12 Philippine Showbiz Today
April 8 - 21, 2019
Why it’s hard to stop people from viewing,
spreading video scandals
Paredes had been vocal with his
opinions on social media against
some policies of the government
under President Rodrigo Duterte
and actions of his allies.
Following the incident, he made
his Twitter, facebook and Instagram
accounts private.
Why people are
drawn to scandals
A lewd video of a girl believed
to be a young actress or her dead
ringer made rounds on social media
over the weekend. The original clip
had since been deleted but many
Filipinos were able to spread copies
of it.
Some
Filipinos
opposed
the spread of the video deemed
defamatory of actress Loisa
Andalio, even if it is not confirmed
that it was her appearing on it.
The video started circulating on
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube last
March 22. It’s not certain, however,
where it originated.
Andalio, who found popularity
as one of the housemates of ABS-
CBN’s “Pinoy Big Brother” reality
show, has yet to issue a statement
on the matter.
Some parts of social media,
however, condemn those who
are requesting for copies of the
recording as hypocrites.
“It’s funny how people are
shaming Duterte for joking about
rape cases, detesting rapists
whenever rape cases arise and
saying yes to death penalty and no
to cyber bullying but are asking for
Loisa’s scandal and slut shaming
her,” Twitter user @WyethYoshabel
said.
As of press time, no other official
details have been disclosed.
Another latest viral video is
of Veteran singer-songwriter Jim
Paredes, who came clean with the
raunchy video clip which made
rounds online, retracting his earlier
denial that it was him on it.
Paredes apologized on his
website for recording the solo
act and emphasized that it was
supposed to be “private.”
“I know many of you have
judged me and condemned me,
and those who held me in high
esteem are disappointed in me,
to put it mildly. I apologize for my
irresponsibility,” he said on April 1.
“But most especially, I stand in
bottomless sorrow and contrition
before my family who are reeling
from the hurt and aggravation, and
the embarrassment and shame,
that should only be mine,” he
added.
It’s not certain where the video
came from or who posted it, but it
made rounds early this week. Some
of his fans claimed it was not him
in the video, but others noted some
likeness.
Paredes, a former member of
OPM band APO Hiking Society,
admitted he did not know how to
address his followers at first.
“The video was real. It was
private, and not meant for public
consumption. I do not know how it
became public,” he said.
He earlier tweeted it was “fake”
as part of an exchange for his earlier
post: “Fake news is government
sponsored.”
He alleged that his critics may
have something to do with the
privacy intrusion.
“I can only surmise that in
this ugly season of toxic politics,
muckrakers
determined
to
neutralize my influence by violating
my privacy and digging up dirt on
me are at work.
Fans and critics crave to
know the goings-on in the lives
of celebrities, according to a
psychologist.
Dr. Susan Kolod of Psychology
Today said people naturally have
the tendency to look for scandals
from a public figure.
“What makes scandals so
interesting? A good scandal can be
titillating, outrageous, entertaining,
satisfying and edifying—it allows
us to feel superior, to pity or
despise the transgressor and to get
vicarious pleasure, all at the same
time,” Kolod said.
She said that scandals allow a
person to experience a “better” life
from what he or she has.
“Scandals allow us, through
fantasy, to vicariously experience
an ‘other’ life, while leaving us
reassured that we are better off
in our ordinary, non-scandalous
existence,” she explained.
Furthermore, scandals and
controversies distract people from
their everyday lives for a while.
“Not only does it take our minds
off our problems, it also assures us
that our problems are small and
manageable in comparison,” she
said.
The use of social media also
greatly helped in providing people
easier access to such information,
according to an article from The
Guardian.
“It’s because the web works
outside the consent of the business.
The audience is in charge, armed
with a smart phone and a Wi-
Fi connection. This makes us
potentially more dangerous to the
celebrity than ever before,” Aleks
Krotoski wrote.
On the part of the celebrity
involved, the scandal or negative
gossip circulating on social media
may either make or break his or her
career.
“Beyond the personal privacy
issues, we’ve also got more control
over their careers: then, the duration
of their fame was determined by
a story arc fabricated by a studio
executive; now, the studios have a
second-by-second litmus test of a
celebrity’s worth,” Krotoski said.
(C.R.S. Madarang)