Aoanan, Sedric Jed M.

H27 Academic Paper

7/11/11 INSOCIO

Filipino Culture: Changed or Degraded?

The Philippines, as most people would say, is one of the most hospitable countries in the world. However, this one value that we have is also our main weakness. But we cannot deny it, since it is part and incorporated to our culture since our ancestors dominated the country. It is also one of the main reasons why over the past years, our culture has changed, rather, degraded.

One of these changes in our culture has something to do with our values. One example of this is the word HIYA, literally meaning shame. Alfredo Roces gave another meaning to this: a universal social sanction, creating a deep emotional realization of having failed to live up to the standards of society"(A. Roces, chapter 3). Nowadays, in our very own society, we seem to become shameless people, not knowing our limits and continue on with our daily lives, living with shame all throughout.

This change has affected has culture so much that the younger generation have not adapted the values from the older generation, and the current culture has been infested with such degraded individuals no one dares to correct his/her mistakes.

Another factor is Cultural Hegemony (Marx, 1848; Gramsci, 1917). He states that the ideas and values of the dominant members of the society are diffused to social institutions and are imposed to the less powerful members of the society. This means that the elites of the society have this culture and therefore, it must be promulgated to the lower class of the society. Relating this concept, would you rather believe in the dominant culture and follow it, or live with what you grew up with?

Another significant change in our culture is the appearance and dominance of the Korean fever, rather, the KOREANIZATION PROCESS (J. Acosta-Parischa, Ph.D, 2010). With the current situation, it can be seen that a lot of us truly look up at Korean culture. From music to drama, we patronize it so much there isnt any more room for our own local culture.

In relation to the Koreanization process, there are implications to this process. One is the commercialization of products (T.W. Adorno & M. Horkheimer, 1944; J. Acosta-Parischa, Ph.D, 2010). This means that the foreign culture is being adapted by our local show business

industry, therefore, giving a major loss to our own culture and industry. Most of the artists, according to Acosta, are made to do mere dubbing. As such, it becomes a major loss of job opportunities, and the loss of an identity that is uniquely ours (Acosta-Parischa, 2010).

Another implication is hyper reality. This one does really make up to its word. Soap operas, in the sense and context of the word, do give an impression to us and reflects on reality (C. Barker, Cultural Studies, p. 266; Acosta-Parischa, 2010). However, realism and melodrama are two different worlds, one of which is only by the screen, and one of which is the exact truth of the world.

Another thing about culture change is the emergence of other cultures within the society; in other terms, the emergence of countercultures in the modern society. One example is the JEJEMON CULTURE. They are being looked at, from the way they dress to the way they converse. They dress up in a way that they seem somewhat hilarious when you see them on the street: rainbow-colored caps, loose jerseys, rubber shoes, tons of silver accessories, and loose shorts. And the way they converse is the coolest thing to look out for. A normal hello po for them would be e0wz powhz, or kain na po will become ka3n nA powhzs.

All I could say now is that our culture has changed in the past years. With the influences of the Spanish, American and Japanese in the past; mostly Korean and American in the present times, we ought to adapt these changes and lose our identity as Filipinos. Maybe soon, our heritage as Filipinos might just fade into thin air.

References/Works Cited:

Roces, Alfredo, and Grace Roces. Culture Shock! Philippines. California: University of California, 1992. Print. Acosta-Parsicha, Josephine. Koreanization of Philippine and Asian Popular Culture. knol.google.com. 2010. <http://knol.google.com/k/koreanization-of-philippine-and-asianpopular-culture#> Adorno, Theodor, and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment. Germany, 1944. Print. Gramsci, Antonio, and Karl Marx. Das Kapital. Germany, 1867. Print.