Racist Housewives?

Here's something I wrote for my school newspaper last year, Nov. 2007:

On the season premier of ABC’s popular TV show Desperate Housewives, Teri Hatcher’s character, Susan, said something that created an uproar within the Filipino community.

During the show, Susan went to get a medical check up and is told that she may be going through menopause.

Susan said to the doctor, “OK, before we go any further, can I check these diplomas? Just to make sure, they aren’t, like, from some med school in the Philippines.”

According to Asian Journal, the following Wednesday, 30,000 people signed a petition demanding an apology from the producers of the show. The number rose to over 125,000 signatures.

In another article in the Asian Journal, ABC Desperate Housewives Publicist Chandler Hayes issued a three sentence public apology; however, it was not enough for the Filipino people.

Mt. SAC’s high school outreach coordinator Aida Cuenza said that it is hard to say if the public apology is enough.

“It’s one thing to have a three sentence apology, but it’s not nearly enough if that’s all they are going to do,” Cuenza said.

Dr. Benjamin Camacho is a Filipino doctor. Camacho said he heard about the news the day after the show aired.

“I was shocked it was even aired on a major show,” Camacho said.

He said that the line implies negativity toward Filipinos in the medical field.

In addition, Cuenza, who is Filipino-American, did not take light of the comment made on the show. She said that the media perpetuates stereotypes and beliefs about groups and communities.

“My initial reaction was ‘here we go again,’ you know?” Cuenza said. “Portrayal of different ethnicities that have no real thought as to the impact on individuals,” she said.

Cuenza also said she felt a mix of emotions.

“There’s that sting, and the realization that this is Hollywood’s negligence as well. You have to continue to fight those stereotypes,” she said.

Another faculty member at Mt. SAC, Naomi Abesamis, 34, said that it was a thoughtless statement that affects the reputation and livelihood of educated Filipinos in the health profession.

She said she is making a conscious effort to boycott the show.

Abesamis has a good friend who went to medical school in the Philippines and is now taking her residency in the U.S. Her friend has worked very hard for it.

“ABC might want to do their research first regarding the value and success of the medical schools in the Philippines,” Abesamis said. “It was an ignorant and insensitive comment to make and it devalues the experience education and compassion that Filipinos bring to the health profession.”

Abesamis also said that Hatcher should be accountable for what she said, regardless if it was written in the script.

However, Dan Smith, a professor of television who has been involved in the industry for 24 years, does not think Hatcher should be accountable since it was her character that said it.

“The fact that these characters aren’t perfect is inherent to the show’s title,” Smith said. “It would be a mistake for anyone to confuse what her character would say for what Teri Hatcher would say.”

Smith also said that Hatcher could be fired by the producers of the show if she refuses to say a line.

Cuenza said that what Susan said on the show was not necessarily a racial slur, but it was a racist comment that elicits a type of attitude toward a certain group.

“What [Susan] is saying that she doesn’t value the expertise of the training of these [doctors and nurses] that come from [the Philippines] whether or not there may be truth to it,” she said.

“What is the basis for saying that?” Cuenza added.

Smith also said he thinks she would have been justified in not saying the line because it targets a nationality and it is not that funny.

“Perhaps it was written for shock value, but I can think of several ways of wording the line that would give the audience a bigger laugh,” Smith said.

According to the online petition, Filipinos account for the second largest immigration population and many enter the U.S. as doctors, nurses, medical technicians while successfully passing U.S. licensing boards. In addition, the Philippines produce more U.S. nurses than any other country in the world.

Camacho said his educational experience in the Philippines included a rigorous curriculum at The University of Santo Thomas.

“It is a good school and one of the best schools recognized worldwide,” Camacho said.

Brianna Metton, 20, said that sometimes people take TV too seriously.

“It could come off as a racist statement, but I think it was more of a joke,” Metton said.