It's great to see a Filipino mythical creature being featured prominently in a US TV show that has global viewership. Over the weekend, I caught the Mommy Dearest episode on Grimm where the wesen was the Aswang.
How did a Pinoy creature make it on Grimm? Apparently, Reggie Lee who plays Detective Wu on the show is Filipino and he submitted the aswang (along with a few other Filipino monsters) for consideration on the show and it was eventually picked up.
This episode was cool on so many levels. First, it was a pretty scary episode and was well-received by viewers, whether Filipino or not. Also, while the producers did take some liberties in defining what an aswang is and how it operates, they stayed true to a lot of its important and popular characteristics, such as making a 'tik-tik' sound, climbing trees, and attacking pregnant women. It was also cool that some dialogue was done in Filipino and English sub-titles were provided. While I thought the Pinoy accent wasn't completely accurate - I'm guessing they got Fil-ams who don't really have a Filipino accent so they had to fake it - it was a good enough effort.
Apparently, this Aswang episode of Grimm topped US television ratings, with about 5.65 million people watching it. Now that Detective Wu's character has been identified as Filipino, hopefully it provides an opportunity for more of the Pinoy creatures he submitted for consideration, such as the tikbalang and kapre, find some airtime on the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment