Makers of hit US television series "Desperate Housewives" have apologised for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused an uproar in the Southeast Asian country.
The episode showed actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asking during a medical consultation to check "those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."
The apology was made a day after chief aide to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said the line of dialogue appeared to be a "racial slur."
"I am mortally offended by the statement because it betrayed the racial prejudice and denigrates the excellent performance of world-class Filipino doctors in the US," said Senator Miriam Santiago, whose sister is a doctor working in Los Angeles.
The outrage is phony. The comment isn't about Filipino doctors, but the phenomenon where Americans unable to get accepted into American medical schools will go to places like the Philippines. Regardless of how good the training, only desperate Americans travel half way around the world to do so. Filipino doctors can be amongst the world's greatest, but Americans in those programs are likely not. It's a question of aptitude not training.
The politicians in Philippines know this as well as anyone, but decided to put a racial spin on it. And to be "mortally offended" is laughable. I doubt they want to be attended by Americans trained in their programs anymore than the characters of this TV show.
2 comments:
I watched the episode. When she said that, I reacted "whoa" because I never expect that kind of comment on broadcast TV which plays to the masses. It was a clear knock on diplomas earned in the Phillippines if not Filipino medics in general. I strongly doubt that anyone of importance in the Phillipines was watching the show to become outraged. I think controversies like this are drummed up by the producers of the programs which are trailing in the time slot.
They certainly need the press. I stopped watching the show last spring when the Sopranos returned. I Tivoed the episodes for later and never had the urge to watch them.
Instead of apologizing the producers should have asked how many Filipinos denied admission into medical schools in their own country travel to America for easy acceptance.
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