A video essay made by a Filipino-American Youtuber One Down criticizing Philippine cinema has earned the irk of some Pinoys online.
The 14-minute cultural analysis attempts to explore how Filipino-produced movies supposedly fare poorly compared to those from other countries such as India, South Korea, and Nigeria.
Many Filipinos online expressed their frustrations over the think piece, saying it was not written with enough research and sensitivity.
A post about the video essay on X (formerly Twitter) drew a sleuth of upset comments. It garnered 5,000 likes and 3.7 million views.
I hate this so much. pic.twitter.com/BAj3yhkGcr
— militant (@alasiye7e) September 23, 2024
“The fact that even foreign audiences have valued our national cinema for the longest time is far more powerful than the Fil-Ams grabbing at straws for a place that they have absolutely no say in, unless they actually spent a significant part of their lives in the Philippines,” an X user wrote.
“A bunch of Fil-Ams that don’t really pay much attention or do enough research on what Filipino Cinema has been like for the past 5-10 years,” another Filipino user said.
An online user went as far as saying the content writers did not have the cultural sensibilities it takes to appreciate true Filipinos’ artistic choices.
“Fil-Ams can’t comprehend the REAL Filipino films,” the X user posted, accompanied by a clip of Eugene Domingo from the ‘Ang Tanging Ina Mo Last Na To’ movie.
The post earned over 50,000 likes and 9,300 reposts.
Fil-Ams can’t comprehend REAL Filipino Filmspic.twitter.com/tZqaE6M3iA https://t.co/jfxJywRUzq
— Kenji (@kenjijutsu_) September 24, 2024
“Eugene Domingo is one of our finest comedian actors ever. The nuances of our language are in the context. You cannot translate everything word by word into English,” another Filipino pointed.
However, a handful of users online gave the video its merits.
“But it’s true though, our film industry especially the mainstream studios keep on making bad films,” an X user chimed in.
“Philippines actually make dogs**** films. A lot of concepts are recycled for decades. Mid-tier acting. The camera compositions are inconsistent. They make every set look like it was in a studio. They’re not experimenting to be better. Most films are just for money grabs,” a different Pinoy stated.
In light of the overwhelming negative reactions of Filipinos on the controversial video essay, the YouTube channel has since changed the title of the video from “Why is the Philippines still making bad films?” to “How Philippines films are evolving”.
One Down has also apologized for the content they made.
“This video was made to showcase the improvements of our film industry so far but we apologize if it came across differently,” the channel wrote.
“As always, your feedback really is welcomed ang our goal IS to have conversations,” they added.
One Down has 57,500 subscribers on YouTube. The channel previously featured interviews with celebrities like Liza Soberano, BINI, Nadine Lustre, Kathryn Bernardo, and Dolly de Leon.