BBC’s Harry & Paul spoof on Filipina Maid; should it bother us?
Oct 8th, 2008 | By Jeric Peña | Category: Banner Story, News, Random ThoughtsMust probably you’ve heard about the spoof made by a show in the UK called Harry & Paul broadcasted by BBC on Filipina maids. Here is the YouTube clip of the controversial scene from the Harry & Paul show:
Last year, ABC, an American television network apologized to the Filipino community for an episode of Desperate Housewives that questioned the competence not only of Filipino doctors but also the quality of education being delivered by the medical schools in the Philippines. The said episode of Desperate Housewives raised many talks about racism. I think we are experiencing some sort of déjà vu.
During the sketch in the Harry & Paul show, Enfield’s character urges his neighbor to have sex with another neighbor’s Filipina maid, saying he is trying to see if “we could mate their Filipina maid with our Northerner, but he’s not having any of it”. He then says, “Come on Clyde, mount her” and addressing the maid, says: “You, you, present your rear.” (quoted from AFP)
This specific scene from the said show ignited the Filipino community here and abroad (especially the Filipino community in the UK) to send a complaint to the involved television network.
“Beyond any doubt, the show is malicious, unethical and insulting. It is a clear case of discrimination of Filipino women. They insult one of us, they insult all of us,” Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros said in an interview with Manila Standard Today. On the other hand, the Philippine government thru Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo lodged a diplomatic protest with the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the Philippines over the said TV show.
Should the said spoof on Filipina maids bother us? Or should we just shut up and deal with more significant issues?
Let me quote a song from the famous musical, Avenue Q, “everyone’s a little bit racist.” Isn’t true?
Before we look at how other countries makes fun out of our race, let’s look on how we make fun of ourselves and other races. How many jokes have been delivered on local TV and everywhere about Indians and other races? Take a look how a typical Filipino would call a person from India. If you would take a closer look at the jokes being passed around the streets, text messages, TV and even on print most jokes talk about race and even social standing, if not all. Look at how we mock the accent and even the enunciation of people from the Visayas region. How many jokes have been passed around about Filipina maids?
We Filipinos are racist too and the worst, we are racist against our fellow Filipino. Although the said scene was insulting in some way, it is just funny how we (or most Filipinos) suddenly became patriotic in times like these.
As written in an article published by the AFP, it is said that the production company behind a BBC comedy sketch that provoked outrage in the Philippines for being racist said Tuesday that the show was “absurd” and should not be taken seriously. Can’t we accept the fact that it was just a joke? In the first place, the show “tackles many situations in a comedic way”. Jokes are to be taken lightly.
Although things like these shouldn’t be ignored, let us not act as if we have not done the same thing to other races and other Filipinos of different social standing. We may not understand the kind of humor that these British people have, but please let us not over react.
I can’t believe the response to this sketch by the Filipino community. Obviously the point ntended by the writers has been lost in translation. or maybe people only see and hear what they fits into their mind set.
The sketch was having a go/highlighting the attitude among some affluent Londoners who view northeners, Filipnos’ and no doubt others as no better than pets. Harry and Paul could quite easily have used working class Londoners or east european migrants to make the same point. As far as i know, no northeners have complained about the sketch. In short, Harry and Paul are on your side.
just to add to my earlier response; i think you make a valid point that all nations like making fun or denigrating people from other countries especialy near neighbours. Londoners make fun of northerners. people from south london believe themselves superior to the residents of west London. peole who live in a block of flats on one side of the street find reasons to look down on residents on the opposite block. Inmates in one part of a jail may see themselves as morally superior to convicts on another wing of the prison. And so on….
Its the british kind of jokes, that of being vulgar and absurb at times. The pinoy way of humor as depicted in our comedy films are referred to as “toilet humor”. Filipinas can rise above this!
I think it’s okay.. i don’t take this seriously..
anyway.. old friend! how have you been? hehehe:
/Fendi
Finally, a sensible re-action from a fellow Filipino. I live here in the UK and believe me, the British have so much respect for the Filipinos. You know, I’ve always been proud of our mature sense of humour and how we use comedy as social commentary. Harry and Paul show was just that. I’ve seen it and I’ve seen many episode before it. It makes fun of the Northener, the silly South American guy and his American friend. In some ways, I felt a bit embarrassed about the way the government responded to it. I really thought Risa Hontiveros of all people would have seen the satirical value of the show.
Remember, “Abangan…?” and how Carmi Martin portrayed a stupid promdi as a sexual object to the senator? How about “Goin Bananas?” making fun at Whitney’s (the black girl) character? And of course, as you mentioned the many comedy shows poking fun at the Bisaya as stupid maids. The Cebuanos did not really call for ABS-CBN or Regal films to be re-educated, did they?
I really hope that more people who have the same views will express theirs just to balance the response. Otherwise other countries will see us as very sensitive and childish with no sense of humour which is not true at all.
Hope
The sketch stops being funny of you are a Filipina OFW, or know an OFW, who has been the victim of exactly the kind of sexual abuse that the sketch portrays.
To the first poster, this is not a case of Filipinos not having a sense of humour. I’m British and found the sketch quite funny. But the fact that I laughed at the vegetative Northerner did NOT stop me being offended by the degradation of the maid.
Brits should also know that the scene constituted rape under Philippines law (and perhaps even UK law – it is definitely sexual harassment in the workplace). It is an offence to use a position of authority or threat of economic sanction including loss of employment to coerce an individual to have sexual relations.
They should have just used “maid” and not specified it as a “Filipina maid.” Their doing so, makes it look very intetionally insulting to FIlipinos.
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@ hope and fendi – You call being indifferent sensible? And Hope, you live there and accept this insult on your fellows?
How can this be ?
Have you totally dissociated with your less affluent kababayan’s in the UK so that it doesn’t bother you at all and that the issue is beneath you?
Disheartening.
The use of the name ‘filipino’ was uncalled for.
It most likely reflected a REAL bias felt by the scriptwriter because otherwise, it would not have been translated from thought to paper. Think about it. The odds are the bias was real in the mind of that writer, otherwise he wouldn’t have zeroed in on the ‘filipino’ in the first place. The attack was so precise and so directed.
Actually, it doesnt bother me at all. Because some filipina maids are really dumb just ask around. thats why they are maids in the first place they are even arrogant. they themselves are racist against their fellow men like our maid from cebu just because she has been working here she looks down on her siblings who are left in cebu