Trends of the week
Super Bowl turns into surreal showcase of tragedy and weirdness
As far as grand commercial/sporting events go, this year’s Super Bowl was as depressing as they come. From the ads that were rich with sleekly produced morbidity down to the endgame filled with Shakespearean tragedy, Super Bowl XLIX was perhaps the darkest yet.
It was probably a bad omen that the most talked-about Super Bowl ads were about a talking dead kid and a son who grows up fearing for his racecar-driving dad’s life, because the Seattle Seahawks lost the Super Bowl in the most heartbreaking way possible — throwing the championship away when they were literally one measly yard from seizing it, causing Twitter to react as if it just watched a kitten get run over by a garbage truck. Meanwhile, Katy Perry’s surreal halftime performance that looked like Yo Gabba Gabba on steroids portended the utter weirdness of throwing the football from the one-yard-line when your running back is so good, America gave him the nickname “Beast Mode.” If none of that previous phrase made any sense to you, don’t worry. As this game proved, life is devoid of rhyme or reason anyway. Except for New England Patriots fans, who are the worst, so their perspective doesn’t count.
People arguing about the Mamasapano clash need to take a breath
In the aftermath of the Mamasapano clash that left 44 members of the PNP-SAF and 17 rebels dead, a war is being waged. There are no weapons in this war and the only casualties are reason and tolerance. Most of the battles have exploded online, but they have also spilled over into street corners, offices, restaurants, cafés, homes, and in any space where differing volatile opinions converge. Tensions have escalated, with even journalists known for their even-keeled disposition joining in the fray.
We are in the midst of a war of words, not to be confused with a “debate,” which is widely considered to be “healthy.” This dispute is just downright hostile and hurtful. What was originally about the Bangsamoro agreement, whether or not it was still worth saving, whether or not war was the answer, quickly devolved into a game of “Who Can Sound More Angry And Therefore More Right,” mostly played by those oblivious to the plight and history of Muslim Mindanao prior to last week.
It is one thing to criticize the President for being tone-deaf throughout this entire ordeal, it is quite another to take leaps of logic in order to conveniently land to a conclusion that calls for war. Probes are underway to determine what exactly happened that day and hopefully these will lead to facts. We’re already neck-deep in opinions.
Kris unfollows Juday on Instagram
Seeing people unfollow or unfriend other people on social media is a thing we all talk about. But when the media reports celebrities doing the exact same thing, we all go: “Who cares? Why are we even talking about this?” I guess this phenomenon is only interesting when it happens to your college batchmate who unfollowed his girlfriend, so OMG, I guess he’s single now.
To be fair, Kris Aquino unfollowing Judy Ann Santos is equally interesting, if not way funnier. The fallout happened after Judy Ann posted the now semi-viral old article of US President Barack Obama cancelling his plans in order to honor the fallen Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan four years ago, followed by the caption: “Just saying… Obama knows his priorities…” It was a subtweet — or whatever the Instagram equivalent of a subtweet is — that was obviously referring to P-Noy’s ill-advised decision to attend a car plant launch instead of the arrival of 44 PNP-SAF members that were killed in the Mamasapano clash.
Kris obviously doesn’t like people subtweeting her brother or “hating” on him on the Internet but her brother happens to be the President of a country where these people live. They’re not “haters” — they’re citizens in a particular democracy that’s been known to unfollow leaders before. What’s more noteworthy is that we still follow Kris Aquino’s words and actions at all.
Airline industry takes yet another hit
Two months into 2015 and we already have our second plane mishap. This after a year when it seemed as if the world had already maxed out on high-profile airline catastrophes. “Seemed” is the operative here: 2014 actually saw the fewest number of plane crashes in 80 years. So if air travel is safer than it’s ever been since the dawn of commercial aviation, then why doesn’t it “seem” that way? Maybe it’s because we have pictures now that spread like virus.
The frightening image of TransAsia GE 235 careening over a bridge in Taipei went viral this week, further feeding into a worldwide trauma that already subsists on a steady diet of 24-hour news and social media. This is unfortunate because, while numbers may be accurate, pictures remain the most powerful form of information in this “information age.”
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What are your top social media trending topics this week? Tweet us @PhilStarSUPREME.
