Wisteria hysteria

Desperately

Idiotic!

I almost fell off my seat when Teri Hatcher's character, Susan, on Desperate Housewives blurted out a derogatory comment about medical schools in the Philippines: after having been told that she might be going through menopause, the frantic Susan challenged the doctor's credibility and asked to see his diploma, to make sure "it's not from some med school in the Philippines."

Did I hear right? Did they just mock my country's education system? I was stunned! I couldn't believe how they could make such a denigrating remark on primetime TV, at this day and age (not that it would be less insulting if made any other time or place).

I mean, I always thought the show was pretty senseless, but I never really thought its writers were THAT ignorant!

Of course, my gut reaction was to curse Menopausal-Susan and vow to take the Housewives off my hectic Sunday TV schedule. I did both -- not just because I felt compelled to stand by my people and boycott the show, but because that comment only reinforced the show's senselessness. It was too "trashy" to even merit being one of my "guilty pleasures." Surely there were better ways to spend my Sunday evening than to watch five overly dramatic suburbanites fight over burly, hairy men.

Anyway, I thought the med school joke was dry, at best.

What I found slightly more disturbing was the Philippine government's reaction to the joke.

A petition (seeking apology from the show's producers) was also immediately circulated, AND the president of the Philippine Medical Association, Dr. Jose Sabili, said the organization will "take action" since such comments "will destroy the reputation of Filipino doctors."

I can see how Susan's comment can be infuriating -- trust me, that was my initial reaction, especially since my baby sister is a med student back home. However, the more I think about my sister and her classmates, the more I realize how little, if any, the show's writers know about the Philippines. I just didn't think it was worth the energy to allow myself to be affected by such ignorance?

Seriously! Why should we waste that much time and energy on an obviously stupid, uninformed comment? Come on, not only was the joke made on Desperate Housewives, it was also delivered by one of the show's ditsiest characters.

For people to actually think that one joke WILL (not even "might" or "could") destroy the reputation of Filipino doctors, I feel, is even more ludicrous than the lame joke itself!

Don't get me wrong, I think it was a bad joke and we deserve an apology -- I applaud the FilAm community for their efforts to make ABC and the show's producers know how wrong and hurtful the "joke" was.

HOWEVER, I don't think government officials, especially the President, needed to chime in on the uproar. Seriously, don't they have bigger issues to tackle? I just wish they'd deal with life threatening issues (like poverty!) with as much zeal and conviction.

I also find it somewhat worrisome that we value so much what others (even those whose opinions deserve no bearing) say about us, and that we're so afraid that what they say will define who we are! In the case of Desperate Housewives, I think some groups are giving the show and its producers too much credit by reacting as much as they have.