Who's your country's Paris Hilton?

At first she was just an anomaly. A spoiled daughter of a rich and well-known American family who wanted to become famous. She didn't finish highschool, loves to contribute to the world economy by spending her family's money, parties like a rocker, and has amazingly thick skin--thick enough to withstand any cold weather--evidence of her propensity for skanky clothes at any time of the year. Oh, and up until today, she has no known talent of the conventinal kind.

She's Paris Hilton, and she managed to build the Paris Inc. brand without needing to starve, work day jobs, or audition (skanking, stripping, and shagging are skills to get you in showbiz, but you need more than those to become a star). She doesn't need to know how to act, to sing, to dance, to write music, to design...she just needs to show up infront of the media and act outrageous.

And people lap it up because she's an heiress and a Hilton first before she's the cheap Barbie doll caricature that she has painted herself.

Many people who were brought up with a sense of entitlement are often compelled to act outrageous, thinking they can get away with anything (Hello Brandon Davis). And so America has gifted the world with another strange anomaly; when the powerful economic sector of teens and prepubescent girls(not to mention some gays) started to aspire to become Paris when they grow up, America has produced a pop icon only America has the capacity to create.

Yes, although Paris' best acting scene in her debut movie was the scene when she was finally butchered, her album may be heavy on accompaniment and thin on vocals, she may often flash her nips and sometimes scare us with her crotch exposure, she may be the biggest client of smugglers of rare species of animals, and she gets paid bazillion amount of dollars for showing up and waving to her public in "charity" events, Paris Hilton is still raking the bucks and the media milleage for doing what she loves to do--being the center of attention through whatever means possible.

Pinoy version



Her name is Heart Evangelista and she was thus named because she was born on February 14, the day of hearts for the sentimental pinoys (aaawwww). She also comes from a wealthy family that owns a chain of restuarants all over the country.
She's got a pretty face for sure, a face considered elite or sosyal in local term and, combined with her wealthy background, a rarity in local showbiz circle. Sure there are a lot of pretty mestiza faces in showbiz, but few look classy and fewer (if at all) actually belong to "polite society" like ms. Valentine's family over there.
Like Paris, Heart has made a career in marketing her brand identity. She's got no known talent to speak of, but her strenght is that her cutesy and sweet image can sell products from shampoo to ink refillers.

What's the big deal right? Filipino actors (atleast the new generation) are not exactly brimming with talent that can compete internatioanlly-- heck, not even regionally-- so what's the deal with Heart?

Well she's probably the biggest earner in terms of endorsements as well as being one of the least talented and braindead celebrities out there (which is saying A LOT).

Let me count the ways:

Well, she's worked as a VJ in a local music channel even though she doesn't know how to ad lib or even speak straight english. For a girl who hawks her image of being "manor born," the prerequisite of fluency in English has been lost to her. She cannot complete a thought or a sentence entirely in English or Tagalog. I remember the shameful episode of seeing her interview "The Black eyed Peas" and there would be consistent dead air once the guests have answered her prepared questions since spontenous follow-up questions from Heart would be long time coming.
She's calls herself an actress, but she might as well stand infront of class and read from a poem based on her line delivery. Damn, she always plays the preeny/needy girl you wanna smack in the head to see if gray matter actually comes out from her ears.
She can't sing, but she can bat her lashes; she can't host because her brain doesn't work fast enough for live television, but she was a regular host for a Sunday noontime show where teenagers can legally flaunt their wares without the parents being slapped with child labor.

Like Paris, I consider Heart a venomous influence to young girls. In a 3rd world country where instant celebrity means instant solution to poverty, a rich, pretty, but talentless and silly girl has become an icon of young girls. She has the hypocritical gal to become the endorser of college when at 21, she has not even pursued higher education. Where girls should be encouraged to go pursue an education, she likes to talk about her priviliged background, being brought up as "gastadora" (shopaholic).
Her lightweight talent is completely opposite to her passion in protecting her sweet image. Her handlers know that image alone brings her the millions, and without it, she has no skills to sustain her as backup. So inspite of years and years of being an "actress," her roles are basically the same--the sweet girl that any man wants to bring home to mom (gotta sustain the fantasy for her product consumers). As an actress, her biggest role this year is the damsel in distress of a local superhero who gets his power from a sword, a cut-rate reprisal of a classic Filipino fantasy film.

Inspite of the elite trappings, watch 3 minutes of her interview and it's easy to see that her reality is local showbiz where dreams are fleeting, fantasy makes money, and talents are few. One of her "Paris-like" comments was that she loves her new boyfriend because he's "pinoy na pinoy" and because of him, she is improving her Tagalog. She can't speak the local language even though she was born and raised here, though when she opens her mouth, she can't speak fluent english as well. Does that mean she has permanent verbal diarrhea?

Of course, who cares if you don't make sense and you don't have a real acting career when preening is much more lucrative? What difference does it make if you can't act even though you've been in showbusiness since your pre-teens ,when an acting award is not going to buy you the latest Louis Vuitton bag? Heart certainly has made her choice.

So, who's your country's Paris Hilton?

Edit:

It's a no brainer why I'm crushing on this man big time (even if he's vertically challenged)


"Talent survives and remains while beauty is diluted."
-Gael Bernal Garcia-

How can you not love him? He has both in equal amount and a large dose of intelligence as well, and he utilizes all of them! You either love him or hate him for being such a tamale caliente.