Jap Nishi asked why I was so affected when Myrtle, the PBB Teen housemate suddenly became a "princess" on Twitter's trending topic this afternoon. I replied as a jest that I cannot accept Myrtle's mom becoming the "queen" of the Philippines. But his question, like a dagger forced deep into my skin left still unanswered fundamental questions. Do I dislike Myrtle, the PBB Teen housemate because I somehow favor Jai and Joj as the big winner? Do I find the budding love team between her and Yves quite disgusting (after seeing Myrves on my Twitter every time I go online) or do I find the girl utterly repulsive because of how her fans trash the trending topics of my favorite social media with their silly key phrases.
The answer is lost beneath the layers of self-denial, since a part of me says "minsan lang sila magiging jejemon, let them enjoy the experience." But when I am reminded of how pointless and shallow the effort is; of how Myrtle the cos player and Yves the twink are bound to become forgotten celebrities when the next Pinoy Big Brother season begins; of how devoted and rabid fans turn mindless, like a mob when leaders of the fan's club dictate the next key phrase to be tweeted over and over again until it becomes the next trending topic,
Then perhaps, I have answered Jap Nishi's question.
When kids these days waste their lives like this:
instead of learning splendid things about the world, doing their homework for school, or at the very, very least, tweeting what activity they did, or musings they had before reconnecting to the web, then there's something very wrong with how our next generation perceives life.
I am no fan of reality shows because of their tendency to overrate ordinary people. But when these reality shows begin to twist its audience's idea of fame and fortune, we might be, unknowingly, turning the devoted but uninstructed young followers into mindless, thoughtless and dreamless,
drones.