By JESSICA ZAFRA -
Why are we frothing over Ricky Lo’s interview with Anne Hathaway? When I watched the video my first reaction was embarrassment. But who exactly was I embarrassed for: Lo, Hathaway, or myself?
As celebrity interviews go, this is not the most dumbass we’ve ever seen. On the scale of inanity, it’s average. Granted, we are connoisseurs at the cringe-making interview. (We remember the one where a local TV host talks to a Brazilian model and discovers that she is of German descent. “Heil Hitler!” he exclaims. And he does the Nazi salute. On television. I’m not sure, but there may have been a laugh track to go with it. Note: Never do that in Germany.)
What went wrong with the Hathaway interview? It doesn’t sound that different from the veteran entertainment editor’s other interviews, and they did not elicit this level of Internet execration. There was the one where he was talking to a British musician who was a former soldier and his question was: “You’re a licensed pilot. Have you ever flown a plane?” That incident flew – haha – under the radar; the musician is not as popular as Anne Hathaway and Les Miserables. (Of course Pinoys love Les Miserables, it’s got singing and crying.)
Lo’s first question to Hathaway is a doozy – if it makes it onto a T-shirt, I’m buying one. Recite it with me: “You lost 25 pounds for the role of Fantine. How did you do it and how did you gain it back?” I’m sure Lo meant the question to be an expression of his admiration.
Weight is always a highly charged issue in show business: actors are slammed mercilessly when they put it on, and suspected of anorexia when they lose it. Movie stars win Oscars by gaining/losing a lot of it (Charlize Theron in Monster, Christian Bale in The Fighter. Fine, they were brilliant, but the weight got them noticed). At this point Hathaway is a lock for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and her weight has something to do with it.
Unfortunately when Lo poses the question to Hathaway, cultural differences come into play and it sounds like he’s calling her fat. That’s not going to put her in the mood. Bad enough that she probably had to do 50 of those interviews in a row. (It’s like the “Horse and Hound” scene from Notting Hill.) Not being Pinoy, Hathaway is not used to strangers greeting her with, “Uy, ang taba mo ngayon, ah!” (Hey, you’re fat now!)
Then they discuss how she prepared for her role, and she mentions researching the “emotional toll…of being a sex slave.” He does not inquire if she has ever been a sex slave. However, later on he asks how someone like her who is perceived as privileged could identify with her character (i.e. wretched and oppressed). “Have you ever experienced to be hungry? To be poor, and you know, just like the character?”
In the Philippines this is an acceptable question to ask an actress. Entertainers are expected to divulge their deepest, darkest secrets. We’re an inquisitive people. Ask for directions on the road, and you will be asked why you’re going there, who you’re meeting, and whether you’re married.
In places where acting is regarded as a serious profession, it can get you slugged. Actors are a very sensitive lot; it comes with the territory. You do not need to be attacked by acid-spewing monsters on a spaceship to play Ripley in Alien (although Method actors would find some equivalent). It would seem that Lo is challenging Hathaway’s credibility at playing a miserable waif who is dying of consumption.
“That’s a very personal question,” Hathaway replies rather testily. Lo laughs, probably from embarrassment. I’m only watching a computer screen, but I want to run away and hide behind the sofa.
Then he mentions his “friend from the Philippines”, Lea Salonga, who has played Fantine onstage to great acclaim. This is very Pinoy, name-dropping the famous, although we can’t claim it only happens here. In the presence of foreigners we’re eager to mention internationally recognized Filipinos, American reality show contestants of Filipino descent, anyone we can claim as our own. This is a potentially embarrassing situation: if they don’t know who we’re talking about, it may feel like our entire nation has been snubbed. I suspect we do this because we get very little attention in the global media, although that seems to be changing.
At least Lo didn’t show Hathaway his photos with Lea and other celebrities or make her promise to accept his friend request on Facebook. He does show her a message from Lea on his phone. Hathaway is profuse in her praise of Salonga, and basically says she can’t compare with the Filipino singer. She is self-deprecating: “If you think of me as an actor who sings, rather than a singer, I would probably be more impressive.” Well played. They talk about Hathaway’s mother, who had also played Fantine onstage, favorite scenes in the movie, Oscar chances, etc. (Anne Hathaway definitely deserves that Oscar for The Dark Knight Rises, where she was the only one who seemed to be having fun.) Give Lo some credit for not asking her to sing a line or two from “I Dreamed A Dream”.
But as the four-minute interview draws to a close, Lo brings up Lea Salonga again. “Would you like to say any message for Lea, who’s looking forward to watching the movie and meeting you in person?” Perhaps he has run out of things to ask Hathaway. Perhaps he thinks that she has been answering the same questions all day, and talking about Lea is the only thing that differentiates him from the other reporters.
“Well, we’ve already talked about Lea,” is Hathaway’s reply, and I scurry under the sofa and cover my eyes. At which point Lo says, “What about inviting fans from the Philippines to watch the movie, showing January?”
You have to understand that this is how every celebrity interview on Philippine television ends. The host asks the celebrity to issue a personal invitation to the viewers to watch her movie or buy her album or watch her concert. (Pinoys like the personal approach, we have to feel that we have been acknowledged. Consider how listeners call radio stations to ask the DJs to greet them on-air.) And then the host gives the celebrity a big can of Birch Tree powdered milk and a pack of YC Bikini Briefs (For the man who packs a wallop. Kuya Germs interviewing Hugh Jackman: I’d pay to see that).
“Why don’t you invite them?” Hathaway says. “I think they’d much rather hear it from you.” Aray. Fortunately the video ends before I have dug a hole in the floor to vanish into.
In sum, the Lo-Hathaway interview is littered with cultural landmines, all of which Lo stepped on. If it were a Filipino interviewing another Filipino, we would not be foaming at the mouth. But he’s talking to a foreigner, a world-famous actress whom we admire. And every time a Filipino speaks to a foreigner in an international setting, he automatically becomes the representative of the Filipino nation (He makes us look inarticulate and inane!). We think the whole world is looking on and judging us. That’s why we’re embarrassed.
Why do we get so worked up over stuff like this? That’s another column.
Find more like this: Entertainment, Opinion
Jessica Safra, you have never failed to get my attention and admiration. The first time I read an article from you ages ago when I was still based in Manila (you were just starting your writing career then while I was also starting to build my own career), I instantly knew then how smart your braincells work. I also watched on the net the interview between Lo & Hathaway and as I expected, it was something that would really make me bury my head under the ground and as expected, I didn’t see the logic for some Pinoys to bash Hathaway. Or perhaps they failed to see the below mediocre interview that transpired conducted by Lo. Jessica, indeed you hit it right on target. Next time that there would be another opportunity for such interview with any international celebs, why not present yourself to represent the Pinoy entertainment media so the Pinoys could be defused from another humiliation. Still love your brilliant writing and your very sound logic. I’ve always been a fan and I hope to read more of your writings/articles. :o)
Na offend si Anne malamang sa gutom and poor question dahil she practically starved herself for the role. And I quote “Because of the hectic shooting schedule, Anne had to drop weight very quickly in an unhealthy way: By alternating starving herself with subsisting on less than 500 calories a day on a regimen of two tiny squares of dried oatmeal paste.” (http://www.examiner.com/article/anne-hathaway-on-25-lb-weight-loss-i-stopped-eating-for-13-whole-days) So naka experience talaga sya magutom. Kayo ba naman yun lang kainin buong araw. Yikes. Also she said she was “reluctant to discuss her drastic diet for “Les Misérables” because she didn’t want to promote or glamorize anorexia.” (http://www.movie-case.com/anne-hathaway-weight-loss-she-finally-admits-that-it-was-a-25-pound/) Baka nga mamaya may mga kabataang gagaya sa unhealthy way she lost weight eh may masama pa mangyari sa kanila. Ayaw daw nya maging part non.
with everything said with weight loss/gain, with lea being mentioned twice, about inviting her filipino fans; every article i have read so far have different reasons/speculations. but if there’s one thing clear about the whole thing, she wasn’t smart enough or she’s just plain rude to answer the questions may it been phrased in an insulting manner. as they say “to whom much is given, much is expected!
International boxoffice likely more than usd 200,000,000. Boxoffice in the Philippines? Usd 2m. If Ricky is from russia , Germany, china or Japan where peope don’t speak good english too. They would have been treated better. Who wouldn’t ? Top 4 territories in the world.
The best selling papers in the world are tabloids , no?
rude is an interviewer who can not give his full attention to his interviewee when interviewee is answering interviewers question. Ricky Lo had his hands full – with cue cards on hi sleft hand, while he was gesturing his left hand in the air, and cellphone on his right hand, the camera caught Ricky Lo, glancing at his cellphone while Anne Hathaway was answering his quesition on how Anne Hathaway prepared for her role as Fantine. Rude is an interviewer who interrupts his subject when she is talking. Rude is someone who does not come prepared for his interview – is this press junket about Les Miserables the stage play, or Les Miserables the movie? And what kind of question is that about living a life of luxury and privelege, had she been hungry, had she been poor? She is an actor, isn’t she? That is what actors do. They ACT. They do not necessarily have to re-enACT. She played a prostitute, has she been a prostitute too? As for Anne Hathaway not being smart, do you really want to go there? Who can compose their thoughts succintly and clearly? Even if Ricky Lo uses his native tongue, whether Bisaya, Waray, Bicolano, or Tagalog. I doubt it. Let us go the academic route… should we compare the schools where Anne Hathaway went to , and the educational institutions that Ricky Lo attended before 1969? Hard knocks university, you think the entertainment industry in the US is easier than the Philippines? Ask Ruffa Guttierez, how far did she go with her quest for stardom in Hollywood?
“If Ricky Lo is from Russia, Germany, China or Japan where people do not speak good english, they would have been treated better.” Regardess of where you got your information, , we Filipinos pride ourselves as very good english speakers. The question to ask : Is there a lack of talent in the Philippines, who can speak good english, who can express himself in good english, who can think and react quickly with wit, who is energetic, who can do active-listening ? Ricky Lo is old already. His reaction time is slowwwwwww….. He can not even open his mouth when he talks. He is so old, he does not even know how to use the computer other than as a typewriter. . Maybe he is dependent on other people for researches? There are so many younger mass communication graduates who can fill his spot in a nanos-second, and give us better service, as entertainment reporter, interviewer. Maybe , we can send reporter/writer/researcher/interviewer, all-in-one, who is comfortable with the english language, who does not have the urge to insert himself or herself in the interview, in other words, pabida, instead of letting his interviewee be the star of the interview. Anne Hathaway was not rude to Ricky Lo. David Letterman asked how Anne Hathaway lost weight for the role of Fantine (and not PANTENE, as Ricky would say), and Anne Hathaway declined to answer too. You can not say, that RIcky Lo is from the Philippines that is why he got a bad interview. MannyTheMovieGuy is also from the Philippines, but he was able to connect with Anne Hathaway, and she even volunteered informations not asked, like her age! Get over this reasoning, that it is because, Ricky Lo is from the Philippines, that was why he got the interview that he got. Ricky Lo got the interview he got because he is a lousy interviewer. Ang daming magagaling na mga Pinoy. Why is Ricky Lo, getting those opportunities to interview those Hollywood actors, when Ricky Lo had proven time and time again (see his interview with Liam Neeson, where Liam Neeson even said, “You are a weird dude” and Liam was serious) that he is not a good interviewer for these foreign talents. Mahirap siya to adapt. Maybe being 60 years old, or 65 years old, it is hard for Ricky Lo anymore to adapt. There are actors who are 60 years old and older, who are still energetic, and still have sharp minds. Ricky unfortunately, does not have it . When he asked Anne Hathaway for message for Lea, Anne said, “We already talked about Lea.” Ricky said, “Oh, we did.” Did he forget? Mr. Ricky Lo, step down, resign, make room for new talents. Or whoever is in-charge, send someone else to do the interviews. Stop subjecting us the public, with incompetent “journalists”. Give us real journalists.
It was indeed a weird interview from the point of view of ANY HOLLYWOOD OR AMERICAN SHOWBIZ PERSONALITIES. Ricky Lo and all other local Pinoy reporters who would have the chance to interview international celebrities most specially Hollywood personalities MUST try their darn best to stay away from their Pinoy way of conducting an interview and try their best to put themselves in the shoes of a relevant, smart and well-versed and ARTICULATE INTERNATIONAL JOURNALIST. Clearly, Ricky Lo conducted his interview with Hathaway like he was just interviewing Pokwang out to promote her latest film in Startalk. It also didn’t help that Ricky’s thick accent and his hard-to-understand English (FOR NON-PINOYS OF COURSE) and his so freakin’ mediocre line of questioning made him sound like someone from a backward nation who just stepped out of the boat and who got lucky to interview a Hollywod celeb. The OLD EYE-BROW RAISING HABIT of Pinoy showbiz talk show hosts asking their guests to “invite the viewers or their fans” to watch their up coming movies or buy their latest album is NEVER a relevant (not even cute) question to ask any Hollywood celebs. Some might oblige to respond out of perhaps embarrassment but to most who are feisty and who are opinionated especially if they have the K (karapatan) to be such, then the Pinoy showbiz reporter will surely just end up as a dead meat. Just like what happened to LO during his Hathaway interview. For some Pinoys to be “insulted” and to bash Hathaway for showing clear annoyance during the interview, ano kayo hilo? Your being an onion-skinned only shows how slow your mindset have travelled and that you haven’t gotten out of your shallow form of admiration. Sure LO is so freakin’ good in English AS A COLUMNIST but that doesn’t necessary translate to a great English interviewer BECAUSE HE IS REALLY NOT. I’ve watched more than one of his interviews with several international celebs and he really sucks, sorry Ricky but you do suck as an interviewer. Actually he also sucks in his local interviews in STARTALK (I have PinoyTV).
By bashing Hathaway for showing annoyance during her interview with LO only showed how too think-skinned and shallow some Pinoys are. And puuulllleeezzzz, why would someone here assume that if LO was from a different nation/culture that doesn’t speak English he would have been treated well? Are you nuts? You just don’t know how those non-English speaking reporters were bashed and were laughed at by the celebs they interviewed in their countries when those celebs came back here in the US. If you want to be treated with utmost respect in the international scene whatever the situations maybe especially if you will be dealing with potential backlash then you must veer away from being a mediocre moron and position yourself from the standpoint of an articulate international persona. Now if you will still act, speak and think like a lame person as how you conduct yourself at home, then strip yourself of the privilege to hobnob with the international powerhouse because you will just end up being the laughing stock of those lot. But then you still have your fellow mediocre, lame supporters who don’t have an inch of understanding how the mindset and culture of people outside your culture work. Pag si Pokwang ang interviewee pwes be a lame, mediocre and boring interviewer. But Anne Hathaway? She has all the rights to show she’s annoyed if she feels and sees stupidity right in front of her. TRUTH HURTS.
This article is obviously not fair! I am a fan of Anne but I think she was really mean and she did not act the way she should act on that interview.
MsDagit, oh really? So how do you think Anne Hathaway should have acted? Prim and proper? Uberly respectful? Crazy happy? Really? So you EXPECTED a very popular and one of THE MOST bankable and well-celebrated Hollywood actress to conform with your expectations when she’s interviewed by a local Pinoy talkshow host? You expect that Hollywood giants like Anne Hathaway would conduct herself the same way local Pinoy celebrities would conduct themselves when they are being interviewed by Pinoy movie reporters? Rrrreeeeaaalllllly? Are you sane or are you just that naive and shallow? Clearly it shows how nonsensical and narrow your prospective of this Ricky Lo-Anne Hathaway brouhaha is. NOBODY not even the local Pinoy celebrities, repeat NOBODY is beholden to any showbiz reporters Pinoys or not who would have the privilege (YES IT IS A PRIVILEGE) to have the time of those celebrities to sit for an hour or so and be grilled whether in a friendly and light manner or otherwise even for the purpose of promoting their projects (movie/TV show/album etc.) Ricky Lo and ANYONE who would be given the privilege to interview any celebrated and huge Hollywood celebrities MUST TAKE THE TIME TO RESEARCH some pertinent information about that celebrity and about the project that celebrity would promote and they should be smart enough to make a list of RELEVANT AND REALLY PERTINENT questions to ask and better yet be more engaging and articulate and MUST SHOW OVERT SMARTNESS when they conduct their interview with any Hollywood biggies. But as it was, Ricky Lo fell face flat on the floor and showed how inept and how impertinent and uberly boring he was and his conduct of his interview. As always and as how he had done in the past, he was the the same boring, inept, almost incoherrent and monotonous interviewer and WORSE of all his line of questioning was so moronic he sounded and appeared like a lame, mediocre amateur reporter from the boondocks. If only Ricky Lo could transform himself from this brilliant and seemingly fun English columnist to a very effective and engaging interviewer but the problem is, HE COULDN’T AND ISN’T. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, Anne Hathaway and ALL celebrities Hollywood or not HAVE ALL THE RIGHTS to show how they feel if they see that their time is being wasted and their brains are being subjected to such wastefully moronic activity. If by showing annoyance would free any celebrities from such mental and emotional torture even for an hour of inept interview then by all means let the interviewee be aware that he’s not being effective with what he’s doing. And FYI, here in the US celebrities can say whatever they want to say to ANY reporters who interview them about anything even in live talkshows and some of them have even walked out in the middle of the interviews. So you clearly have no freakin’ idea about foreign cultures other than yours, so really you’re not in the position to “expect” Ann Hathaway to conform with yours. Besides, the interview didn’t even happen in Rickly Lo’s weekly talkshow no! That’s their right and anyone’s right, to show how and what they feel even during a promotional interview. Anne was even nice because if I were her I would have told Rickly Lo straight to his face how boring he was and how irrelevant his questions were and how inept he was as an interviewee. Yes, if I were Anne I would have told Rickly Lo straight to his face that it was THE MOST painful interview I have ever been subjected to. Next time try to widen the scope of your brains and get out of your comfort zone and free yourself from the bondage of shallow ideas. It doesn’t hurt to watch foreign (non-Pinoy) talkshows for you to observe the stark differences between the idiosyncracies of the Pinoy talkshow hosts and those of the Hollywood talkshow hosts, and if your braincells are smart you would be able to observe how lame, how boring, how inept and how stupid most of the time the Pinoy showbiz talkshow hosts sound and appear.
Now if I sound mean then it’s no longer my problem that pointing out the truth could be insulting to some. Like you perhaps? But really, TRUTH HURTS.
MsDagit, oh really? So how do you think Anne Hathaway should have acted? Prim and proper? Uberly respectful? Crazy happy? Really? So you EXPECTED a very popular and one of THE MOST bankable and well-celebrated Hollywood actress to conform with your expectations when she’s interviewed by a local Pinoy talkshow host? You expect that Hollywood giants like Anne Hathaway would conduct themselves the same way local Pinoy celebrities would conduct themselves when they are being interviewed by Pinoy movie reporters? Rrrreeeeaaalllllly? Are you sane or are you just that naive and shallow? Clearly it shows how nonsensical and narrow your perspective of this Ricky Lo-Anne Hathaway brouhaha is. NOBODY not even the local Pinoy celebrities, repeat NOBODY is beholden to any showbiz reporters Pinoys or not who would have the privilege (YES IT IS A PRIVILEGE) to have the time of those celebrities to sit for an hour or so and be grilled whether in a friendly and light manner or otherwise even for the purpose of promoting their projects (movie/TV show/album etc.) Ricky Lo and ANYONE who would be given the privilege to interview any celebrated and huge Hollywood celebrities MUST TAKE THE TIME TO RESEARCH some pertinent information about that celebrity and about the project that celebrity would promote and they should be smart enough to make a list of RELEVANT AND REALLY PERTINENT questions to ask and better yet be more engaging and articulate and MUST SHOW OVERT SMARTNESS when they conduct their interview with any Hollywood biggies. But as it was, Ricky Lo fell face flat on the floor and showed how inept and how impertinent and uberly boring he was and his conduct of his interview. As always and as how he had done in the past, he was the the same boring, inept, almost incoherrent and monotonous interviewer and WORSE of all his line of questioning was so moronic he sounded and appeared like a lame, mediocre amateur reporter from the boondocks. If only Ricky Lo could transform himself from this brilliant and seemingly fun English columnist to a very effective and engaging interviewer but the problem is, HE COULDN’T AND ISN’T. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, Anne Hathaway and ALL celebrities Hollywood or not HAVE ALL THE RIGHTS to show how they feel if they see that their time is being wasted and their brains are being subjected to such wastefully moronic activity. If by showing annoyance would free any celebrities from such mental and emotional torture even for an hour of inept interview then by all means let the interviewee be aware that he’s not being effective with what he’s doing. And FYI, here in the US celebrities can say whatever they want to say to ANY reporters who interview them about anything even in live talkshows and some of them have even walked out in the middle of the interviews. So you clearly have no freakin’ idea about foreign cultures other than yours, so really you’re not in the position to “expect” Ann Hathaway to conform with yours. Besides, the interview didn’t even happen in Rickly Lo’s weekly talkshow no! That’s their right and anyone’s right, to show how and what they feel even during a promotional interview. Anne was even nice because if I were her I would have told Rickly Lo straight to his face how boring he was and how irrelevant his questions were and how inept he was as an interviewee. Yes, if I were Anne I would have told Rickly Lo straight to his face that it was THE MOST painful interview I have ever been subjected to. Next time try to widen the scope of your brains and get out of your comfort zone and free yourself from the bondage of shallow ideas. It doesn’t hurt to watch foreign (non-Pinoy) talkshows for you to observe the stark differences between the idiosyncracies of the Pinoy talkshow hosts and those of the Hollywood talkshow hosts, and if your braincells are smart you would be able to observe how lame, how boring, how inept and how stupid most of the time the Pinoy showbiz talkshow hosts sound and appear.
Now if I sound mean then it’s no longer my problem that pointing out the truth could be insulting to some. Like you perhaps? But really, TRUTH HURTS.
Anne Hate-away strikes again. She’s a rude, obnoxious, pretentious woman. I can’t stand her. Look at her awards show speech and that interview she did for NPR last 2010. Get over yourself, Nose!
The November 2010 NPR interview of Anne Hathaway:
Hathaway says that instead of using lawyers and agents to negotiate boundaries for the nude scenes in the film — as it’s typically done, she explains — both she and Gyllenhaal asked for creative control over the final cuts. (That’s power many directors might not surrender, but with stars like these …)
So what you see onscreen, Hathaway tells Terry Gross, is exactly what she and Gyllenhaal were comfortable revealing.”I cut probably a total of about 5 seconds out of the nude scenes,” she says. “Maybe it was just me being sensitive, but for whatever reason, I thought the camera lingered a little bit, and Ed had no problems just taking them out.”
——-
Edward Zwick, the director of “Love and Ither Drugs” had no problem with it, why should you? Despite or maybe because, Anne Hathaway stood her ground, she is still gainfully employed as an actor, recognized by her peers .
So,according to Mike. Anne Hathaway is obnoxious, yet the international press gave her an award, and her peers in the screen actors guild gave her an award too. And Ricky Lo is lovable and people are just jealous that be has these opportunities to interview Hollywood actors? It has nothing to do with his terrible way of interviewing ? Tough sell. Hey, I am selling the Brooklyn bridge.
“selling the Brooklyn Bridge” – example of gullibility but more often in connection with an idea that strains credulity – source, wiki
Jessica, alam Ko magaling ka mag ingles, sapol mo lahat ng punto .sa artikulo mo at dama mo ang saloobin ko at siguro ng nakararami. (Gusto ko rin magtago .sa likod ng sofa at maghukay ng butas para magtago kay ricky “inutil” lo .sa sobrang hiya.) Palaging Natatawa at Naaaliw ako ng husto .sa mga sinusulat mo. Pero, pwedeng makahingi ng isang kahilingan? O sige kamo mo? Salamat . Magsulat ka naman sa tagalog noh? Tiyak na mas maaliw ako (at ang mas nakararami) .sa mga sinusulat mo. Kasi .sa tingin ko mas malawak ang maabot mong mambabasa at mas marami ang mamumulat .sa iyong matalas na isip at dila. (Kesa sa mga kasalukuyang mong mambabasa na karamihan ay ‘phonies’ patawad haha!)
Balik sa mga”mgainterviews”mga
Hindi naman po lahat ng mga mambabasa ni Jessica ay mga Tagalog. Hindi lang po Tagalog ang ginagamit na wikang galing sa Pilipinas. ng mga taga Pilipinas, kahit na sabihin pang pambansang wika ang Tagalog (o Pilipino). Huwag nyo pong mamaliitin ang ibang wika sa ibang rehiyon ng Pilipinas, para sabihin na, i-tagalog mo na lang, Jessica. Ingles na lang, para walang kinikilingang isang wikang Pinoy. Kung gusto nyo po, kayo na ang mag translate sa Tagalog, huwag lang kalimutang bigyan ng credit si Jessica.