“It’s more fun in the Philippines.”
For years… this famous tagline has attracted tourists and businesses to the Philippines. But it relates to more than just the tourist destinations like El Nido and Baguio: it refers to the happy-go-lucky nature of Filipinos too.
Filipinos are indeed joyful despite crises and disasters; they are still able to make a joke about their situation and use it as a coping mechanism. As the local saying goes, “problema lang ‘yan, itawa lang natin ‘yan!” – meaning every problem will come to pass, so let’s laugh about it instead.
In recent years, the natural humour and creativity of Filipinos have been enhanced by internet memes. The funny faces of different personalities on the internet, movie lines, or even randomly funny moments on national television have all become meme material.
Laughter, as they say, is the best medicine. Though this is not exactly a scientific cure, humour is still necessary for people. It gives them a sense of satisfaction to make fun of things; in effect, their minds get to relax and their stress is reduced. As memes have run rampant on social media, they have even become an aid for educators and professionals who use the platform to catch everyone’s attention and give them a little knowledge about certain things.
Take, for example, that biology-related meme where people emphasise the function of the mitochondria as the powerhouse of the cell. Even though it is defined in relatively few words, those words are enough for people to ponder it and understand that the mitochondria are indeed the powerhouse of the cell!
The meme revolution can serve as medicine for people as fake news and misinformation on the internet spread like a virus. Filipinos in this generation keep believing the internet as it seems facts as it was provided pictures as “evidence” and a catchy caption.
Continuously educating people through others who are more knowledgeable in different fields of society is its own kind of “medicine.” If educating people through memes to catch everyone’s attention and give awareness in a satirical way can help in this regard, then that is all the better for everyone.
