They join showbiz with beautiful bodies as their major capital but once they have shown every nook and cranny of their anatomy, what’s left for them to show or to stand on? Nothing. Unless, of course, they can prove – show it! – that they possess something less ephemeral and more lasting, and that is talent (with a Capital T).
Look at Rosanna Roces. Or Jaclyn Jose (who rose to prominence via the bold-drama Private Show where she and Gino Antonio play a toro couple who performs in, that’s it, private shows for sex-hungry men). Or Sarsi Emmanuel who, before she got hooked on a bad habit, did a few films (Virgin Forest, etc.) with the revered Peque Gallaga who noticed Sarsi in her bold outings. Or a dozen of today’s top dramatic actresses who have had their own share of flesh-baring.
What about the rest, or some of them? Whatever happened to them? What followed when the "bold party" was over? Time to call it a day? Some have, luckily, married well (mostly foreigners) and are now living happily ever after. But others ended up either in limbo, not knowing what hit them, or in shambles, unable to put back the pieces of their shattered lives.
The celebrated case of Brandy Ayala, one-time Seiko Jewel, is a glaring example. If you have seen Brandy on national television these past days, your heart must have bled for her. She wanders in the market of Pritil in Tondo, looking crumpled by the harrowing effects of drugs, talking incoherently, looking at you with empty eyes, a mere shadow (remnant) of her old sexy self seen in a dozen skin flicks she did in her two-year stint in showbiz.
Drugs have robbed Brandy of her sanity and her family, especially her aging mother, are helpless. Brandy lost her career, her American boyfriend, everything that she earned as a bold star and, most valuable of all, herself. It’s a good thing that ABS-CBN (through shows like The Buzz and Kontrobersyal) has played up Brandy’s plight and help (moral and/or material) from generous souls and Brandy’s showbiz colleagues have started pouring in.
Also currently in the spotlight is Janice Jurado (remember her as the dim-witted maid in the sitcom Eh, Kasi Babae, produced by Nini Ramos-Licaros?) who’s suffering from a breast ailment (in danger of turning into cancer) caused by silicone implant a decade ago. "I wanted to have big boobs and this is what happened," said Janice during a brief chat with Funfare.
Janice isn’t the only casualty of breast-enhancement. One bold star discovered to her dismay and horror that her boobs were leaking several weeks after they were "augmented" while another had to undergo an emergency surgery when her repaired boobs began giving her excruciating pain. (Lesson? Tamper with Nature and Nature hits back. It’s true whether you do it to the environment – remember the great Ormoc flood? – or to your body.)
And how has Fate dealt with other bold stars?
In the early ’80s, two committed suicide, one (Stella Strada) by hanging and another (Pepsi Paloma) by taking "overdose." Within that period, another bold star (Claudia Zobel) was nearly decapitated in a car accident (reminiscent of Jayne Mansfield’s tragic death).
Bold Star "M" made a few suicide attempts and had to undergo psychiatric treatment before she could get hold of herself. She’s now a preacher (thank God), just like the guy who did porno flicks. Bold Star "J" now works as an alalay (factotum) of a young star while Bold Star "T" is barely recovering from the after-effects of drugs and is now trying to make a comeback (she should be given a second chance).
Bold Star "C," who won the public’s heart by admitting early on that she’s the daughter of a Metro Aide, initially enjoyed a happy married life until her husband (a former actor) started beating her up, driving her back to the humble beginnings where she said she came from. Others have gone back to honky-tonks where they originally came from.
There are lessons to be learned from the experiences of these bold stars. Showbiz can be very tricky sometimes and it can make you lose your bearing and distort the way you look at yourself and the world. You get the illusion that everything will last when in fact you’re only as good as your last movie or TV show. As the song goes, some good things never last. Oops! Let’s make that a lot of good things never really last.
Lesson?
Simple: Make hay while the sun shines and save some (hay) for the rainy days.
It’s a lesson not only for bold stars but even for you and me ordinary mortals, isn’t it?
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph)