October 4, 2007
Listen Up, Midwestern Ignorant Hayseeds
Attention, you hayseeds from the midwest. You have been maligned and you probably don't even realize it.
In case you've been hiding under a rock... the entire nation of the Philippines is up in arms because of a silly line uttered by Teri Hatcher on this week's episode of "Desperate Housewives." She tells the doctor she wants to see his diploma to make sure it's not from some medical school in the Philippines.
Bill O'Reilly had a Filipino guest who tried to explain why Filipinos are offended and why such a joke was unacceptable. O'Reilly tried to give an analogy explaining where the term "paddy wagon" came from, that it is a racial epithet, and Irish people don't rush to the microphones if somebody uses it on TV, so why were Filipinos getting all hot under the collar over a stupid joke on a stupid TV show.
And then the guest uncorked the real screamer. He said, and I paraphrase, that somebody from the midwest who doesn't even know what a Filipino is might get a false impression by watching Desperate Housewives.
Now who's stereotyping? Huh? Huh? My, my. Those hayseeds in the midwest are so stupid they might not know what a Filipino is and Desperate Housewives is just going to mislead them.
So one ignorant stereotype, told as a joke on a fictional TV show, deserves another ignorant stereotype said in total seriousness on a news show?
I jumped on the computer and e-mailed O'Reilly. We shall see if my letter (or one of the many thousands like it that I am sure clogged his in-box tonight) gets read on the air. I'm surprised O'Reilly didn't jump right on it during the segment. Must have been having an off night.
Midwestern hayseeds, you have heard the call. Rise up, rush to the nearest microphone, and demand an apology!
Posted by CrankyBeach on October 4, 2007 8:45 PM | TrackBackOh, I have to watch his show tomorrow.. I am a day behind on the News shows!!
Posted by: SabrinaT at October 4, 2007 10:23 PMThat's right... Your family has roots in the midwest...
Posted by: Jeff D at October 5, 2007 8:07 AM*laughs* Midwest is probably MORE likely to know abou the PI than, say, some more highly liberal area-- most of us got to hear stories about that spat, WWII, that kind of involved the PI....
Oh, and they are kind of known for forged documents.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:WZmXu06BhgwJ:www.dfa.gov.ph/news/pr/pr2005/apr/pr206.htm+philippines+forged+diploma&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&lr=lang_en
Maybe it was just too close to home?
Posted by: Foxfier at October 5, 2007 9:20 AMWhat happened wasn't fair but I think the nursing exam leak had a lot to do with this. In that case of course the med schools had nothing to do with it really since it was the greedy commercial review centers and govt regulators in cahoots with them that caused the leak and the subsequent scandal. They are the real cause of the damage to the reputation of OFW nurses which all Filipino Americans are now paying for. If nothing is done, it will surely happen again, and maybe ABC won't apologize the next time.
As far as racist slurs are concerned, don't forget we also have a log in our own eye with Miriam Defensor Santiago calling China the inventor of corruption for all human civilization.
Posted by: DJB Rizalist at October 6, 2007 6:44 AM
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