Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

"desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

    this is about a month old, but i couldn't find this addressed in any other HT thread. from abcnews.com:

    A scene in TV's "Desperate Housewives" that used Philippine medical education for a punchline prompted angry calls from viewers, an online petition demanding an apology and criticism from Philippine officials.

    In the season premiere that aired Sunday on ABC, Teri Hatcher's character, Susan, goes in for a medical checkup and is shocked when the doctor suggests she may be going through menopause.

    "Listen, Susan, I know for a lot of women the word `menopause'" has negative connotations. You hear `aging,' `brittle bones,' `loss of sexual desire,'" the gynecologist tells her.

    "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?" Susan fires back.
    the offending clip's on youtube here.

    this was just sloppy scriptwriting. instead of saying "some med school in the philippines," teri hatcher's character could have said something like, "just to make sure they're for real," or "just to make sure they aren't forged" or "just to make sure it's not an internet degree." they could have avoided the whole ugly thing, which now includes a planned $500 million class action lawsuit. sheesh. even michelle malkin, miss-i'm-filipina-when-convenient, weighed in (and no, i'm NOT gonna link to that).

    numbers of fili MDs from usasianwire.com:

    According to the American Physicians Association, based on the Census in 2005, there were 19,000 Philippine-trained practicing physicians in the US. A study made by AMA also shows that the Philippines ranks second to India as the top suppliers of doctors fulfilling the demand in the US , and outranks all other countries in supply of dentists and nurses.
    i wonder how many nurses in the US are filipino/filipino-american.

    on a side note: not that DH (which i don't watch) is supposed to be based completely in reality, but when the doctor (played, to my delight, by nathan filiom -- captain mal of firefly) tells teri hatcher that she's pregnant loud enough that someone else about ten feet away can hear, he's violating federal health information privacy laws. what he did there was a $20,000 violation. any HIPAA/hospital corporate compliance officers watching the show must have groaned at that one.

    anyway, the comment has been made that teri hatcher's character is supposed to be an airhead. i'm not sure how palatable that argument makes the slur. archie bunker's very racist character was very effective in showing how wrong racism is via reverse psychology; i doubt that DH was ever meant to be that socially enlightening. as i said before--the slur is evidence of sloppy writing. it just happened to be quite offensive and derogatory towards an ethnic group that is largely invisible in the US bcs we "look like" other ethnic groups or we purposely "pass for" being of another ethnic group, even tho we've been in the US since the 1500s and even tho we're the second largest asian american group (chinese being the largest). being flip wasn't really cool until recently. i've heard that many filis in the mainland claimed to be hawaiian (go figure) or more broadly, "pacific islander" (i see this in myspace all the time and can't believe it's always a misunderstanding of the geographic placement of the PI). so while i think the $500 mil lawsuit is a bit much, my people do have a flair for the dramatic, and it's nice to see that we won't take it just laying down.
    superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath) & acedia (sloth)--the seven deadly sins.

    "when you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people i deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly..."--meditations, marcus aurelius (make sure you read the rest of the passage, ya lazy wankers!)

    nothing humiliates like the truth.--me, in conversation w/mixedplatebroker re 3rd party, 2009-11-11, 1213

  • #2
    Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

    I saw that episode. Yeah, Susan is an airhead... says stupid things all the time. I hate her character. And yes, I thought it was funny. *shrugs*

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

      Originally posted by nikki View Post
      I saw that episode. Yeah, Susan is an airhead... says stupid things all the time. I hate her character. And yes, I thought it was funny. *shrugs*
      It did raise an eyebrow when I watched that episode, but I really think this class action lawsuit's ridiculous. My Papa (University of Santo Tomas, Doctor of Medicine '60) thinks so too.

      I swear...people always need a reason to bitch about something.
      Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevey shouted
      We're not here to mess around
      Boston, you know we love you madly
      Hear the crowd roar to your sound
      Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
      You know we couldn't live without you
      Tessie, you are the only only only

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

        Originally posted by Lei Liko View Post
        It did raise an eyebrow when I watched that episode, but I really think this class action lawsuit's ridiculous. My Papa (University of Santo Tomas, Doctor of Medicine '60) thinks so too.

        I swear...people always need a reason to bitch about something.
        yeah--i think pointing to it and saying it's wrong is one thing, but the class action lawsuit? that's overkill. ABC already deleted the scene and issued an apology. but the lawsuit just feeds the worst stereotypes about our people AND doctors. you almost hope that if the plaintiff physicians won, they'd donate their winnings to those in the mother country who have no access to medical care and need it.
        superbia (pride), avaritia (greed), luxuria (lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath) & acedia (sloth)--the seven deadly sins.

        "when you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people i deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly..."--meditations, marcus aurelius (make sure you read the rest of the passage, ya lazy wankers!)

        nothing humiliates like the truth.--me, in conversation w/mixedplatebroker re 3rd party, 2009-11-11, 1213

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

          Originally posted by nikki View Post
          I saw that episode. Yeah, Susan is an airhead... says stupid things all the time. I hate her character. And yes, I thought it was funny. *shrugs*

          BUt "Susan" is a character, acting like an airhead. She(teri)is following script. It has to do with the writers.
          flickr

          An email from God:
          To: People of Earth
          From: God
          Date: 9/04/2007
          Subject: stop

          knock it off, all of you

          seriously, what the hell


          --
          God

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

            Originally posted by TATTRAT View Post
            BUt "Susan" is a character, acting like an airhead. She(teri)is following script. It has to do with the writers.
            Yeah, I know. What I meant was, Susan's character is always saying stupid things. I took it as a joke... it's just a stupid joke. People should chill.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

              Thought this one might be too complex to touch but den again, I no skaiyd.

              I agree that certain groups are hypersensitive to any public or private attacks (see Dog thread). Don’t ever insult a black or a Jew for instance. I also agree that certain groups are "insulted" with impunity. Filipinos and Portuguese for example. I also know that Haoles as a group and Christians as a group are constantly generalized and marginalized within the hallowed halls of higher learning institutions. So there are inequalities and they exist for reasons that are far too complex to try to even explain. I don’t think anyone has the complete answer as to why we accept these differences in how we treat groups of people.

              That being said, this generalization was not made out of the blue as a baseless attack on the intelligence of Filipinos. There have been numerous cases that I have heard of casually in which specifically Filipino health care professionals were allowed to practice, as a group, in the United States even though they failed to pass the board examinations. I know this occurred with nurses, optometrists and medical doctors. Probably more. You can look it up yourself or just don’t believe me but I know it has happened. There is a ton of politics and money and business behind these decisions and I don’t claim to know the details, but it is a fact that many if not most Filipino trained health care professionals do not pass the board examinations of their respective professions when they come to the United States.

              I have wondered why we allow this. Aren’t you shocked to know that certain doctors, nurses and other professionals are currently practicing in the United States and yet could not and did not pass the Board examinations? Well it’s a fact. I think part of the reason they have allowed this practice is because we are in dire need of health care providers and Filipinos are DAMN GOOD at caring for people, something that you cannot teach and which is probably more important that your ability to memorize massive amounts of data. Is that racist to complement a culture on their warmth and their work ethic and their ability to care for their fellow man? I don’t know. Filipinos can tell me I guess. But that’s my explanation for why this was allowed and still might be.

              That is where this line in the show came from. It was from a real life “watering down” of the standards in professional certification and not a mindless racist attack. That’s my 2 cents.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                in order for a dr to practice in the US, he/she needs to be board certified, something you can check with HMSA or whatever insurance have you.


                there are a lot of filipino doctors that have practices in the Philippines, but when they come to the US they have to settle for being a nurse or something else because they do not want to have to go to school again to get the needed certification.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                  Originally posted by CranBeree View Post
                  in order for a dr to practice in the US, he/she needs to be board certified, something you can check with HMSA or whatever insurance have you.


                  there are a lot of filipino doctors that have practices in the Philippines, but when they come to the US they have to settle for being a nurse or something else because they do not want to have to go to school again to get the needed certification.
                  You are correct that some filipino doctors have to practice as nurses but it all depends upon the state they live in. Some state legilatures have allowed them to practice WITHOUT passing the test. Yes, they have to be "board certified" but the legislature granted that certification to them. They did not pass the test.

                  Like I said, this has occured with a handful of health care professions.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                    Originally posted by ericncyn View Post
                    [...]this was just sloppy scriptwriting. [...]
                    Originally posted by TATTRAT View Post
                    BUt "Susan" is a character, acting like an airhead. She(teri)is following script. It has to do with the writers.
                    Just an aside...
                    For the most part, actors in episodic tv and features are allowed some degree of input into their characters and lines. Had I been Teri I might've questioned the reference and offered an alternate. I'm not blaming Teri but there is usually room to negotiate questionable dialogue. Who knows...maybe that was attempted and overruled.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                      Originally posted by kamuelakea View Post
                      You are correct that some filipino doctors have to practice as nurses but it all depends upon the state they live in. Some state legilatures have allowed them to practice WITHOUT passing the test. Yes, they have to be "board certified" but the legislature granted that certification to them. They did not pass the test.

                      Like I said, this has occured with a handful of health care professions.
                      recheck your facts or provide a link...

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                        It may be offensive, but people actually DO say things like that, and if her character is a ditz, then this is something likely to come out of her mouth. If people get uptight and PC about everything on TV, TV will really start become even more lame than it already is.

                        I guess that why I watch HBO and Showtime. No punches pulled there.

                        I think the statement offends the Phillipine government, laws, and standards of practice and not so much it's people.

                        I say lighten up.
                        http://tikiyakiorchestra.com
                        Need a place to stay in Hilo ?
                        Cue Factory - Music for your Vision

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                          Originally posted by tikiyaki View Post
                          It may be offensive, but people actually DO say things like that, and if her character is a ditz, then this is something likely to come out of her mouth. If people get uptight and PC about everything on TV, TV will really start become even more lame than it already is.

                          I guess that why I watch HBO and Showtime. No punches pulled there.

                          I think the statement offends the Phillipine government, laws, and standards of practice and not so much it's people.

                          I say lighten up.
                          I agree. Thank you.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                            Originally posted by tikiyaki View Post
                            It may be offensive, but people actually DO say things like that, and if her character is a ditz, then this is something likely to come out of her mouth. If people get uptight and PC about everything on TV, TV will really start become even more lame than it already is.

                            I guess that why I watch HBO and Showtime. No punches pulled there.

                            I think the statement offends the Phillipine government, laws, and standards of practice and not so much it's people.

                            I say lighten up.
                            So True. Agreed.
                            flickr

                            An email from God:
                            To: People of Earth
                            From: God
                            Date: 9/04/2007
                            Subject: stop

                            knock it off, all of you

                            seriously, what the hell


                            --
                            God

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: "desperate housewives" slur against filipinos

                              The show should be pulled off the air! (Joke)
                              For that comment to be broadcast nationwide.
                              Calling a whole group (racial even) substandard.
                              Funny the inequities that go on in this world, eh?!

                              See how ridiculous it can all get?
                              Life is either an adventure... or you're not doing it right!!!

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X