A video essay made by a Filipino-American Youtuber One Down criticizing Philippine cinema has earned the irk of some Pinoys online. The 14-minute cultural analysis attempts to explore how Filipino-produced movies supposedly fare poorly compared to those from other countries such as India, South Korea, and Nigeria. Many Filipinos online expressed their frustrations over the think piece, saying it was not written with enough research and sensitivity.
A post about the video essay on X (formerly Twitter) drew a sleuth of upset comments. It garnered 5,000 likes and 3.7 million views.
“The fact that even foreign audiences have valued our national cinema for the longest time is far more powerful than the Fil-Ams grabbing at straws for a place that they have absolutely no say in, unless they actually spent a significant part of their lives in the Philippines,” an X user wrote . “A bunch of Fil-Ams that don’t really pay much attention or do enough research on what Filipino Cinema has been like for the past 5-10 years,” another Filipino user said . An online user went as far as saying the content writers did not have the cultural sensibilities it takes to appreciate true Filipinos’ artistic choices.
“Fil-Ams can’t comprehend the REAL Filipino films,” the X user posted, accompanied by a clip of Eugene Domingo from the ‘Ang Tanging Ina Mo Last Na To’ movie. The post earned over 50,000 likes and 9,300 reposts. “Eugene Domingo is one of our finest comedian actors ev.