Siftings
Soap Watch on Primetime: Dyosa
I leave off from my watch on the academe to take a look at the current soaps on primetime at the Kapamilya station. For some time now, I have been bothered by the use of classical myths and mythical characters in "Dyosa.
The soap started with events in a western-type supernatural environment which can be a mix of Pinoy and Roman, which led to the eventual birth and adoption of the Dyosa baby character by a dwarf couple who are "mahirap pa sa daga." The baby grows up to be the beautiful girl played by Anne Curtis, who gets a job and is "inaapi" by her boss (Maricar de Mesa); but she clings on, determined to help out her adoptive parents. She gets to realize in quick time that she is not ordinary, but has superpowers. On the job, she meets 3 attractive males in her 3 capacities as Dyosa of earth, sea and sky. In her mermaid form, she discovers that her childhood friend Kulas (Luis Manzano) is a syokoy (merman); in her eagle form, she watches over her officemate Mars (Ravelo?, played by Zanjoe Marudo), the creator of her adventures illustrated in the komiks; and as a centaur, she is pursued by a beast-god named, of all names, Adonis (Sam Milby), who must destroy her in order that he can regain his handsome visage permanently. Eventually, -- if I may make a prediction – Dyosa or Josephine coiled split up into her 3 personas, so that she coiled end up with all her 3 admirers since she seems attracted to all. And why not? Her mother Sinukuan of Philippine legend has split into 3 in order to confuse the enemy, in the persons of the goddess Magayon (Jaclyn Jose) and her daughter Diana – a case of a Pinoy deity with a Roman offspring!
But what really amazes me is how this soap has managed to mix the gods and personages of ancient Rome with those of pre-Spanish and Spanish Philippines! A well-intentioned confusion or postmodern fusion? Aristotelian and Brechtian theatre aesthetics take back seats here, and what we have is the fun hodge-podge so acceptable and "in" these days.
For instance there's Bacchus (Jeffrey Quizon) of Roman mythology here morphed into a goat-like guardian of Dyosa, alongside a bull-horned Adonis (a mix of Egyptian, Greek and Roman?), with goddesses in flowing Grecian robes like the evil Magayon who is crazy for Bernardo Carpio (a good-looking actor who hasn't spoken a line up to now!) but who is the lover of Sinukuan (Mickey Ferriols), the true mother of Dyosa. These 2 goddesses are volcanic mountains of Philippine legend; Bernardo of the imprisoned-in-a-cave legend is of Spanish origin, as signaled by his name. There are other creatures here with dark powers and sundry unpalatable persuasions, who mix with earthlings in this rather exciting postmodern milieu.
But what the heck. "Dyosa" is well-packaged and entertaining. Never mind if the information about gods and goddesses is off. Pinoy TV audiences decades from now will naturally think Adonis (who by now must be well-known to followers of Pinoy komiks) and Bacchus really belong with Sinukuan and Magayon and Bernardo Carpio in the realm of Pinoy myth and fantasy. Only serious scholars and researchers of Literature and Anthropology will twinge under the onslaught of misinformation. But who cares for their opinions? Certainly not the harassed masa housewife washing clothes, cooking the family meal and washing (again) dishes, spending interminable hours with an eye and an ear cocked to the TV set.
In the meantime, let the postmodern times roll on! To whatever shores this roll may take us, only God can help us! Pero, sayang naman for the cause of real knowledge. Hayaan na lang natin sa internet?