“Come mothers
and fathers throughout the land,
And don’t
criticize what you don’t understand,
Your sons and
your daughters are beyond your command,
Your old road
is rapidly aging,
So get out of
the new one if you can’t lend a hand,
For the times,
they are a-changing…”
-Bob
Dylan
________________
In the mid-1990’s, I owned a VHS player and
a membership card at a Video City branch in a nearby mall; and enjoyed the
privilege of keeping up-or catching up-with mod films in the comfort of my home.
Come the dawn of the twenty-first century, the video rental shop began to phase
out the cumbersome VHS tapes for compact VCD’s, to my chagrin. I criticized
their inconsideration for people without disc players, and rhetorically asked
how I was supposed to patronize their new products. A passive response
insinuated that I would just have to keep up with the times and get myself a
VCD player.
When I was a
child during the 70’s, there was a televised advertisement of a sanitary napkin
with a woman walking along a beach or bay (1);
I forget which exactly. Underarm deodorants were endorsed without showing the
specific body area it would be applied to. In films, a protagonist would fire a
gun at his enemy who would simply drop to the ground immobile; and the credits
ran up the screen. Romantic presentations displayed heterosexual lovers kissing
and shedding upper garments; then the scene faded leaving the viewer to imagine
what came next (2). Such were the
conservative practices of the media back then as compared to the present where
women’s buttocks are shown, garbed in fit trousers to emphasize the reliability
of a specific brand of feminine pads (3).
Skin whiteners are endorsed by models boldly exposing their armpits to show the
efficiency of a product. Action films have more realistically vulgar images,
i.e. heads lopped off shoulders, intestines dangling out of abdomens, generous
amounts of blood flow, etc. And theatrical productions of comic book superheroes
have characters flamboyantly practicing lesbianism and sexual intercourse (4). Of course, Manoling Morato’s term
as MTRCB chairman was no longer a reality then.
After I
revealed my android phone to elder relatives-(born during the Second World War and favoring Clark Gable over Denzel
Washington for the role of a naval officer (5)-they produced cellphones in the genre of 3310’s; and insisted
that such units are more convenient as compared to newer, complex ones. I
presume their opinions were made to conceal the fact that a touch-screen unit
was too difficult for their arthritic digits to operate. Perhaps if such
technological apparatus were introduced by the Japanese in 1943, they would
have had more optimistic appraisals for it.
Enter; the
topic of same-sex marriage. There is an unarguable possibility that even
during antediluvian periods, homosexuals already existed; otherwise there would
be no predecessors to instigate gay relationships in the world. Back then,
conflicts on this matter would most likely have been contained within closed
quarters of family and acquaintances. But as with the Greenpeace movement and
the rights of blacks; gays have chosen to demand the legalization and induction
of their practice among current issues. This move eventually inspired publicised
dissent between people who share common sentiments: some living by the
principles of the Old Testament; and others with the open-mindedness of the
Pope or Harvey Milk. It is quite obvious that ‘the American way’ HAS enhanced
its influence on the Philippines in the passing of time.
Impartial
commentators, spiritual leaders, or public figures may suggest that everyone
has a right to their own opinion. And that judging others is contradictory to the
teachings of Christianity. They suggest diplomacy and tactfully expressed
views; respecting those of others, though contradictory to our own. The main
root of all such conflicts, however, is not really attributive to the sentiments
of each individual but rather; to the reality of CHANGE and FREE WILL.
Change
alters everything in existence but is indifferent to the minds of human beings.
It does not eliminate free will. It has neither a communist or fascist
characteristic that instills an overall compliance upon all rational homo sapiens.
A number would opt to cling to the antiquated while others choose to keep in
stride; each party stressing the logic of their opinions; hence, the dissent
and chaos.
Neither
Manny Pacquiao and Nike, or those for and against the reproductive health bill,
are to blame for their opposing estimations. (Imagine technological entrepreneurs
who, in the near future, may suggest uploading Biblical verses into USB devices
or websites thus making ‘The Good Book’ an obsolete term;
and those who will oppose their ideas.) As of the present, the individual
responsible for ‘change’ and ‘free will’ has not yet been ascertained for the
lynch mob or hangmen to execute. Even if discovered and eliminated, there shall
inevitably exist contradicting views regarding its expungement; because conflict
is an omnipresent reality of life.
________________
1. Stayfree
2. ‘The Young and the Restless’
3. Modess
4. ‘Watchmen’
5. ‘Run Silent, Run Deep’/‘Crimson Tide’
