Ok, here we go. One of ABC’s top programs, Desperate Housewives aired their season premiere, in which, one of it’s characters, Susan, played by Teri Hatcher, visits a doctor about her irregular periods. During the scene Susan replies with this:
“OK, before we go any further, can I check these diplomas? Just to make sure they aren’t, like, from some med school in the Philippines?”
The Pinoy Spy Reporter encapsulates the details and has a video clip of the offending line. Here are a couple articles from The Philippines Inquirer here and here. Now, here’s what I think…
What the fuck? You’d think a big entertainment company like ABC would read the screenplays Before they put this out. Did they think that line would escape the Filipino public? It puts Teri Hatcher in an unpleasant spot having to defend her character, the show, and the company. The writers of Desperate Housewives have to take the fall as well as ABC. ABC is part of the same entertainment family with ESPN and Disney.
This current incident brings back memories of the the Claire Danes comment. She said some unsavory things about Filipinos and our country during filming of one of her movies, but that was made in public and not written in the script.
How insulting is that line in D.H.? Well, not only did the show attack Filipinos, but it attacked the Filipino medical professionals directly. That pisses me off, because, my Father is a doctor, who studied and received a diploma in the Philippines, immigrated to the United States, and became one of the finest doctors at where ever hospital he works in.
If Desperate was going for “real-life” representation of Filipino doctors, they should have mentioned something like, “what American hospital Doesn’t have a Filipino doctor in it? They must be pretty good, if they dominate the operating room population”.
As much as a furor this raises with the Filipinos who watch the television shows in the Philippines, this is nothing new in the industry. Thank the gods, “Family Guy” isn’t shown there. There are more than one degrading off-color transsexual Filipino jokes in that show.
What can we do about it? Just don’t watch the show. Try to get the Filipino stations to stop airing Desperate Housewives. Don’t buy the DVD’s. ABC and the show have issued public apologies, but the damage is done.
As Filipino Americans we put up with more than racial slurs on a daily basis. It’s not surprising that an American wrote this episode. It IS surprising that a major television studio let this air.
Maui
It will be true if it comes from a school in Marawi but that doesn’t mean it applies to other schools like UST or La Salle.
Daniel
I have to say, that I could not agree with you regarding article Desperate Housewives Piss Off Filipinos, but your opinion is interesting