Conan O’Brien had a segment on his show called “Conan Hates My Homeland” where he goes through names of countries alphabetically and insults them one by one. I admit, Conan O’Brien, no matter how crass and senseless he is, is my favorite late night talk show host. Anyway, you might be curious what he had to say about the Philippines.
He said: “Philippines – Mi casa es su landfill.”
I wonder why no one made an issue out of it. What makes it different from the Desperate Housewives episode? Perhaps I was the only one watching?
Let’s stop bitching about what Teri Hatcher said and look at ourselves. In one way or another, we’re all racists. We all have our own prejudices. We just don’t say them out loud. So stop all that talk about boycotting the show just because the writer was desperately trying to be witty. We got more important things to do than go up in arms over something as silly as this. Sure it was kind of annoying. But come on, we all know that Filipino doctors are among the best in the world! And honestly, I’ve just about had enough with the controversies. We’re already acting like our dear Senators who love to investigate scandals “in aid of legislation”. In the same way that we’d like them to tackle the more important issues plaguing our country, how about we stop whining and get back to blogging?
Bookmark at:StumbleUpon | Digg | Del.icio.us | Dzone | Newsvine | Spurl | Simpy | Furl | Reddit | Yahoo! MyWeb
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:20 am
I like it comparison between bloggers and senators. It’s accurate. I don’t think it’s healthy that we raise alarm over the smallest, inconsequential comment that offends us. Let’s pick our battles. Picking too many fights will only make us tired. People who read us or listen to us might also get tired.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:35 pm
DH is such a fluff show… I don’t watch it now. I did see Season 1, though.
Eh, I’d probably get flak over this, but eh… it’s a silly issue not worth getting riled up.
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Tery issue – I find it half insulting, and half funny.
now i find it weird. who tels pinoys who to “mob” and who not to..
back to blogging…
=>
October 4th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
The statement against the medical schools in the Philippines on an internationally watched tv show is a huge deal. I don’t know why you can’t see that.
It was not some random racial slur, like calling some one the N word or referring to a homosexual with the f word. The statement implied that Filipino medical professionals are inferior. There’s no way that Teri Hatcher remark could be construed otherwise.
The insensitive and unfounded insinuation that Filipino health care professionals are sub-par or not up to standard is an insult to all the medical professionals who are working all over the world. Television is a powerful tool in influencing the minds of the viewers. Producers, writers, directors and actors should be more sensitive to the kind of impact a comment may have on someone’s profession. You can’t just go on national TV and mock the entire community of health care workers from the Philippines and suggest that they are incompetent at what they do.
They claim it was a joke. Well, why did they have to pick a foreign country (and they had to pick the one country which provides the most number of Nurses) to prove Susan’s point? Why didn’t they pick some obscure town college in one of their states. Why not say third rate college in Oregon or New Mexico or whatever.
With all the firings going on in Hollywood for discriminatory remarks, one would think that ABC would be sensible enough not to get into nation bashing. I guess they really just under estimate us or they’re simply ignorant. Either way, it is still a slur and they should be ashamed of themselves. A show, no matter how popular, does not get a free pass on trying to be funny at the expense of an entire community.
October 4th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
re: “Conan O’Brien Hates my Homeland”: Well, it’s not that nobody tried. I tried, but nobody paid much attention.
October 4th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I agree with Migs, 100%. The people who claim to be above and beyond the issue to the extent of insulting people who were offended ARE MORE IRRITATING.
When I heard about the Conan quip, it felt like I’ve heard it before. Was this from a long time ago or is it just de ja vu? hehe.
October 4th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
@riajose: Tell me about it. It’s getting old.
@fruityoaty: Exactly. It’s a fluff show. All this brouhaha ain’t worth it.
@Migs: No one. Like what riajose said, pick your battles. I can’t do anything if some of us want to give Teri Hatcher a hard time.
@DJ: Fine, let’s dig up every single insult thrown at Filipinos on primetime television and start a signature campaign against those who are responsible! IMO, I find it much more insulting that our healthcare system is falling apart because all our best doctors and nurses choose to be on Wysteria Lane than here!
@Micketymoc: Lol.
@Benj: Haha. De ja vu. It’s almost over man.
October 5th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Andrew,
Thank you, finally a Davao blogger with good sense. Being a Pinoy living in the US, a remark on a stupid TV show is the least of my problems. Parents are doctors who trained in the US in the 1950s and 60s. Today’s crap don’t even compare to that time.
Then again being a social worker, I’ve also come across great pinoy MDs and really crooked ones who commit insurance and Medi-Caid fraud. Quite a few pinoys take advantage of their fellow pinoys. Now lets complain about that.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
What does “Mi casa es su landfill.” mean?
October 5th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
It was a reference to the news that the Philippine government inked a deal with Japan to ship its toxic waste to the Philippines. Here’s a related discussion on the subject: http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=4729.0
Know how the “Conan Hates My Homeland” segment started? It was a reaction to angry letters the show received for a joke about fake Euros from the Ukraine. They didn’t know they were being broadcast in the Ukraine. Conan thought he’d insult every nation in the world, to see where he’d get letters from. That way, he’d know where they aired. Ingenious.
October 6th, 2007 at 12:10 am
“Mi casa es su casa.” Spanish for “My house is your house.” It’s something you say to visitors, parang, “feel at home.”
“Mi casa es su landfill.” My house is your landfill. Get it?
Mail your angry letters to:
October 6th, 2007 at 10:30 am
I wouldn’t be bother by it. He is desperately trying to raise controversy for his show.
October 6th, 2007 at 11:02 am
i agree with what you said about conan’s words. But the reason why we didn’t take that into account was because he went down a list of countries making fun of all of them. It wasn’t just the philippines. what teri hatcher said on DH was hurtful because many people go to philippine med schools to get a chance to come to america to practice their profession. and most are good at it.
October 6th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I found an interesting perspective on the subject from another Filipino blog here:
http://asbb-foreignexchange.blogspot.com/2007/10/i-was-going-to-conclude-ten-letters.html
Some food for thought to digest, certainly.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:21 am
We get jokes like these all the time. Hell, we make jokes like these MOST of the time hehe. Who says we don’t make fun of the African-Americans and Asians? I just hope this issue doesn’t get blown out of proportion.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
cool. i’ve been wondering when it was going to be pinas’ turn in that segment. it’s conan, people. you’re supposed to laugh about it. can’t wait for the next sensitive, stiff pinoy…for me to poop on!
i’m with you, drew. couldn’t care less about the DH comment. yawn. what’s next? the Hills? Ohmigawd!
October 11th, 2007 at 2:18 am
It’s a huge deal because it appears many Filipinos are making a big deal out of something that’s essentially not true anyway. I don’t know you can’t see that either.
It’s a fact of life that people make jokes of other people, things and what not. I hope you don’t laugh at jokes about other people, things and what not.
If we don’t, though, we might grow old faster.
October 12th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Yes, I think I have to agree with what this guy says on his blog:
http://asbb-foreignexchange.blogspot.com/2007/10/final-word-in-desperation.html
———————————————
I will end my commentary on the whole issue by simply asking why we
think it is perfectly alright for us to do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QusLouQhEfo
and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQJGIFzV1Q&mode=related&search=
and even for one of our most respected politicans to say this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBEuhLlNYTY
but when anyone dares to poke fun at a segment of our population like
this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYB4H0Po0A0
everyone immediately cries racism and discrimination?
October 30th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
yay! I love the last words “stop whining and get back to blogging”. I agree with you that we all are racists, but I think what hurts a lot about the desperate housewives controversy was the “false false” thinking of some Americans. Our doctors are the best doctors in the world that is why it hurts a lot when Teri said those words, especially for the people in the medical field like I do. Desperate Housewives are being loved and adored not only by the Filipinos but also the rest of the world. They should have never said that, even if they’re trying to making it as a joke for we will be the laughingstock not only in America but also to the rest of the world.
November 3rd, 2007 at 8:54 pm
DH…count me out with the ‘loved and adored’ thingy and I wouldn’t have known it if not for the flashing headlines on my computer screen. Not really important to me…but I can understand, it would irritate me too if I’m in the medical profession. Sort of being too close to home!
November 7th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
why do we care so much of what others think of us filipinos?
February 20th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I miss the late night shows. I hate the cable at home because it doesn’t have them. I was wondering what Conan commented on our country & his idea about having to receive hate letters (counted as one of the ratings) from countries he insulted worked. LOL!!
I don’t take it seriously ofcourse. The universe is consist of the Yin & Yang. It depends on us if we concentrate on the negative or the positive.
January 24th, 2010 at 6:48 am
we pinoys think that we’re the only one being made fun of. if you watch EVERY american show out there they make fun of ALL races. the only difference is WE are the only ones who are pikon.