The American television network NBC has cancelled plans to produce a new half-hour comedy series, titled Mail Order Family, after the concept was met with backlash from Filipino-American groups.
The show, about a widowed single father who orders a mail-order bride from the Philippines to help raise his two daughters, was criticised over its possible perpetuation of damaging stereotypes of Filipino women, as well as making light of the problem of sex trafficking. The series was in the script development stage before a cancellation was ordered.
“We purchased the pitch with the understanding that it would tell the creator’s real-life experience of being raised by a strong Filipina stepmother after the loss of her own mother,” NBC said in a statement, referring to writer-producer Jackie Clarke. “The writer and producers have taken the sensitivity to the initial concept to heart and have chosen not to move forward with the project at this time.”
Mail Order Family was a project pitched by Clarke alongside director Ruben Fletcher and producer David Bernad, the trio behind the current NBC comedy series Superstore, which features an undocumented Filipino character (played by Filipino actor Nico Santos) working for a retail chain.
After word spread online last Thursday that NBC was developing Mail Order Family, the show was immediately blasted on social media, with Asian-American and Filipino groups issuing statements critical of the project. A Change.org petition was also launched, while the hashtag #CancelMailOrderFamily trended on social media.
On Friday, less than 24 hours later, NBC announced they were cancelling the show. “Mail Order Family is the most recent example of how the exploitation and violence women face is normalised in US mainstream media,” the petition on Change.org read. “The mail-order bride industry in the Philippines is rooted in historical US colonial occupation of the Philippines, feudal-patriarchal view of Filipinas, and current neocolonial economic policies that have impoverished the Filipino people.”
Ma’ Rosa chosen as Philippine entry to Oscars
Brillante Mendoza's acclaimed film Ma' Rosa has been chosen as the Philippines's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the forthcoming 89th Academy Awards, which will be held on February 26, 2017.
The film follows the story of Rosa, a mother of four who falls prey to corrupt police officers after she is forced to sell drugs to survive. Lead star Jaclyn Jose, who plays Rosa, won the Best Actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Filipino to be honoured with the prize.
Although Mendoza’s films have been hits at international festivals, they are not as successful in his home country of the Philippines, with his movies rarely distributed and screened in theatres. So it was no surprise that Mendoza, 56, was elated upon hearing the news that Ma’ Rosa, his thirteenth film, was chosen as the country’s representative to the Oscars.
"I'm very happy that a film of mine was finally recognised by the Film Academy of the Philippines after 10 years and 12 films," he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Film Academy of the Philippines is the body that annually chooses the country's Oscars bet.
Ma' Rosa beat heavy favourite Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left), Lav Diaz's latest film that won the Golden Lion prize during last month's Venice International Film Festival. Both films are screening at this week's British Film Institute London Film Festival, which runs until October 16.
Ma' Rosa will now go through the Academy Awards selection process, competing against entries from around the world to secure one of five nominations. This year's nominees will be announced on January 24, 2017. No Filipino film has ever been nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Filipino words added to Oxford English Dictionary
Fifteen Filipino words — including six iconic dishes — have been included in the most recent update of the Oxford English Dictionary.
The list includes popular Filipino dishes such as kare-kare (a meat stew cooked in a peanut-based sauce), pancit (noodles), puto (steamed rice cake) and leche flan (custard topped with caramel). The infamous Filipino delicacy balut — a fertilised duck’s egg boiled and eaten in the shell — was also included in the updated version of the OED.
Other Filipino words that received entries in the dictionary include bayanihan (a spirit of civic duty among Filipinos), tabo (a dipper used to scoop up water from a pail while washing), lolo (grandfather) and lola (grandmother).
The OED compiles entries of over 600,000 words from across the English-speaking world. It is updated quarterly. Among the most popular colloquial words included in the latest update are uh-oh, clickbait and the acronym YOLO, which stands for “you only live once”.
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