Everyday, I would come home and see my mom sleeping at around 8:30-9:30pm. Sometimes she'd mumble and ask me to be quiet when I arrive. I'm usually the boisterous one at home. I make the house noisy. Even the house password was my own ingenius invention. Its a combination of a shrill high pitched calling--something very unique to us all. You'd really be able to tell apart an impostor (if ever there is one). :P
Sometimes I find it funny and I would tease her until she'll give up and talk to me. We'd chat on the table. This is usually where we converge every morning or every night and just talk about anything we want to say or share with each other. Later on, when I leave the table, she'd tell me she hate me for talking her out of her sleep for nothing. I know you're wondering why..
She'd sneak up the sala couch and try to get some nap. I'll tell my busy sisters.. "what's wrong with mama?" They'll either just look at me, like I'm some stranger asking an unknown question.. or sometimes when I'm lucky, I'll get a smile and nothing more. I do my chores and prepare my room for sleep. At nights when I stay up a little later, I find the real reason why.
She'll suddenly spring from the couch and turn on the TV. I bought her a 32 inch LCD TV last Christmas since I know how much she loves to watch (and the rest of us loves to watch DVDs every weekend). Not minding her with her daily TV routine, I go about my writing / coding / reading or whatever it is that I do that night. When I'm not wearing my headset to drown the sounds of the perya / bingo place across the creek, I hear my mother laughing loudly at a time that's nearing midnight. Sometimes this seems normal, and at times I would wonder what she's watching and so one night I stood up and asked her what she's laughing about like its the best comedy film of the year.
You'll never guess, she was just watching Pinoy Big Brother!!! How my heart sinks knowing she laughs at these things. Well, my mother is definitely not me, nor would I want her to be me too :P if you get what I mean. I sit around, darting my eyes from the TV to her face watching her careful reaction of when certain scenes do take place. Apparently reality tv takes a huge haul of local tv's audience. My mother and my younger sister are fans of PBB.
They would sometimes chat and discuss about why such things happened to the different teams. I overhear them too talking about why the switching of members and houses, etc had to be done. Of course such questions can be answered by the practical mind, and those who are more exposed to the working for the private sector. Its more of a psychological/social strategy. That, I can explain to them of course. Sometimes I'll butt in, but they won't heed me. I guess as I'm typing away the letters from this keyboard, they are having more of an enjoyable moment watching these people being tortured in this boob tube.
Ooops! I didn't mean to hurt the fans. But did you know that Kuya is not GOD? At first, this challenge of doing whatever was the current task (dancing, group performance, team building tasks, singing, role playing, spying, fighting, exercise, swimming, etc) was an exhibition of their talents and skills. Later on, I hear about some absurd things being asked of them.. I especially hate the time that they were asked to drink alcohol. What if I was there and its a violation to my diet to take alcohol? (which I still prohibit myself from taking any drop of it for absolutely no beneficial reason) What if it was physically damaging for me? Would they consider? Or they really had to screen for those that are willing to take Fit N' Right for their liquid diet, taking it like its almost a substitute for water?
I know such things provided entertainment to some, but not to me. I knew also that up to some extent the reason why some people left the house was because they got tired of being "played" with by GOD. There was a time that "Kuya" got sick and his so-called brother had to fill in for him. This was the time that my mom and my sister complained a lot because this substitute GOD, didn't feel like GOD. He was harsh, had a coarse voice, maltreated some of the housemates, had some favoritism, etc.
Admittedly though, some tasks really provided some sort of training and some values-changing effect on the housemates, but some where really pure nonsense. After their "graduation" from Kuya's house, there were instant actors and actresses. But the thing that makes me write this post now is because of the newfound relationship of Melay and Jason. I'm not really jumping in the bandwagon of their popularity by pulling in their names, but what is the whole point of having them stay longer inside the house and watching over their relationship? Ratings? These are real people's lives.
Of course its nice to see that my mother would have time to relax by constantly timing her household chores and stopping by the TV to watch Melason. I do owe it to them that my mother gets an hour or so of rest (as she's a workaholic like me only in a different light). I also do understand that the two are providing more entertainment than any other seasons of the PBB. But I firmly believe that meddling with their relationship as in trying to test the loyalty of one to the other is way off what TV should do to these poor people. Money is not equal to the love they could really find for themselves in the end. I really wish they would stop playing GOD for they've already won the contest--it was in fact just a contest to begin with.
When they did fall in love with each other, Kuya even had to invite the ex boyfriend of Melay inside the house, provided them all with liquor and time to talk, etc. Yeah, all for the sake of public consumption. I wouldn't have my love life snooped like that! They had to see what these poor pawns' reactions would be for every strategy that kuya makes. That was a career move--their joining PBB, not a personal one. I hope that they stop playing GOD. If ever these new couple would indeed break up because of the false hope, glamour and even tension introduced to them by Kuya and the forces of media, I would definitely start writing to whoever is responsible for having this sort of thing aired.
I hope the fans of Melason would also consider that the love life of these two "could" indeed be real and should be kept private. Its a two-way thing. If you keep supporting Melason for too long, you could end up pulling their wits to their end because of too much media exposure; and if you don't these two new actors would lose lime light sooner than later. What ever you pick, take caution. Too much is always too bad.
And that's my two cents worth on Kuya. He is not GOD, and if ever he is, then I would prefer to be an atheist. To those who want to be inside Kuya's house, goodluck. I wish you're not yet insane as you already are just by having those thoughts.