Set fanaticism, ‘Pinoy’ pride aside when assessing an artist’s performance

As with anything done or shown publicly, Filipino-American stand-up comic Jo Koy’s roasting-hosting of the Golden Globe Awards was surely going to be subjected to everyone’s scrutiny. Sure enough, as the show was airing, the comments started coming, and most of them were scathing.

The risky and tricky thing about jokes is that they are either a hit or miss. If people end up discussing, debating about, or parsing a joke, then it’s safe to say that it fell flat. Seeing a host bomb one joke after another is not a pleasurable experience at all because of the second-hand embarrassment you get, as well as that growing feeling of pity within you as the host fails to make the audience laugh. You thus hope for the awkwardness and “cringy-ness” to stop pronto.

A seasoned comedian, Jo Koy surely has the gamut of experiences in terms of audience reaction to the countless jokes and punchlines he’s said in his career. But still, having admitted feeling “bad” about his stint or how it was received, may he be able to cope with this backlash soon and rise from this with his self-belief still very much intact.

My point is that it’s completely okay to express one’s own unfavorable opinion of any public performance, as long as it does not border on bashing.

Any normal level-headed person can distinguish between objective criticism and a hateful diatribe. Saying that Jo Koy (or some of his jokes) was not funny at the Golden Globes is not tantamount to character assassinating him or condemning him to hell. It is just an opinion, nothing more. Those who did not dig him cannot be faulted for what they feel or think, just as those who found him hilarious should not be contradicted.

I know that Jo Koy has endeared himself to many Filipinos because, aside from being funny, he’s half us, which makes us root for him to do well in Hollywood. But let’s be objective, set our fanaticism (and misplaced “Pinoy” pride?) aside, and allow others to freely express their honest opinion of his performance, positive or negative. After all, any person, especially a performer, can benefit from receiving honest feedback on his or her work, so he or she would know what areas to improve on.

Many out there do need to be reminded of something very basic—that people have varying opinions. So don’t be high-strung or in war mode if anyone says anything unfavorable about someone you idolize. This also goes to all the other fandoms out there. Be mature.

CLAUDE LUCAS C. DESPABILADERAS
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