Vice Ganda's en-pointe Impersonation of the Mother

Lie to Me

When I was in grade 4, my mom caught me lying about a school project.

During my juvenile years, I would lie to save myself from trouble.

"No, I wasn't the one who broke the glass."

"I wasn't the one who started the fight."

"I swear I didn't know it was yours."

Lies. Lies. Lies.

And now that I'm 21 (and yes, I'm old since I will be turning 22 in three months time) such lies are just plain ridiculous. Oftentimes, telling the truth would keep you out of trouble more than lying. And I learned that the hard way. Ask my parents how.

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Our generation is very familiar with a lot prominent people both here and overseas who have lied in more ways than one.

Who can forget Sen. Miriam Santiago's infamous admission of lying combined with her laughter during the Erap years?

US Pres. Bill Clinton and the whole Monica Lewinsky brouhaha. "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

And then there's Erap and GMA. 'nuff said.

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One of the shows that I am currently obsessed with watching is Lie to Me. And this show is just made of awesome. Its premise is that, even if people desperately try to hide emotions, their micro-expressions (errr facial and gestural and even tone of voice) can give them away.

Dr. Cal Lightman (played Tim Roth) is the world's leading deception expert who studies facial expressions and involuntary body language to discover not only if someone is lying, but why. When someone shrugs one shoulder, rotates a hand or raises the lower lip, Lightman knows he's lying. Based on the real-life scientific discoveries of Paul Ekman, the series follows Lightman and his team of deception experts as they assist law enforcement and government agencies to expose the truth behind the lies.

Watch it!!! Errr, well download it first haha :p

How to Break Up (Tales of Mere Existence)

This is really funny.

This is their Real World

"This is the true story... of seven strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World."

So says the show's OBB.

Been watching the current season (thanks to torrent downloading..shhhhhh.. haha) that brought eight American youngsters to the sandy beaches of Cancun. And so far, they've been nothing but entertaining.

Sans the possibility that this is actually a scripted show, I actually like its premise. I mean, come on, admitting that they won't be polite on this show is already a winner. With all the bleeps and the blurred fingers sticking out of each episode, I get the sense that these kids aren't acting out. That they're actually pissed. They they're actually having fun (at least occasionally.) At least to them, this is what being "real" is all about.

As a Filipino viewer, I couldn't help but compare them with our own futile attempts at reality shows. I remember how surprised our fellow Filipinos acted when they first saw the "controversial" first season of Big Brother. Filipinos are not like that, they said. But what if, our race has already evolved to such an extent? That women are no longer Maria Claras and that Filipino juveniles nowadays are not well behaved the whole 24 hours? I like it how Hannah, my officemate, puts it - our culture has become so traditional and customary that despite the evolving times, it still tries to be traditional yet at the end of it, is just plain pretentious.

Since that season, viewers watch Housemates that are reduced to drones whose main task is to please everyone. But honestly, why is our culture too scared to watch the real us? I feel like we're living in a culture that expects everyone to get along, when sometimes we do have to disagree. When we do have to take stands.

"You're not always going to like everyone and they're not always going to like you. That's just the way the world works," says Emilee, a roommate of this season's Real World.

And I agree.