Weighing In on the Controversy

It has all the makings of a soap opera. A handsome, if slightly sleazy young doctor/model, a very wealthy, well-known older woman, a young sexy actress, sex, lies, blackmail, and hidden cameras. No wonder the media is covering all angles, the viewing public is lapping it up, and politicians who want their name in the limelight are getting involved. One can only hope that some good will actually come out of this unholy mess.

What normal people do in the privacy of their bedroom, as long as they are two consenting adults is their business. Emphasis on normal, privacy and most of all, consenting. The other party(s) had no idea she was being recorded and did not sign a release clause nor receive a talent fee. I sure hope she is not getting royalty from the illegal DVD sales. If she did, that would be another story.

A facetious remark was made that girls should not steal other people's boyfriends. Think once, twice, three times before jumping into bed with someone, specially if that someone is already otherwise attached. While I agree with this wholeheartedly, no one should be subjected to the pain and humiliation of such exposure. No one deserves this punishment, not this sexy actress nor all the others that came before, or after. Moreso, their families.

The main protagonist of this drama said that while he does not expect forgiveness, people should learn to "condemn the sin and not the sinner." Let us all be honest, it is very difficult to separate the two. Remorse is more believable if someone owns up and takes responsibility for their actions before getting caught. This was not a one-time incident, this shows a pattern of behavior which is very disturbing. How many videos were there??? Someone suggested he should go to Mindanao and do good deeds as penance.

One of the victims who stands to lose a lot in this story is the older woman. However, a woman in love will not listen to her head no matter how smart she is. Even when friends, and children go on record saying the relationship is not right, the heart, and hormones prevail. While I applaud loyalty, sometimes the only way is to cut loose. I hope she is aware of the effect this affair has on those who really love and support her.

Talking of women, a mother will always stand by her child. However, I sure hope she is chewing him out in private. Doing the blame game is not helping anyone, most specially her son. It sends the wrong message. As parents, we fear that someone will say "the apple does not fall far from the tree" so we justify the actions. We also try to shield them from the consquences of their mistakes but, sometimes they need to learn the hard way.

A few other lessons we can learn:
* If you are into movie making and do not want to be uploaded to youtube, press the delete button yourself and empty the recycle bin. Better yet, personally destroy the hard drive. If you do not know how to, then LEARN.
* Collecting sex videos of yourself is not the same as a diary or a blog. Helloooooo.
* Do not do drugs - I say this regardless of whether or not they played a factor in this particular situation.

If Senate Bill 12 does get passed punishing those publishing sex videos with or without the consent of the parties, I hope they actually have the means to implement it.