On Susan of Desperate Housewives

In an episode of the newest season of “Desperate Housewives”, Teri Hatcher’s character Susan Mayer made a remark hinting on her obvious doubt of a Filipino doctor’s capacity. It would not have to the least appalling should they have shown a flashback of her previous experience with an incompetent Filipino doctor in the show and should they have not generalized if I may quote “they are not from some medical school from the Philippines”.

It is saddening to note a show as popular as that would instill in the minds of their viewers that Filipinos not just doctors are inadequately educated because they are from a third-world country. Why would they have passed their US Licensure Exams that their so-called expert doctors of medicine have made? Does that go to show that the makers of the said exam are unskilled as well?

The racist slur is totally uncalled for. She could have gone to a doctor and try to resolve her problem without even doing that. True, the Philippines may be inferior when it comes to technology but I disagree that our intellect is way behind compared to where they are now. We can never boast of our economy when compared to theirs but we are rich in our very own little ways. If it is in anyway a joke on the recent board exams hiatus, they must remember that their nursing force is infiltrated with Filipinos who they adore for being responsible, caring, respectful, honest and empathetic. So how would their writer arrive at such a preposterous conclusion? How could Teri Hatcher have not questioned such a line knowing that it was obviously racist? Have they forgotten that their show is being shown here and there are a number of Filipinos in America?

If for anything, let us show the Americans that we are more than what they think of us. We are a proud nation and we are not an object of ridicule. We will rise up to their challenge and be the resilient race we have always been.

If it is any consolation, is that doctor really Filipino-educated? Because a lot of Filipinos in the States are American citizens. They sure could have produced sons and daughters as doctors who’re US- educated, right? Just a wild thought! Haha!