Greta and Ruffa

I'm the most showbiz-updated person I know. I wish I could point to my work as an excuse (I was, after all, initially involved with the premier chismis website PEP.ph early in its development, and I've handled GMA's entertainment website for the longest time) but I suspect that even if I weren't involved in these projects, I'd still be as knowledgeable about showbiz news.

For the longest time, even before all these issues came out that involved them, it always bothered me how local showbiz programs and publications always seemed to put people like Gretchen Barretto and Ruffa Gutierrez on a pedestal, treating each of them like showbiz royalty. The amount of attention on them just seemed... inordinate.

I didn't get it. I mean, we didn't admire them because of their showbiz work; how many movies of theirs can you name off the top of your head? They're certainly not intelligent, nor are they well-spoken; remember, it was Ruffa Gutierrez who said in an interview that Filipinos did not eat dogs because we're not cannibals. It's not even because of their beauty; would they appear on most people's all-time top five lists? I doubt it. So what's the deal?

Then it dawned on me that the only reason most people cared about these women, the reason they're admired and glorified, the reason everyone was interested, was because each of them married rich, rich men.

Labels: showbiz

- posted by jaemark @ 6/05/2007 10:57:00 PM