Showbiz etiquette

( Second of two parts )

The other day, I asked Ms. Mayenne Carmona who writes a column on etiquette for this paper every Saturday to give her opinion regarding some gray areas that concern show business and its people. Here are some more questions regarding showbiz etiquette that Ms. Carmona would hopefully answer.

Majority of the showbiz population are smokers – and woe to the non-smoker and those terribly allergic to cigarette smoke because they often have to work with people who cannot function without perpetually puffing on a stick. But how do you tell your co-workers not to smoke in your presence without offending them and at the same time be able to drive your point that you are really bothered by their smoking?

Non-smokers in show business, you see, are a minority and you end up just being heckled if you ask the smokers around you to please stop smoking in your presence. Worse, what if it is your director who is smoking? You certainly can’t afford to earn his ire because he can make life miserable for you in the course of production.

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From time to time, I get invited to sit as judge in competitions pertaining to movies and television. Although this is not always an easy task, I try to accept these invitations as a service to the industry. The trouble is, during the deliberations, some of my fellow jurors insist that they cannot think straight if they don’t puff on their cigarettes – and this bothers me because I really get zonked out with just a whiff of cigarette smoke blown toward my direction. Now, I’ve long been contemplating on doing this, but haven’t done so: Would it be too much of me if I tell the secretariat that I will accept the assignment only if they can assure me that all the screenings and deliberations would be smoke-free? Won’t I be branded as "too demanding" if I made this a condition before accepting the position of judge in these competitions?

In restaurants, how much should celebrities tip the service crew? Are they really expected to tip more than the others being celebrities?

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The awards season begins next month. A perennial problem of the people in charge of production concerns those long acceptance speeches that just keep going on and on. In the Academy Awards in Hollywood, the orchestra begins playing music once an acceptance speech has gone beyond its time limit.

While this can work for the less sensitive Americans, I doubt very much if this practice can be introduced here without offending Pinoy sensibilities. What do you think?

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Actresses ascending the stage to accept an award are often escorted by their respective consorts. But up to where should these consorts accompany the actresses they are escorting? There are some who escort the actresses only up to the stairs leading to the stage, but there are also some who mount the stage and stay behind the actress until she is done with her acceptance speech before the podium. Which is the proper thing to do?

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Every time Fernando Poe, Jr. graces an awards presentation, showbiz people always make the effort to walk over to where he is seated to pay homage to the King of Philippine Movies – which I commend because it’s always good for us to give our respect to one of the pillars of the industry.

Most young actors and actresses today are actually quite respectful of our veteran stars and this pleases me no end. These youngsters come over to where the senior actors are seated just to say hello. In fact, during the Urian Awards last year at the Araneta Coliseum, I was deeply touched with the way Mylene Dizon took care of Ms. Gloria Romero – going backstage to get Tita Glo a bottle of mineral water and just checking every so often on the needs of our beloved Ms. Romero.

Unfortunately, during these awards presentations, I’ve also noticed that stars who are deemed rivals try to sit at opposite ends of the auditorium and no one would take the initiative to get up and greet the other person and this sometimes creates tension – especially when the people involved are movie queens of equal stature.

It’s just too bad that there are no rules and guidelines in this kind of situation. But if you ask me, the one who takes the initiative first and acknowledges the presence of the other person is really the bigger star of the two in my book.