” Deichmann said.
 There are recent positive representations of the
LGBT community in the media.
 The modern-day television show “One Day at a
Time”highlights topics about gender identity, peer
pressure and sexual harassment. One of the main
characters, Elena Alvarez, comes out as lesbian.
 Andrea Hernández, diversity and inclusive
programs specialist, said “One Day at a Time‘
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shows a family who has a queer member among them,
the aunt, but they do not acknowledge that part
of her life.” “Elena‘s family members wouldn‘t
talk about her tía being a lesbian and neither
would her tía,” Hernández said. “Elena wanted to
out her tía because she wanted her to feel free,
but her tía thought, “it is what it is.‘ It‘s a
different generational thought.” Another modern-
day television show that tackles taboo topics is
“Andi Mack,” the first Disney Channel show to
include an openly gay character. “The show
displays the importance in protesting, being
comfortable with identities and being a
spokesperson for this generation,” Deichmann said.
Members of the LGBT community often feel the media
does not portray LGBT characters in positive ways.
According to WSU student Kay Walker, some villains
have been closely tied to queer narratives.
 “Characters such as Scar from ‗The Lion King‘ and
HIM from “Powerpuff Girls‘ are (perceived by some
viewers) as being gay,” Walker said. “But it isn‘t
explicitly shown that any of them are gay.”
 Promoting movies that portray the LGBT community
in a positive light is important to Deichmann.
She hoped students would become more aware of the
types of content they consume. “‘Rocky Horror
Picture Show‘ is still one of my favorite movies,”
Deichmann said. “I‘m still going to watch it, but
I‘m also going to acknowledge and understand that
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there is a connotation that it doesn‘t portray
the community in the best way.” Walker said they
do not always feel like their pronouns matter when
going to other events, so when there are events
like this, they feel included. They said without
these events, they wouldn‘t be happy at school.
“It‘s important to be represented and to feel
included,” Walker said. Deichmann‘s hoped students
acknowledge and appreciate movies like “Love,
Simon” that have a more positive representation
of the community.
DID POP CULTURE REALLY EMBRACE QUEER PEOPLE THIS
DECADE?
Pop gets queerer
 The last decade in music has arguably been the
queerest since the 1980s. New gay pop stars who
have emerged include Australia‘s Troye Sivan,
Jake Shears, Will Young and Adam Lambert. These
artists are exploring their sexuality more freely
than ever within their work. “From the time that
I started, I thought and hoped that whatever I
was doing was gonna make it easier for somebody,
somewhere,” Shears tells BBC Culture. “The gay
thing will always keep some from taking me
seriously… But I have always treated my
songwriting, performance and production as
something with very high stakes.”
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 But is the music industry a place for nuance, or
statements that go beyond surface-level gestures?
After all, Little Mix were praised for defiantly
flying the LGBT+ flag at a concert in Dubai, where
homosexuality is illegal. But the fact the group
were performing there in the first place, when
openly LGBTQ+ artists wouldn‘t be able to,
indicates that the market trumps morals.
TV puts LGBTQ+ people in control
 TV is a medium where queer writers and actors can
now more often find themselves in the driver‘s
seat – creators such as writer/actor Ryan
O'Connell, whose Netflix comedy-drama Special
explores the intersection between queerness and
disability. Queer as Folk creator Russell T Davies
has continued to lead the way with depictions of
gay life. His 2015 drama Cucumber prompted a
significant conversation about anti-queer
violence, with the shockingly out-of-the-blue
episode in which lead character Lance was murdered
by a colleague. Last year‘s A Very English
Scandal, starring Hugh Grant as the closeted MP
Jeremy Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as his lover, was
an awards-season player, and this year‘s
dystopian BBC/HBO drama Years & Years was praised
for its handling of queer migrant narratives.
 Gay TV powerhouse Ryan Murphy kicked off the
decade by centering queer storylines in high
school musical series Glee and ended it with the
revolutionary drag ballroom drama Pose. Murphy
 FINALS
also blended LGBTQ+ narratives into American
Horror Story and The Politician, while bringing
the haunting story of The Assassination of Gianni
Versace to our screens.
Film is lagging behind
 But it‘s still rare for these films to star LGBTQ+
actors, which has made queer audiences uneasy. An
openly gay man has never won the best actor Oscar,
but at the 2019 awards, three out of four acting
awards went to heterosexual actors (Rami Malek,
Olivia Colman and Mahershala Ali) for playing
LGBTQ+ roles. The 2017 arthouse hit Call Me by
Your Name – based on a 2007 novel by André Aciman
and starring heterosexual actors Timothée
Chalamet and Armie Hammer as lovers – divided
audiences for what some called its “sanitised”
queerness. The 2018 Freddie Mercury biopic
Bohemian Rhapsody was accused of erasing the
singer’s sexuality for the sake of being palatable
to a wider audience.
 There has also been a backlash against cisgender
actors playing trans characters. Eddie Redmayne‘s
portrayal of artist Lili Elbe in 2015 Oscar
contender The Danish Girl provoked complaints, as
did Scarlett Johansson‘s casting as a trans man
in Rupert Sanders‘s proposed crime biopic Rub &
Tug last year. Johansson subsequently stepped
down from the role. In this area of casting, at
least, Abraham says that cinema is improving,
albeit slowly. ―I very much doubt Eddie Redmayne
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would be cast in the Danish Girl if it were made
today.”
 As capitalism tightens its grip on queer stories,
we should pay close attention to the type of
LGBTQ+ stories that are becoming marketable – and
also who is benefitting from the way that these
stories are being told. While culture might appear
to be embracing LGBTQ+ stories, if it fails to
embrace LGBTQ+ creators too, then this decade‘s
queer awakening might end up being “just a phase‘.
MODULE 4: CRITIQUES AND FISSURES IN THE CULTURES
OF POPULAR CULTURE
LESSON 7 D. MARXISM AND POPULAR CULTURE
ABSTRACTION
Marxism, political economy, and ideology
 According to the lens of Marxism, the dominant
ideas in the society are those which are drawn
up, distributed and imposed by the ruling class
to secure and perpetuate its rule.
 Take for example the imposition of motorcycle
barriers during the coronavirus pandemic. Married
or live-in couples need to secure a barrier
between them when riding the motorcycle. However,
such safety protocols are not imposed for family
members riding within the same four-wheeled
vehicles. The essence of the protocol is lost when
it is only imposed in one and not the other. Such
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protocols were implemented by affluent To deconstruct the model, we ask the following
politicians who enjoy the safety and convenience questions:
of their cars. Rigid protocols were only applied
to those who did not enjoy the same privilege.  How dynamic (flexible) or deterministic (rigid)
is this relationship?
Base-superstructure model  How much does the economy influence and
The relationship of society (base) functioning dominate culture?
within: o How much does the economy influence and
dominate culture?
o Material production
o Economic systems which reproduces itself Ideology is not just ideas or means of viewing the
o Exploitative class relations world, but exists as it is played out in the material
world.
Ideology entails actions by people living the
imaginary relation to something defined by ideology.

 Example: School serves different

ideologies and that dictates what it will
teach, how it will teach, who it will
teach. But it‟s not ideology until both
the idea and action has been executed.
 When we look at education, we see various
purposes or ideologies it embodies: for
example the ―No child left behind‖ policy
taps into the ideologies of how student-
teacher dynamics should be. There are
privatesectarian schools and public
schools are they also vary in ideologies
and therefore methodologies in educating
their students.
Capitalist ideology is proliferated and reinforced
systematically through different institutions:

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 Education extravagant weddings in which they spend
 Mass Media thousands of money.
 Employment
All of these are driving for Individualism which in
turn also drives for Capitalism.
Mass media and popular culture play central role in
this relationship as an ideological state apparatus.
This means that mass media and popular culture
serves as a method of communication for whatever the
ideology of the ruling class. Both exist to
reinforce the values and expectations of the ruling
class.

Mass media proliferates:

 Information (what you should know)

 Knowledge (How you should use it)
 Social representation (How you are supposed to
“be”)
What they proliferate (and who they are within the
socioeconomic structure) are important to study for
popular culture. So, who owns “the media”?
Mass media normalizes and legitimizes the current
capitalist system. So we get shows such as:
o The Bachelor - Instead of Independent Satisfied
Woman. This show reinforces what people “should”
be doing. Why do we want people to watch The
Bachelor? Because we want people to marry, have

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