Trends of the week
The media can’t get over Pope Francis
MANILA, Philippines - Long after Pope Francis’ plane took off from the tarmac that boiled with tropical heat and Filipino hospitality, long after the crowds thinned out in the streets on which he had traveled, the Philippine media still could not stop talking and writing about him. For the better part of the week, we were a nation of blown-away witnesses. Not content with four days of stalker-like coverage in which every detail and morsel of food was examined, the media played and replayed the sound bites and videos that were analyzed by every priest in every parish that exists, or so it seemed. Jamie Rivera’s voice was an earworm that refused to die.
So it was hardly a surprise when the backlash started — Pope Francis’ spotty record in punishing sex offenders in the Church; his stance against contraception; the cringing analogy of the Charlie Hebdo massacre being akin to punching someone who insulted your mother; his progressiveness as mere myth. This whole arc happened in a span of a week. Pope Francis went from overrated, to properly rated, back to overrated in such a short time that I’m pretty sure he’s back to being properly rated by the second you read this.
Nation braces for Marlene Aguilar- Mystika bout
If you’re tired of waiting for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight to happen, then sit back, grab your popcorn, and tune in to this one instead. As much as the Pope Francis backlash was expected to happen, no one expected it to crest via insane Facebook posts by Freddie Aguilar’s sister Marlene Aguilar and the equally insane rebuttals by singer Mystika, who accepted the self-proclaimed “She Dragon’s” challenge to fight her over claims that the Pontiff is in fact the “commander of Satan.” Mystika is confident about her chances, invoking her black belt in “Jukado,” an apparent portmanteau of judo, karate, and aikido. In a lot of ways, the evolution of popular ideas in our country always ends up like a Marlene Aguilar-Mystika beef: confusing, hilarious, and ultimately unenlightening.
Obama drops the mic
This was no ordinary State of the Union Address. That was immediately apparent when US President Barack Obama’s SOTU speech was published in advance on blog/news site Medium, which was amazing because, while Medium has published great journalistic pieces on social media activism and racism, it’s also published a joke piece about a girl who has two pieces of hotdogs as a boyfriend.
Then came the part where he’s supposed to say, “I have no more campaigns to run… my only agenda for the next two years is to do what’s best for America,” which was interrupted halfway by sarcastic applause from Republican congressmen. Obama’s sly comeback was not in the leaked speech, but will now stay in the annals of Presidential speeches, punchlines, in-your-face dunks, and general “you got served” history: “I know, because I won both of them.”
Obama has two more years to troll Republicans — to try and slow down climate change and push for more LBGT rights — so the world better make the most of these final moments before America plunges into a white conservative wasteland.
It’s the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it
The five-decade-old Marvel Universe — the one in which the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men exist — is coming to an end. In the upcoming Secret Wars comic book series, the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe, as it were, will be colliding, and thus sending each other into oblivion. Before you ask your closest geek friend about what that all could possibly mean, don’t worry: This will unlikely affect movies featuring Marvel characters that are slated until 2019. So, unless our actual universe implodes before then, the rest of the non-comic-book-reading populace can rest easy.
San Miguel ends title drought people forgot existed
The San Miguel Beermen defeated the Alaska Aces in a nail-biter of a Game 7 in the PBA Philippine Cup Championship, ending their 14-year title drought in the All-Filipino Conference. To grasp the historical significance of this feat: The last time an All-Filipino San Miguel team won a title, Danny Ildefonso was their- 24-year-old franchise player and “raising the roof” was still a thing. Also, 14 years ago was the last time the PBA was a thing that casual fans cared about.
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