Philippine Pop Culture by Louis Fuego

Who Am I?

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 14:12:24 UTC

My name is Louis Fuego, a College Student who studies Computer Science and someone who's main goal in life is to learn anything that interests me. In regard to Philippine Pop Culture, what interests me is how each of these is actually intertwined with the Philippine's history and culture. Specifically some of these popular Philippine Pop Culture:

Teleserye / TV Dramas

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:01:52 UTC

Something that interests me about Filipino Teleseryes is that, despite the popularity of teleseryes nowadays being lesser and lesser it still tries to bring in new ideas and to keep things fresh. One of these examples is teaching people and showing people about one of Rizal's works through a teleserye with the premise being the protagonist going inside the book, and of course the popular teleserye "Probinsyano" which went for about a thousand episodes before it's ending entertaining people with well-choreographed scenes.

Music/OPM

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:08:39 UTC

Music, on it's own has so much influence around the world and Filipinos are of course a part of this. Music is a big part of our culture as Filipino as it's used as one of the ways to court people and can be used to connect and influence one another. OPM stands for Original Pilipino Music and the reason why I'm interested in it is because it encapsulates the feelings that we, Filipinos have. When we want to court people we sing a love song, when we want to feel happy we sing an uplifting song and so on and so forth.

Sports (Basketball)

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:15:03 UTC

While I don't really partake in sports. Sports is basically a part of our culture already and I find it interesting how Filipinos really really like basketball. To the point that there is never a day where I don't encounter basketball in some way. The channel my grandparent's are watching in? basketball. The road i pass by everyday to go to school? There's always someone playing basketball. It fascinates me how our country when compared to other countries is not as good as playing the sport itself but somehow Filipinos really really like it to the point that it's in our culture.

Street Foods

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:19:44 UTC

One of the things I love about Street Foods is that you can find them everywhere, want a quick bite to sate your hunger? Turn to the street and you'll see a vendor selling chicken skin or pastil for only 10-20 pesos. I myself used to survive on these whenever I find myself saving for money as they are cheap, and delicious to consume. It also interests me how street foods has become a culture that everyone has partook in eating atleast once in their life.

Fiesta

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:24:11 UTC

One of the things I really really like about our country's culture is the culture of fiestas. Everyone celebrates it, and there's even local fiestas between barangays that makes for a fun way to interact and engage with your neighbors. Although nowadays it's not being practiced and done I still remember the times when I would go to 5 houses in a day just because there was a fiesta and ate the same 5 food in each house only to do the same the next day because apparently there was another fiesta held back-to-back but this time in another barangay. Fiestas will always be something dear to my heart because of this.

Featured Philippine Pop Culture: Festivals/Fiestas

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:28:26 UTC

As mentioned earlier, I really really like fiestas. This is because not only do I get to partake in eating food, everyone and I mean everyone goes all out whenever they celebrate these fiestas to the point that it surprises me even. Families would prepare the entire morning just to accommodate people they know and celebrate with them. And if the Fiesta Holiday was big enough, there would be parades which are fun to see.

Pop Culture Analysis

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:29:30 UTC

Uses and Gratifications Theory

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:37:53 UTC

In the Uses and Gratifications Theory, people utilize media to satisfy particular needs and wants. This implies that the user has the final say over the media they want and choose to consume. For instance, if the media I want to consume are ones that satisfy my fantasies of adventure it would only make sense that I would look at content that contains adventures in it. It makes zero sense if the content I want to consume are adventures but what I am looking at is romance. In this theory, I will try to assess the impact Fiestas have on us

UGT Analysis: Fiestas/Festivals

louisfuego03_ — 2023-11-06 18:48:59 UTC

Uses and Gratifications theory as mentioned is a theory that focuses on a way people fulfill their needs and desires. Fiestas often provide opportunities to learn about one's cultures, history and customs furthermore it also helps with engaging with other people more and bond with them, fiestas help gain insight to food, music and rituals of a specific culture. Furthermore, fiestas is basically there for people to seek entertainment and escape from their daily routines as some of these fiestas are actual holidays being celebrated. Fiestas often feature music and other forms of entertainment that provide a break from everyday life.

Furthermore, fiestas also serve as something that can preserve a culture and a connection with it's community as people attend these events to celebrate and preserve their own cultural heritage depending on where these fiestas are being held and celebrated. It also allows individuals to gratify their culture and identity-related needs. And to those participating in fiestas to entertain people, fiestas can serve as a platform for personal expression and identity and to show their own interpretation of their cultures. Participants may choose to participate in fiestas that involve folk dance and such which allows individuals satisfy their creativity.

Overall, fiestas satisfy a variety of people's desires such as opportunities for information, opportunities to taste food, opportunities for social interaction and many more. Furthermore, fiestas as a culture is dying out in recent years (or atleast I haven't been participating in fiestas in a long time) and it felt nostalgic to me that I used to participate in fiestas and go to my neighbors houses and to my parent's friends houses to celebrate fiestas and interact with people.