Stars who say thank you

Thank you are two words often difficult to come by in show business. Most journalist, in fact, complain about the fact that most film stars don’t bother to say thank you every time there is a nice article about them. But write something nasty and you hear not only from them, but also from their lawyers. Obviously, it’s much easier and more spontaneous to cry "Ouch!" than to say "Thank you."

From my end, I’ve learned not to expect anything anymore from people I write about. To me, it’s just part of the job – especially the film review part.

But I guess it’s part of my human nature to feel good every time I hear a thank you from people I write about. Last week, for instance, I wrote a review of the movie, Biglang Liko, and pointed out the fine acting job delivered by newcomer Stella L. (there must be a story on how she got that screen name) who plays a lesbian broadcaster in the film. Now, I don’t know her personally. But since she did a good job in the movie, I thought I had to point that out, which I did – without expecting to hear anything from her.

When I reported for work last Saturday on Startalk, however, Gorgy Rula met me at the steps of the old GMA-7 building and told me that Stella L. was so pleased with my review of her performance and had sent "something" for me. The "something" turned out to be a bag of goodies and a card of appreciation. Although I appreciated the bag of goodies. I thought that wasn’t really necessary (but thanks, anyway). What was more thrilling for me was reading her thank you card, which I’m printing in full here.

Kuya Butch,

When I read your review, I didn’t expect you to comment on my performance because I know that I don’t have a name yet in the industry. But your nice comment on my acting was really heartwarming. When I read it, I wanted to jump and scream, except that I couldn’t because I was in an airplane (He! He! He!). Thank you very much.

This gesture from Stella L. really warmed my heart because it was very sincere and had so much humility in it. To you, Stella, thank you, too – and you are most welcome.

Actually, in the age of text messaging, it’s so much easier to say thank you. As I was writing this piece, in fact, I got short text message from Mitch Valdes (who is having a show tonight at the Onstage on Greenbelt) thanking me for that interview that came out in this paper last Tuesday.

Some people are more formal, however – like Marichu Maceda, who really sits down to write letters of appreciation in her Assumption handwriting.

Dindi Gallardo, also loved to write thank you notes when she was still active in the show business. And so did Snooky Serna, who must have spent a fortune on greeting cards when she was still doing a lot of movies in the ’80s.

One letter of appreciation that I still keep and intend to keep forever is this letter from the late Helen Vela. It’s a very long letter written on silk paper and it came with a single long-steammed white rose, which was very much identified with her when she was still doing her drama-counselling show on television. Although I didn’t do anything for her that time, she said that she just felt like saying thank you and that was her way of showing her appreciation for our friendship.

A thank you may really be expressed in different forms. When I reviewed Maricel Laxa’s book, Mommy Talk, last summer, it was her and husband Anthony Pangilinan who thanked me via text messaging. I kept that message for a while because I thought it was very sincere and every time I would feel low, I would read it over and over again to assure myself that maybe I’m not such a bad person because somehow I’ve made some people happy sometime in the past.

Most gestures of gratitude, however, come in the form of telephone calls. Sen. Loren Legarda, even if she is up to her neck with work – always finds the time to grab a landline and call me to say thank you after a nice feature on her. What I like about her is actually the fact that she calls you periodically to check if you are still alive – regardless of whether or not you’ve written anything about her.

My phone pal today is Celia Rodriguez, who called me up more than a month ago when I put her name as one of the possible hosts of The Weakest Link after Edu Manzano quit the game show. Celia had to twist Rosanna Roces arm to get the number of my cell phone so that she could thank me at least on the phone. We’ve been calling up each other regularly since then.

In the case of my Startalk co-hosts, Rosanna Roces and Lolit Solis, we really don’t bother to say thank you anymore to each other when we give one another presents from out-of-town trips. Maybe it’s because we feel we’re family and it might be too mushy and awkward for us to be thanking each other profusely. (Of course, I’d still encourage family members to thank each other even for little deeds for the day.)

Another way of expressing thanks is this business is through what we call in the vernacular as pasabi – or through another person. Even this I appreciate.

Then, there was Suzanne Gonzales who once thanked me for a glowing review of her performance in Eh, Kasi Babae by incorporating her message of thanks within her dialogues in the sitcom – risking the ire of her director in the process.

So, you see, this industry isn’t so bad after all. We’re not really a bunch of ingrates here. And to my relief, I’ve discovered that this writing job I have at the moment isn’t really "thankless" – thanks to the people who show their gratitude in the various ways of saying thank you.