The Boredom of the Lower Class

What's with all the 'mass-cultivated' TV, radio and print? Very intriguing showbiz updates, crappy soap operas, and even repetitive hit songs; this is the uneducated portion of the Philippines, propagators of the counterculture.

Global society has been riddled with the Justin Biebers, Miley Cyruses, Twitters, Facebooks and the Twilights of the world. Somewhere down the line, majority were very unadaptive to counter culture, choosing instead to read or watch gossips involving local showbiz stars, even buying tabloids full of sexual innuendo.

I personally hate listening to 'masa' stations like 90.7 Love Radio, 91.5 Energy FM and even 101.1 Yes! FM because of their repetitive and boring playlist, majority of which were played everyday. I also hate their so-called jokes during commercials, because it is so irritating that you'll be ready to throw your transistor to trash.

Also throw in cheap tabloids, showing nothing but gossips and sexual content. In the U.S., the New York Post don't always show girls in two-piece swimsuits, but here it has been a norm for some tabloids (Toro, X-Files, Police Files) to feature actresses in skimpy, semi-naked outfits. So much for the growth of prostitution in the country.

Since the turn of the millennium, ABS-CBN and GMA, two television giants, have shifted their attention to the masses more than to the educated sector, with majority of their programming were mainly crappy telenovelas with less than a year of shelf life, and Japanese anime. Point that out to the rise of cable TV and the internet for such a reason. In contrast, U.S. TV giants CBS, ABC, NBC and FOX's content have remained virtually unchanged despite the rise of cable and internet. Daytime soap operas have stayed longer than a year; Days of our Lives and General Hospital have stayed on air for nearly 50 years, introducing new storylines and characters to keep viewers in tune. The Filipino soap operas last only for a few months before getting axed, except for Mara Clara, which neither station has yet to replicate its success. How much more does the old medium beginning to lose its charm?

With Twitter, Facebook and other medium beginning to dominate the media circus, how much is left of the original medium like television, radio and print? And how will the lower class adapt to a new medium? Only time will tell.