Lesson from Willie

HIS NAME is Jan-Jan. He is 6 years old. On March 12, 2011, he became everybody’s boy. The tyke appeared on Willie Revillame’s massively popular TV5 game show “Willing Willie” and, at host Revillame’s encouragement, began gyrating like a male burlesque dancer. Then, he started to cry. That was when Revillame asked him to dance again, which the boy did, grinding to the loud agreement of the studio audience. Revillame ended the segment by giving Jan-Jan P10,000, talking about how the boy was willing to do what was needed for his family.

But then the video of Jan-Jan went viral, and this time, it was outrage that erupted from the viewers. It’s child abuse, they remonstrated. Both the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Commission on Human Rights condemned the show for abusing Jan-Jan. There has been a call since for the sponsors of “Willing Willie” to pull out their ads in a boycott.

Though the TV station has issued a public apology, Revillame himself has been largely unrepentant. He has spoken out against his critics on the same show, claiming that he was in fact giving Jan-Jan a chance to demonstrate his talents and give the child and his family a chance at a better life. Revillame stood, brightly lit, defiant as ever.

To be sure, in his career, Revillame has metamorphosed from a drummer and a host into a show-biz force of nature and one of the wealthiest celebrities in the country. It was as the host of ABS-CBN’s “Wowowee” program, which dominated noontime for years, that Revillame positioned himself as a TV hero for the masses, giving away loads of cash to the needy, or at least the needy who were lucky enough to become part of “Wowowee’s” studio audience. Never mind that at one point, more than 70 people were trampled to death and hundreds were injured while trying to get on to the show. Revillame emerged from that incident, and from the investigation that followed, unscathed.

Then Revillame stepped over the line. On a live August 2009 episode, he objected to the simultaneous airing of the funeral procession of the late President Corazon Aquino. Observers called Revillame rude and disrespectful, saying his ego had gone out of control. Revillame issued another lukewarm apology and somehow his career survived this act of professional self-immolation.

But in May 2010, Revillame took exception to fellow ABS-CBN talent Jobert Sucaldito’s criticism of “Wowowee’s” selection of below-average high school students as contestants. He demanded that ABS-CBN management fire Sucaldito, or Revillame would leave the show. The resulting firestorm of intrigue eventually sent Revillame packing up his things in ABS-CBN for the nascent TV5 and a new show, “Willing Willie.” Soon after, a multibillion-peso lawsuit was filed against him by his former bosses at ABS-CBN.

He easily found success on TV5 – until the Jan-Jan incident which made him once more the central object of more indignation than ever. Yet even as public outrage against him continues to gather momentum, Revillame waits for yet another scandal to blow over – again.

And it may be our fault. We have long tolerated a twisted culture of celebrity that is grossly insensitive, even exploitative, of the very same poor people who adore it and who are then used to feed both its egomania and unbridled lust for profit. Revillame is only one of the many victims or manifestations of this culture. But this recent episode in his career serves us all, the entertainment industry first and foremost, a resounding lesson: use entertainment media to showcase the best in the Filipino, not the worst.