Greasers and Socs

Last Saturday, I went to Metrowalk to look for DVDs. I haven’t updated my collection in a long time, so I was excited to see the new arrivals. Unfortunately, I was met by the same old titles and I thought I was going to be forced to settle.

Low and behold, as I shifted to the second DVD stand, I found one of my old favorites: The Outsiders. For those who are not familiar with the movie, it was released in 1982. The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola – Yes, the guy who bought us The Godfather.

The Outsiders is based on a novel by S.E. Hinton, which was first published in 1967. Hinton began writing the novel when she was 14 years old. The story highlights the tension between two groups: the greasers and the socials or “socs.”

The Socs are a click of rich teenagers. They have no reservations about “jumping” greasers whom they encounter in the streets. They listen to the Beatles, wear madras shirts and drive Mustangs.

On the other hand, the greasers live care-free lives. Their hard-knock backgrounds make them rough and tough. They listen to Elvis Presley, wear James Dean-type attire and are tagged by society as juvenile delinquents.

The movie is told from the greaser’s perspective. Our main character – Pony Boy Curtis – is a greaser who gets mixed up in all sorts of trouble. The movie tag line was, “They grew up on the outside of society. They weren't looking for a fight. They were looking to belong.”

The movie has a list of Hollywood notables, including Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio and Tom Cruise.

If you haven’t watched it, you should. It’s a good film, as well as a good read.

“A Very Special Love” Experience

What are the typical elements of a Pinoy movie? A rich guy and a poor girl (Or vice-versa) are forced into an environment where they have to work in a harmonious relationship. In the process, they end up falling in love. This basic plot can be used to describe a ton of Pinoy movies, including Star Cinema’s latest film: A Very Special Love.

My girlfriend forced invited me to watch this movie last night.

Kidding aside, recent Pinoy movies have vastly improved in quality. A good example is Tribu, a Pinoy film that recently received international acclaim in France.

Producers and directors have made a strong effort to make dialogues more interesting. This, combined with better plot sequences and cinematography have allowed recent Pinoy movies to capture, not only the C-bracket, but the A and B as well.

Actors Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz worked well together in the “Secretary and Boss fall in love angle.” Laida (Geronimo) is thrown into a dynamic office environment that is headed by Miggy (Cruz). It seemed like this role was tailor made for Sarah Geronimo. Laida, much like Geronimo, is young, innocent and idealistic. Yes, I confess, I found her funny because the character felt real and natural.

Roel Santiago who played Miggy’s (Lloyd) brother also had a notable performance. He played the antagonist in the film.

Yes, of course the movie is overly sappy. If you find yourself watching this movie, be warned: expect a lot of shrieks and tears in the theater. Truth be told, I fell asleep for about 15 minutes and when I woke up, the whole audience was crying. Mind-blowing.

On the real, the film is above-average in Pinoy standards. Much better than what I expected.

Pinoy ako!

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Ringing the Changes / Paano na ang Ligawan?

In the past decade, cell phones, once reserved for the rich and elite, are now ubiquitous in Africa and some parts of Asia. These devices allow developing countries to “leapfrog” older technologies. This results to better country prospects, or does it?

In the West, the cell phone is often used as a fashion accessory (Ahem… That also happens in the Philippines), but in the developing world it is a life line, a mobile office, an easier way to do business.

The cell phone revolution has taken the developing countries by storm. Statistics from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) indicate that in 2006, 70% of worldwide cell phone subscriptions came from developing countries.

Around half of the world’s population has a cell phone. Economists claim that these cell phones are being used in a way that can significantly reduce poverty and improve quality of life.

Why? Compared to contemporary communication technologies, the cell phone is much cheaper. Mobile networks only require cell phone towers - a cost that the private sector is more than willing to shell out (Click here for more information).

But, there are also trade-offs.

Youth are being raised in a society that is entirely dependent on wireless communication. This does not bode well for societies that are rich in tradition, like the Philippines.

I think Aristotle said it best, when he said “man is a social animal.” Perfect example: courtship or Ligawan. When I was a boy, I used to muster all my strength to approach my crushes. I had to come up with conversation topics on call. It was very spontaneous and nerve-racking. Ngayon, Ligawan sa text nalang. Wala ka nang kakaba-kaba.

Although the old way was less efficient, it had more character to it. Don’t you agree? Just goes to show, efficiency isn’t always the best alternative.

Bottom-line: the cell phone betters lives in ways that are good, bad and ambiguous.

Sources: Edition, CNN

Break Rules on Job Interviews

Are rules meant to be broken? Clichés like “think outside the box” or “be original” remind us that creativity is often rewarded in life. Yet, when it comes to job interviews, society encourages us to behave uniformly.

Think about it. Everything you’ve been told about interviews and applications revolve around one thing: being professional. Make your cover letter formal, wear conservative business attire and the immortal cliché: show them that you can work in a team environment!

In other words, you should do what everyone else is doing.

Did any body ever pay premium for typical or ordinary?

Tony Beshara, the author of Acing the Interview, has seen his share of unusual job application methods, ranging from funny to down right insane. And most of these unusual methods led to a contract.

"For a marketing job, the candidate bought a pair of baby shoes, wrapped one in a box along with her résumé and sent it directly to the hiring authority," Beshara remembers. "The box had a tag that said 'Let me get my foot in the door and you will be pleased.' When she went to the interview, she took the other shoe with her, which was a great way to start the interview."

Another applicant, who was hoping to get a sales position, sent his resume to the hiring manager with star tickets that fell out when you opened up the letter. On top of the letter, the applicant wrote, “Hire a star.”

There was also another case cited by Mark Stevens (A management expert). Stevens said, he once had an applicant that had great credentials, but the applicant failed the job interview. Stevens was disappointed to say the least.

The next day, Stevens received a package from the applicant. It contained a book on poetry and human loss – apparently, the applicant lost his mother during that week. In the book, the applicant asked Stevens for another interview. A couple of weeks later, the applicant was hired.

While these methods sound embarrassing and desperate, it allowed employers to separate these applicants from a pool of millions. In today’s competitive job market, you should capitalize on all opportunities to give yourself an edge over the other applicants.

Sources: Career Builder

The China Paradox c/o Hollywood

Have we met China? As far as pop culture and media are concerned, yes and no. The Olympics offers the perfect venue to change that.

What are the things that come to your mind when you think of China? Over 1.3 billion people? The world’s oldest civilization? The world’s tireless factory? Although all these things are true, China is so much more.

Media and pop culture have done a poor job of introducing us to China. Yes, news outlets and tv channels have made a noble effort to introduce us to China. But for most people (Those who don’t watch news, which composes most of us), their latest exposure to Chinese culture was this summer’s box-office hit Kung Fu Panda. Kung Fu Panda is a story about a chubby bear (Voiced by Jack Black) who becomes a great warrior. The movie grossed over $200 million in the US alone.

Yet, like most American movies this summer, Kung Fu Panda does a poor job of introducing us to modern China. Think about it. Most American movies in the past few years have been set in pre-industrial China (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Mulan, etc.) Even the latest movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, is set in the 1940’s where an undead 2000-year-old emperor unleashes chaos with his terra-cotta soldiers. For the most part, pop-culture’s knowledge about China is outdated.

Contemporary China is a trickier topic. It’s vibrant and fascinating. For America, it’s a legit economic rival with a range of issues, including human rights and environmental concerns. For corporations, it’s a cheap place to make products. For capitalists, it’s a huge market that has a budding middle-class.

People haven’t quite figured out what China is; an authoritarian state? A panda who loves dumplings? A rival or a friend to America? What we do know is: China matters in a global scale and in the future China will matter more. For the meantime, what floats in our minds is fascination and fear. While young children all over the world collect Master Shifu Happy Meals from McDonald’s, parents worry about their employment opportunities getting stolen by much cheaper, yet equal in quality, Chinese labor.

With full coverage of the Olympics being handled by NBC, our perception of China will, hopefully, be updated. The Chinese government has promised freedom to broadcast the games, yet with certain limitations. For instance, Tiananmen Square, the site of 1989’s student democracy protests, is off limits to live tv – broadcasters can only show this site for 6 hours a day.

NBC promises to show full coverage of the Olympics, along with breaking news from China, whether good or bad. Rightfully so, since NBC has invested over $1 billion dollars for the rights to broadcast the China Olympics. But it’s not just a show.

The Olympics gives journalists a chance to update and correct an otherwise Hollywood-poisoned perception of China. This means that journalists should not only cover the games, but also China’s vitality, repression, economic growth and political stagnation. This will test Western broadcasters; whether they will be promoting openness or accepting censorship.

The bottom line: the global audience wants and needs to know more about this country. This can better their lives in ways that are bad, good and ambiguous. So hopefully, the broadcasters will not tell us to forget about China and look at the cute panda.

Sources: Time