Desperate Housewives Slur Vs The Philippines
I understand that Desperate Housewives is one of the most popular shows on Studio 23 here in the Philippines. But I bet few Filipinos would be too happy with one line uttered by Teri Hatcher’s character in the season 4 premiere “Now You Know”, which aired on September 30 in the United States.
The line in question was spoken by Hatcher’s Susan Mayer in a scene where she was doubting the findings of her OB-gynecologist, played by Serenity star Nathan Fillion. In the scene, Fillion’s character was apparently suggesting that Mayer was starting to experience menopause. Shaken and in denial, Mayer started questioning her OB-gyne’s professional abilities, and then said:
“Before we go any further, can I check those diplomas,’cause I would just like to make sure that they’re not from some med school in the Philippines?”
My jaw dropped. WTF?
Now I’m not some flag-waving ultranationalist who’s blind to the Philippines’ ills, of which it has a truckload of, but come on! Can you honestly believe that our doctors suck that much that they have to become a punchline in an American TV show created by a gay person (Marc Cherry) who is presumably liberal and not predisposed to racial slurs such as this? I just never realized that the people who write for this show could be such racists.
It’s just a stupid show, I know, but that still ticked me off. No matter how cynical I’ve gotten with all the crap in this country, it’s still annoying when foreigners talk about us like they know better, when they’re clearly just as messed up as we are. Maybe even a whole lot more. We’re not the ones getting their kids killed and killing kids in Iraq, are we?
If it’s any comfort to Pinoys, Fillion’s character, who actually became such a talented doctor after undergoing expert training at Harvard Medical School, went to Susan’s home towards the end of the episode and apologized, for he made a mistake diagnosing Susan’s condition the first time around. She is actually pregnant, not menopausal.
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:37 pm
It didn’t surprised me at all, I think the writer base the (racist) lines on what he sees in America today where Filipino Doctors here in the Philippines studies Nursing to become a nurse assistants in the US and Europe. I think they (the Writers) are not the one degrading the Filipino talents, they just write what is the reality, what they saw or experience.
But it’s such a shame that we (our Filipino talents/skills) are becoming a punchline on every US TV series. We are not monkeys… so, SHAME on you Marc Cherry!!!
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:24 am
I am all for political correctness and all, for as long as you temper it with some reality check of what is really going on. I wish you luck in running this campaign for the show to apologize to the Filipino people. However, it is just a TV show, and an opinion of a fictional character does not reflect the opinions of real people.
Also some thoughts:
1. Nurses who passed the board during the Fatima scandal, ARE NOT PERMITTED to work in the U.S. and must pass the board on another year. Though not about Philippine doctors, it gives you an insight that regulators do take credentials seriously in the medical profession.
2. The medical profession in the U.S. does discriminate against non-U.S. educated doctors such as Filipino doctors. For specialized fields such as heart and lung surgery, etc. a Philippine-educated doctor has a ZERO chance of making it to the top hospitals in New York.
If you were serious about the image of Filipino doctors in the U.S., then you should write to Mount Sinai, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Yale–New Haven Hospital, NYU Medical Center, Beth Israel Medical Center, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, etc. and ask them why they refuse to accept Philippine-educated doctors applying in their special programs. Why do they think that Filipino education is not good enough? That is truly the slap in the face and it has been going on for years. You should be angrier about this than some stupid line from Desperate Housewives of all things.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:20 pm
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October 6th, 2007 at 7:22 am
It’s a fictional degradation of my profession, and fictional or not, when you are in the US, it’s hard not to get hurt…because the mere fact that WE ARE PHILIPPINE GRADUATES of some medical schools made us feel that it is what they thought of the Philippine Medical graduates. What others don’t know, we give our sweat and tears to be in the mainstream, head to head with our American colleagues. It’s not about NOTHING, it was an INSULT to us medical professionals…..We Filipinos, just like other immigrants always have to prove ourselves in America, and we are not going to allow the ABC, the ignorant writers and Teri Hatcher to make fun of us who worked so hard to be where we are right now. People have to respect the 917,000 people who signed the petitions. FYI: in the first place, the writer was not informed on how a physician is able to practice in the USA. First, the foreign educated docs need to pass their countries’ board exam. Then they go to their countries’ residency program, Then, apply to the US to get to residency matching program, then if accepted, would have to pass the FMG’s exam. Then these docs will go to internship and 3-4 years of residency AGAIN. Then will take the US grueling board exams. It’s not about Diploma, you can have as many diplomas as you want, but if you are not SMART enough to go through above….you’re not practicing in the USA. It’s a lot of work to be able to practice Medicine in the US, Now guys…do you now get it? WHY WE ARE FURIOUS??? so what are they trying to say about “diplomas from some med schools in the Philippines”..
October 9th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Flips had it coming on account of the worrisome situation in the Philippines. Where in the world you have to take two medical board exams even if you passed on the first take? Where in the world doctors will downgrade themselves as nurses just to get to the US? Where in the world more than half of med schools are diploma mills and where most of the board toppers come from? Only in the Philippines!
Jokes will be jokes. Desperate housewives is a comedy-joke sitcom. It is not a serious commentary like Brockaw or Rather TV commentaries. More serious and derogatory jokes on flips appear on Howard Stern show that could had him shot by Flips. Flips have these propensity to crack jokes like those jokes on their convicted former president who’s luxuriously languishing in his palatial self-made jail - just like the jail of the Columbian druglord, Escobar. (The incumbents allow this convicted president to have a grand rest-house for a jail maybe for the main reason they could have same treatment just in case they are caught with similar charges.)
Medical-oriented jokes abound like when a doctor told the convicted former president he has to apply local anesthesia to his wound and the president remarked to apply “imported” anesthesia ’cause money’s no problem!
Anyway, the Flips can get back by making their own TV sitcom “Desperate Housemaids” starring Ai-ai de las alas or “Desperate Houseboys” starring Joey Marquez with his expensive “walis ting-tings”. Maybe these are already in the making. Flip movie producers and directors are quick to ride on cheap fads to make money on the cheap crowd that comprise 90% of natives in the Philippines where some had already migrated to America as “nurses” and “doctor-nurses”.