TELESRYE: Its Effects to People

     One of the forms of Philippine Drama is known to be teleserye. Teleserye (tele – short for television and -serye for Tagalog term for series) has become an inseparable part of the Philippine entertainment as early as 1960s. People from all walks of life are now being hooked to it – rich, poor, kids, teens and adults. It is now considered as one of the major sources of entertainment for the whole family. Because of its increasing popularity, it has now the ability to influence people’s beliefs and judgments. In terms of this, it can now be in line along with academic institutions, churches, and social networking sites such as Facebook. By this time, teleserye has already made huge impact on the lives of the general public.

EFFECTS TO THE RICH

     As they say, stories would be boring and dry without the presence of an antagonist or a villain. Villains make the whole story more interesting. Making the life of a protagonist or the main character miserable is the main purpose of the villain. Those sophisticated and wealthy people are usually portraying the antagonist in a teleserye. Although there are some teleseryes whose villains are commoners, but most often, the character of the antagonist is given life by the rich and powerful. Because of this, a lot of people, especially those who belong to the middle and lower class, are given the impression that wealthy members of the society are wicked and mean. For them, that term “wealthy and powerful” is synonymous to the term “greedy and cruel”. Although it is not the intention of a teleserye to give a wrong notion about the rich people, it is unconsciously implied.

EFFECTS TO THE POOR

     The usual storyline of a teleserye often revolves around the life of a character that possesses a weak personality. The protagonist comes, most often than not, from a poor family. There are teleseryes that has a protagonist that belongs to a wealthy family though, but the most common setting is where a poor main character exists and which happens also to be almost the real setting in our society – poor people are being oppressed, deceived, and maltreated. Due to this, people developed a concept that the poor are always the aggrieved party in any society. If being wealthy becomes synonymous to wicked, poor has also been synonymous to the word “oppressed”.

EFFECTS TO THE KIDS

     “May Bukas Pa”, “Ang Munting Heredera”, “Mga Anghel na Walang Langit” – These are teleseryes that has kids as a main characters. It’s ironic how these types of teleserye gain positive responses from the viewing public, yet these are the ones that are produced once in a blue moon. Teleseryes like these are good for the kids for it shows less violence and contains explicit scenes. It also aids in shaping the values and morale of the youngsters for it often shows children with good conducts. Although some depicts kids having bad attitudes but in the end, those bad kids are turned into good ones, thus, influencing children in a good way.

     Since kids-oriented teleseryes are not frequently produced, children tend to watch adult-themed teleseryes which requires an immense sense of understanding. This type of teleserye is unhealthy for the kids because it contains more violence and more sensual scenes which are too deep for the fathom. Furthermore, adult-themed teleseryes are not good for young audiences because act what they see which is one factor why a lot of youngsters commit crimes at an early age.

EFFECTS TO THE TEENS

     Another form of teleserye is the teen-oriented ones which is now gaining popularity. This type of teleserye portrays teens with their most common characters – easy-going and curious. Even though, most of the teen-oriented teleseryes carry a positive theme, young adults view it as contradictory to what is really happening to the real world.

     Teen-oriented and adult-themed teleseryes sometimes contradict each other. The first one conforms to what should and how should teens act while the latter exposes almost the real milieu. In turn, since the young minds of teens has the natural setting of whatever the adults do are good, young adults imitate them. Because of this, there is am alarming increase of teen-related issues such as pre-marital sex and pregnancy that leads to abortion, juvenile delinquencies, drug addictions, and prostitutions. Though some of these morbid scenarios are due to some factors such as peer pressure and family problems, we could not deny the fact that shows on the television, such as teleseryes, are one of the contributing elements.

EFFECTS TO THE ADULTS

     Since the beginning of teleserye, its most common storyline is about adults in love or adults competing to achieve something. This type is considered to be the most influential among the other forms of teleserye for it discloses a realistic scenario of what is really happening in the society. The main targets of this teleserye are the adults since they are responsible for educating and shaping the values of the younger members of the community.

     Some teleseryes tackle societal issues such as politics, crimes, and rebellions. These forms of teleseryes aim to make the viewing public be aware, especially the parents, the flaws of the society and the possible effects that are carried of it if not given much attention. Also, these teleseryes affect the judgments and views of adults for the modern teleseryes are produced not just to entertain but to influence as well.

The adults’ views and judgments are not only the ones that are being influenced by teleseryes. Reactions to certain issues, how they interact to other people, and the relationship towards their family such as imposing discipline to their children are also affected.

In general, a teleserye is not just a source of entertainment. It is also a cradle of both positive and negative ideasthat influence a person’s beliefs, views, physical and mental activities, and disposition, regardless of his age, gender, cultural affiliation, religion, and social status. Although some people think about teleserye as an exaggeration of the real life and is very sensational, there are also those people who view it as the reflection of the actual existence of an individual. Moreover, teleserye does not only show things as seen in the society. It also tries to unveil all the possible scenarios that may happen in the near future. It is not only a mirror but a window as well. It displays everything that people failed to see and never saw it coming.

Today, though not so obvious, teleserye is not just a m,ere product of someone’s imagination that is being brought to life bay a band of actors and actresses, but it is a dictator in its own form. Funny as it seems, but yes, it is very amazing to know how this “mere imagination” can find its way to become real and invade one’s personal disposition leaving a person very vulnerable.­­­­­­