Our friends in the Philippines

five_red wrote: Super Ma'am, of course, airs daily on a mainstream network, while Supergirl airs weekly on a cable channel. So no doubt that explains some of the difference -- but actually it invites a much bigger question: why does Super Ma'am air on a mainstream network, while Supergirl airs on cable networks..?

For the record, The CW is not a cable channel. It may be that in your area, you are only able to see the show on cable because many CW affiliates are smaller and lower-power than some of their broadcasting brethren. Still, The CW is a broadcast network.

Nevertheless, your main point is fascinating. Could it be that us non-Filipinos are driving up the numbers because we can't see the exploits of Super Ma'am any other way? It's an interesting phenomenon.

Having lived in SE Asia for ten years, and spending some time in the Philippines, I can say from my experience that Filipinos are the most individually creative population I've ever encountered, both from the production and consumption of creative material.

It's not high-brow stuff, but it's usually fun. But it seemed to me that every Filipino I met was doing something creative, whether it was running some kind of low-level business scheme (not always on the up-and-up, but creative) or making music or drawing or acting, etc. etc. Seemingly everyone had to release the creative talent inside them, and they kept each other going by appreciating what everyone else did artistically. (If they did critique each other, it was too hidden for me to see.) I saw them as refreshingly non-judgemental. There was no bad art, only better art, which everyone could aspire to. The sense of enjoyment they got from seeing other people's art or creating their own art was contagious.

Unlike in the West, where deconstructive criticism is the cultural norm, and praise is rare or qualified.

I first noticed it when every hotel I went to (and living and traveling in Asia on business, I was in a LOT of hotels), there was a Filipino band playing in the lounge. And they were good. Very, very good compared to lounge bands anywhere else I've been in the world.

And then I realized how much comic art abounded. Seemingly everyone was drawing something, fearlessly. They didn't have to be good to enjoy it and have other people enjoy their work. A very unique culture for encouraging artistic expression, which I would describe as 'exclusively levels of positive feedback'.

So it doesn't surprise me that with video creation tools so inexpensive and pervasive that they now produce all kinds of short films and videos and TV shows and movies, ranging from bad to good, but always low-budget and fun. It seems like its wired into their DNA.

And the fact that many Filipinos seem to enjoy our genre, especially on a live-action level, is interesting. What was interesting was that long stories and novels didn't fly over there. At all. But very short stories, especially with a graphical element, and short videos are really where they seemed to get the most enjoyment.

The more educated, Western-oriented folks, even the Chinese for that matter, looked down on it all as quasi-aboriginal amateur art and impossibly low-brow, but not me (nobody has ever accused me of being high-brow). The whole point was that everyone could get involved to release their inner artist without fear.

Which is especially interesting as the Philippines is a pretty difficult place to live. Perhaps the art is an escape.

Shadar

Well consider your competition my friend,

there are 100s if not thousands of Supergirl Videos online-a lot featuring these things. Your in good company.

Super Ma'am i will admit is a character that i am not familiar with before you shared-in the english speaking part of the world i bet your kind of unique in this video, or at least more unique.

(black Scorpian-well...who cares very much)

five_red wrote:

castor wrote: So... to reiterate my question: where are all those fans on SWM, and other forums?


R5

Probably the same place all those great Filipino singers and bands are in the Western music industry. Not.

Or perhaps they are simply focused on their own forums, which most of us can't even read. Cultural and language issues can form a very high barrier.

Perhaps we should learn Tagalog (or more correctly, Filipino, which is a blend of Tagalog and English and other languages) and join them.

Shadar

I am from The Philippines.

Hey man ! Cool, i still have a bunch of "Komiks" episodes (from last decade), some of those were really well made for the time !