FULFILLING SOCIAL FANTASIES THROUGH CONCEPTS OF

REVENGE IN PHILIPPINE TELESERYE

Cristine Anne G. Pactoranan
COMA 192 - Y
INTRODUCTION
Poverty
has
been
the
greatest social problem in the
Philippine society and many of the
cultural expressions in the country
depict sufferings and struggles of
the Filipino masses due to the said
issue. This was because, as
explained by Karl Marx (Brooker,
Selden & Widowson, 2005), the
conflict of social classes [basis is
economics] establishes the ground
upon which ideological conflicts
arise (p. 83). Examples of these
ideologies are literature and art.
Many, especially the cinema
industry, have been trying to
portray the issue of poverty, thus
producing films and television
programs that can bring or reflect
the poverty issues.
Television
is
the
most
prevalent
medium
of
entertainment for many of the
Filipinos. Teleserye, short for
television series, programs have
been rampant in Philippine media
for it reflects social realism in
culture of the Filipino masses.
Clich stories of teleserye, such as
from rags to riches, is a form of
what Freud called as substitute
gratification Dennis, Ismach &
Gillmor, 1978).It is a way for
people to hide their true wishes
and fears and unknowingly satisfy
it through watching teleserye and
produces an illusion in contrast to
reality. In this sense, according to
Marcuses (Hannahannah, 2011),
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teleserye serves as the ephemeral

narcotic that diverts peoples
attention from their real problems
and idealizes the present by
making the experience of its
representation pleasurable and in
a
way
manipulates
the
consciousness of the people.
Common
storyline
of
teleserye involves poverty with
theme that comprises love, family
feuds and careers with touch of
revenge that gives the twist,
serves as the climax and in many
cases, provides the fulfillment of
the subconscious social fantasies
of the audience. Addition to that,
the stories always close with a
happy ending.
This kind of plotlines is very
extensive in Philippine teleseryes
nowadays. This paper tackled how
do common themes of revenge in
teleseryes reflect the current
issues in the society and how do
these
themes
reflect
social
stratification, desire for power and
self-fulfillment. Furthermore, it
sought to answer if teleseryes are
a means to fulfill lower class
Filipinos fantasy to level with or
surpass the middle and upper
classes.
THEORETICAL
AND
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Clich stories and recurrent
patterns of revenge in Philippine
teleserye can be explored through
Fantasy-theme analysis which uses

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symbols to analyze the values

observed, learned and associated
by the viewers from fantasy
themes.
Furthermore,
another
approach, Marxist criticism was
used in analyzing the implications
of symbolic messages hidden in
recurrent patterns of revenge and
how the acquired shared realities
of the viewers proved or contested
Marxist
criticisms
main
hypothesis which says that media
help
foster
hegemony
and
maintain
societal
power
structures. (Selden, Widdowson &
Brooker, 2005).
One of the forces that
operate in stories and dramas is
escapism. Escapism can influence
the audience in a way that through
teleserye, people observe values
that can be the key to their beliefs.
In the case of teleserye, one of the
forces that move the viewers is the
concept of revenge that provides
the twists and climax.
One way to understand the
underlying message concealed in
concepts of revenge in teleserye is
the method called fantasy-theme
analysis
or
the
symbolic
convergence theory by Earnest
Bormann. Fantasy-theme analysis
evaluates language and other
symbols observed by a group to
create shared realities (Selden,
Widdowson & Brooker, 2005).
In early 1970s, Bormann
was interested in investigating
speeches of scholar speakers and
during
that
time,
classical
approach is the dominant method
used
to
analyze
speeches.
However, Bormann got new ideas
on how to examine speeches from
Bales book of Personality and
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Interpersonal
Communication
(Kidd, n.d). Bale defined fantasy as
irrelevant stories shared by a
communication group and later
hypothesized that during fantasy
themes, a group was building a
common group of culture often
dealing in a safe, indirect way with
emotional tensions inherent in a
group.
Bormann comprehended it
as: when a group is constantly and
repeatedly exposed to fantasy
themes, the more the group will
associate the values they observe
(Kidd, n.d).
Fantasy-theme analysis has
several assumptions (Shields &
Preston, Jr., 1985) that can be used
in
analyzing.
First,
through
fantasy-theme analysis, a group
shared symbolic worldviews. These
worldviews are common not in a
sense that the members have only
one vision of reality, rather, include
either opposing or acquiescing
thoughts and conclusions toward
the same rhetorical phenomenon.
Another assumption is that the
meanings, emotions and motives
underlie in the message are
intrinsic to the observer thus
providing a link between ones
symbolic manifestation of reality
(rhetorical
vision)
and
ones
behavior (p. 103). Third, as the
group share explanations of a
phenomenon,
they
uphold
dramatistic explanation of reality
to maintain and disseminate the
rhetorical vision.
Also, according to Shields &
Preston, Jr. (1985), there are three
basic concepts of Fantasy-theme
analysis that can be used to
examine symbols fantasy theme,

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fantasy type and modal societal

fantasy.
Fantasy theme functions as
the formation or framework of
social
understanding
of
the
worldviews that acquired and
shared by the group. When a
fantasy theme or the plotline
became constantly repeated in
various stories with different
characters or rhetorical vision, it
developed into archetypal fantasy
theme or fantasy type. On the
other hand, a fantasy theme
becomes the modal society fantasy
when it is an intrinsic pattern in
social structure of the group.
The study made use of
fantasy-theme
analysis
basic
concepts to analyze selected
teleseryes. These elements are the
following:
first, the rhetorical
vision which defined as the
composite drama in which the
group was involved. Second are
the dramatis personae or the
characters that are given life
within the drama (Shields &
Preston, Jr., 1985, p. 106).
Dramatis personae include a
central persona, or the character
in which the audience sympathize,
and a negative persona, or the
negative force that hindrances the
central persona in the story. Next
is plotline that explains how the
central character struggles to
solve the conflicts in the story. The
fourth concept is the scene or
setting that usually sets in a
particular
locale.
Lastly,
the
sanctioning agent that rationalizes
the acceptance of the groups
acquired and shared reality and
considering it as a factual data
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that can be disseminated

recognize by a larger group.

and

REVIEW
OF
RELATED
LITERATURE
There has been a remarkably
large number of studies conducted
on how the media, especially the
television, affects its audience.
According to Charren and
Sandler
(Schrank,
1986),
television can instruct, inform and
inspire, as well as distract, distort
and demean (p. 39). People
shared
a
common
collective
experience
through
watching
television. It both reflects and
affects our behavior to a certain
phenomenon. For instance, they
said that, television does not cause
poverty, however, the programs
reflects the face of poverty and
affects
the
viewers
attitude
towards the poor and their
conditions.
As stated by Prejoles (2013)
in her study, Promoting Filipino
Culture throuHYTgh Television, TV
soap opera or teleserJye, promote
positive Filipino culture. She said
that, as attested by hypodermic
needle theory, mass media have a
direct, immediate and powerful
impact to its viewers and through
the
characters,
teleserye
establishes,
preserves,
and
promotes values that are essential
in Filipino culture.
In converse with Prejoles, in
one of the columns of Abello
(2008) in Philippine Daily Inquirer,
she said that teleserye construct
and teach wrong attitudes and
values among the viewers. She
said that the protagonists are
constantly portrayed as beautiful

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lady,
often
clueless
and
as
someone who is easy to defeat.
However,
this
pushover
characteristic of the protagonists
is usually redeemed by the
characters good personality, such
as kindness and selflessness, and
guides herself to the success of her
life and, in many cases, leads in
getting the man of her dreams.
Since this scenario is a recurrent
pattern in Philippine teleserye,
audiences perceive it as the
reflection of life and associate
themselves with these qualities of
the main character in order to
have a successful life. On the other
hand, the antagonists frequently
play the role of a sophisticated and
rich woman, often greedy and
someone who lives in leisure thus,
portraying rich people as lazy for
they have the money and possess
the power to control everything.
This may also be perceived by the
masses that rich people can buy
and manipulate everything and
once become financially sufficient,
life will be uncomplicated. Abello
contradicted it for, she said, that
rich people are hardworking and
enthusiastic, thus conclude that
television dictates stereotype to
the masses.
Along with the negative
teachings and values of Philippine
teleserye is the portrayal of
policemen in the stories. As
reported
by
the
research
conducted by Borgonia (2011), the
roles of policemen are often the
helpers of the antagonists in
plotting their evil plans. Also,
during crime scenes, policemen
often arrive late, and incompetent
in capturing criminals. This leads
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in people believing that power of

the law is feeble and can be
escaped and manipulated.
In another study conducted
by
Castro
(2009),
television
programs set the ideologies of the
audience. The author found that
sexual portrayals of women in
situational comedies peddles and
commodifies actresses as sex
objects. The paper
panders to the gender
relation/tension similar to
the social milieu of the
masses where women have
a subordinate position to
men. It delves into how the
network
peddles
pedestrianism
by
developing or purveying
pleasure
out
of
the
commodification or 'visual
prostitution'
of
female
characters (Castro, 2009,
p. 41).

METHODOLOGY
This study used fantasytheme analysis to analyze the
selected
Philippine
teleseryes,
namely: Pangako Sayo (2000),
Maging Sino Ka Man (2007), and
an adapted teleserye, Marimar
(2008), and Marxist criticism to
analyze the implications of viewer
shared realities.
In fantasy-theme analysis,
the basic concepts to analyze
symbols were used, as well as the
five concepts of the theory, in
order to analyze qualitatively the
three teleserye.
For dramatis personae, the
central and negative personae
were analyzed regarding the
opposing characters face, values
they present and their rhetorical
vision.

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Settings,
plotlines
and
sanctioning agents will also be
analyzed.
The interpretations of the
elements will then be the bases for
the social reality created by the
audience.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Analysis
of
the
Five
Elements
of
Fantasy-Theme
Analysis in Pangako Sayo
(2000), Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007) and Marimar (2008)
Rhetorical Vision
Rhetorical Vision means the
composite drama in which the
group was involved. The audience
of teleserye programs is mostly
from the Filipino masses. Pangako
Sayo (2000), Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007), and Marimar (2008) reflect
the face of poverty. These show
how the poor suffer in their daily
lives and how the elites become a
medium to demonstrate cruelty,
inequality
and
injustice.
The
programs display how the social
economic classes respond to each
other. That is the reason why the
Filipino masses are hooked with
teleserye
programs;
their
formidable conditions are being
mirrored by these shows. In
consequence
with
this
manifestation, the masses identify
with
the
characters
in
the
programs as well as in the story
which includes the struggles and
how the conflicts were resolved.
Dramatis Personae
These are the characters in
which the audience identify and
others whom they oppose.
Central
Personae
(the
characters in which the audience
sympathize)
o Pangako Sayo (2000)
o Amor Powers She is a
maid
from
the
dumpsite
whose
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character, at the start

of the story, is sweet
and lovable. She is the
character
that
sympathizes by the
audience
due
to
Eduardo falling in love
with her despite her
being one of the maids
in their house. Because
of their differences in
the
socio-economic
class,
Doa
Benita
hindrance their love
affair. She maltreated
Amor
and
made
Eduardo
hate
her
causing Amor to take
revenge
to
the
Buenavistas.
o Maging Sino Ka Man (2007)
o Eli Roxas a guy who
comes from a poor
family. The audience
sympathizes with him
because
of
the
different ordeals to win
the love of an upper
class lady, Jackie.
o Marimar (2008)
o Marimar She is
depicted
as
the
epitome of simplicity
and innocence. Her
struggling from the
cruelty of the upper
class men and how her
quest to claim her
loved one is the reason
why
the
audience
moved
with
this
character.
Negative Personae (the
character in which the audience
opposes)
o Pangako Sayo (2000)

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o Benita Buenavista
she is the domineering
owner
of
Hacienda
Buenavista
who
showed cruelty to her
workers. She opposed
the love relationship of
Amor
and
Eduardo
because
of
the
difference
of
their
social status.
o Claudia Buenavista
She is the daughter of
a political family whose
wealth can control and
manipulate with their
own
accord.
Like
Benita, she opposes
the love relationship of
his son with Yna, a
poor lass who works as
a maid for them.
o Maging Sino Ka Man (2007)
o Don Fidel Madrigal
He is the father of Elis
love interest. He is a
strict
father
and
developed
a
bitter
attitude towards life.
He also hindrance the
love affair of Eli and
Jackie.
o Marimar (2008)
o Angelika Santibaez
She fell in love with
Sergio and wants to
get him back from
Marimar.
She
is
depicted as someone
who
was
full
of
jealousy and hatred
towards
the
lower
class, even though she
came from this. She
married Sergios father
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causing the inclination

of her social status.
She was the cause of
Marimars difficulties.
The audience opposes these
negative personae because they
encumbrance the love affair and
the one who caused the sufferings
of the characters with whom they
identify.
Setting
The settings of the three
teleserye programs are all in a
particular locale. The premises of
both the lower class and upper
classes
were
portrayed
and
showed in the teleserye programs.
In Pangako Sayo (2000), the
setting
was
in
Hacienda
Buenavista where in the lives of
simple Filipino farmers were
showed. The story also tackled the
struggles of the workers to have
an equal and justice interface
between them and the owners of
the land they farm. It also has the
illustration of how the elites live.
From big houses, luxurious cars to
the food the upper class men eat
were also illustrated.
In Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007), the locale of a province
was also showed the simple life
of those who live out of the center
of civilization. In this place, it is
also represented how the lower
class men in the province struggle
to live despite the lack of modern
industry in the place. The other
premise portrayed in the story is
the business world. In the story,
the lives of upper class men were
illustrated on how they handle
businesses.

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In
Marimar
(2008),
it
portrayed the simple living of the
workers of San Martin dela Costa
and how the powerful bosses treat
their employees. The other setting
depicted in the story was the
locale in which the lives of the
elites were also prevalent.
With these, it was observed
that even the settings of the
stories depict the two sided lives of
different socio-economic classes. It
also showed that there were
always a big difference of the lives
of the upper and the lower classes.
Plotline
Plotline shows how a central
persona struggles to solve conflicts
in the story. Pangako Sayo (2000),
Maging Sino Ka Man (2007), and
Marimar (2008) constructed a
fantasy type. The characters in
these
three
teleseryes
have
different persona however, the
situation they are in are essentially
the same story and belong to
common themes. The stories of
cruelty, love and justice are the
most prevalent in the three
teleseryes. Cruelty. The first thing
that was observed from the
teleserye programs is the theme of
the protagonists sufferings. The
protagonists miseries are caused
by the antagonists who belong to
the higher class. Since the
antagonists hold the power, they
can
manipulate
situations
in
accord to what they desire.
Always, they are the owner of the
premise where the protagonists
work. Antagonists in the story such
as Claudia and Benita in Pangako
Sayo (2000), Fidel in Maging Sino
Ka Man (2007), and Angelika in
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Marimar (2008), are abusive to the

lower class people. Dialogues from
Pangako Sayo (2000), such as,
Iyan ang nararapat sa tulad mong
busabos [pertaining to a maid], sa
putik, and Diyan ka sa basura
kung saan ka nababagay, shows
how low the treatment of the
upper class men to the lower class.
They treat poor people in line with
the ground and compare them to
dirty and gross objects. With these,
the elites become a medium to
demonstrate cruelty, inequality
and injustice. They are portrayed
as upper class men who look down
in man power laborers and often
take advantage towards them.
Since the protagonists always
received abusive treatments from
them, this became one of the
reasons for them to take revenge.
Love. The next subject that
was
observed
in
the
three
teleseryes is the theme of a rich
lad and a poor girl who falls in love
with each other or vice versa. In
Pangako Sayo (2000), Angelo, a
seorito
and
the
heir
of
Buenavista, fell in love with Ina, a
housemaid/worker
in
Angelos
mansion and hacienda. In Marimar
(2008), Sergio, the son of the
richest man in their place, fell in
love with Marimar, a nave,
innocent and poor lady from the
seaside. In Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007), Jackie, the daughter of an
owner of a bank company fell in
love with Eli, a man from the
province and a worker from a
garden
business.
From
the
formation of love relationship
between social classes provokes
obstruction in the sides of the
upper
class
people.
In

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consequence
with
their
impediments, it was observed that
the characters are tried to surpass
social classes in order to fight the
odds
between
their
loves.
However, their uphill struggles are
no match with the power of money
that held by the upper class
people, thus, their love will be put
to an end. This conflict, together
with the theme of cruelty, is the
reason for taking revenge of the
characters.
Justice. The next thing that
was observed among the three
programs is that, because the
protagonists were eaten by their
sufferings, they vow for vengeful
actions. Saksi ang Diyos. Hindi
lahat ng oras sa inyo. Hindi lahat
ng batas kayo. Lahat ng ginawa
ninyo sa akin, nakatanim sa pusot
diwa ko. Lahat ng hirap at sakit
ibabalik ko sa inyo. Kayong
nagmalupit sa akin, lahat kayo,
matitikman ninyo ang batas ng
alipin, Amor (Pangako Sayo,
2000), is a powerful line because it
indicates
the
sufferings
that
experienced by the protagonists
due to the social class conflicts.
Because of this, there arises a
need to take revenge and made the
antagonists lives a living hell. It is
stereotypical that the elites can
manipulate the situations for them
to control the laws. It is also
showed that a very effective way to
do this is by means of wealth and
so money is the key to perform
their vengeful plans. All the three
teleserye programs showed that
the characters made use of money
in order for them to produce an
outlet of their resentful feelings
and divert the situation by making
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their adversaries experience the

same situations they had through.
In Pangako Sayo (2000), Amor, by
marrying a rich American business
man,
can
now
control
the
situation. She tried to buy the cell
company of the Buenavistas. She
thinks that the way for them to
suffer is to take away their means
of wealth. This thing was also
observed in Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007) and Marimar (2008). Eli,
from the former program, because
he was maltreated by Fidel and JB,
he tried to bankrupt Fidels
company using the money from
her biological mother. This was for
Fidel to experience the loss Eli had
experienced when the former
rejects the latters asking for help.
Eli also did the exploitation for him
to make Jackie convince to marry
him, leaving JB behind the altar.
This was done by Eli because JB
claims that Jackie is his. In
Marimar (2008), after Marimar
transformed
from
nave
and
innocent into an intelligent and
sophisticated businesswoman Bella
Aldama, she tried to buy the
resorts in San Martin Dela Costa.
She also made Angelika to
experience the same thing she
suffered, such as getting a thing
from a mud pit. These things show
that protagonists want the upper
class to experience how it is to be
looked down and be compared as
low as the ground.
Sanctioning Agent
This element is the rationale
behind the acceptance of the
audience to take the storylines
depicting revenge as a collective
expression of the lower class

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mens subconscious fantasy to

escape the condition they are in
and served as a means of
fulfillment in their wish.
Hope. This was the theme
that observed after the end of the
stories. The Filipino masses got
hooked with teleserye programs
with
the
kind
of
storyline
portrayed
by
Pangako
Sayo
(2000), Maging Sino Ka Man
(2007), and Marimar (2008).
Another reason that lies behind
this is that the Filipinos empathize
people from the underdog. So as to
speak, people can relate to Amor
Powers of Pangako Sayo (2000),
Eli in Maging Sino Ka Man (2007)
and Marimar in Marimar (2008).
Filipinos hope to experience the
transformations
undergone
by
these
characters,
Amor
transformed from a maid that lives
in a dump site to a billionaire CEO,
Eli, from a provincial worker into
an heir of a shipping company and
to Marimar who described as nave
and innocent to an intelligent and
sophisticated Bella Aldama. From
their transformations, they hold
power to stop their adversaries
continuous control. The masses
experience
almost
the
same
sentiments experienced by the
characters
in
the
teleserye
programs. Poor people are the
slaves in the premises of the
higher class. The higher class set
their own rules over the society in
which the lower class should
comply. The storylines depict that
there is a way to get out from
these circumstances set by the
upper class people, giving a hope
to the viewers that the conditions
they are in will later end and like
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the characters of the story, relief of

life will prevail at the end after the
hardships.
CONCLUSION
The Filipino people can
relate from the stories depicting
characters that suffered, turn into
powerful individual and take
revenge on the people who abused
them. It was because even the
Filipinos are poor, they possess a
golden heart with insuperable will
and just waiting for their time of
day wherein they can experience
the same twist experienced by the
characters.
Teleserye
programs
still
remains rampant in the television
industry because it reflects the
everyday lives of the majority of
the Filipinos. People who watch
teleserye programs get to see their
conditions come alive. From the
stories, people can derive ways on
how to deal with their problems as
shown in the programs. They may
get inspired but the foremost
reason of their patronage is that
these programs make them feel
better about their current state. In
the end, stories in teleserye
programs provide entertainment
and sometimes, in this case,
revenge in the stories provide
escapism.

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