Thursday, November 15, 2012

Mariano, the Accidental Artist

Perhaps this is an unfair blog. Perhaps it is not right to select out one contributor to the discussion threads at The Society of Honor and parse his work.

But I intend neither to condemn nor idolize, complain nor advise, admire nor despair. Well, maybe some admire.

Mariano Renato, or MarianoRenatoPacifico, or Renato Pacifico, or any of the other handles this regular contributor has acquired to gain entrance to blog sites that banned him, is an artist.

Monet: "Haystacks"
He would probably exclaim, "Wha?!!"

He is an accidental artist.

But he is an artist. A far out artist. He's the kind of guy who would draw Jesus with a dick for display at a Manila Museum, the Picasso who would draw squares when everyone else is doing circles, the Dali who would draw heads connected directly to hands, the Swift who would write a masterpiece on poverty about eating Irish babies.

He is Tommy the Axe murderer stalking on Rappler, laughing AT his victims, not with them.

He is the guy you hate to see arrive, learn to love, then hate to see leave.

He is a walking Rorschach test, a commenter who makes other readers either laugh and nod, cry or swear, or demand the editor ban this guy. Mariano is Mariano, and he reveals more about US than he does about himself.

What do you take away?
That is the magic of an artist, is it not? Someone who can create an emotional and intellectual impression, who can conjure up feelings and thoughts unique to us as individuals as we study his work? He did not paint the painting for us, but he touches us.

Most blog sites have banned Mariano.

I understand why.

He arrives as an army, flinging off 5 or 6 or 7 separate comments, sometimes related, sometimes duplicate, sometimes different. They hit like grenades, insults to Filipinos, whacks upside the head, kicks in the groin. His Englitches are atrocious.

He's Hieronymus Bosch painting slaughter scenes and pasting them on our eyeballs.

He's too much.

Until you sit up, groaning from the kick, and study what he is saying.

Then you realize this guy is more complex than Joe America, who is plenty intricate, more arrogant and insightful than that Get Real intellectual snob who has banned him, more attuned to the underlying truths about things than college professors or attorneys who pontificate as if they were the Oracle himself.

No, Mariano is the real-deal Oracle.

He turned serious during one comment here at the Society a while back. An excerpt:

  • My two sisters are devoted christian believers one of them almost became a nun. They tithe big time. My other younger brother is a recovering drug addict in need of several sessions in Alcoholic Anonymous and heavy dose of anger management. He is a violent christian. Anyone who disagrees with his religion better run for their lives.

The entire comment is well worth reading to understand the complexities of religion and family life: Those Heathen Americans and God Fearing Filipinos.  I can't link directly to the comment so you'll have to scan the comment thread to find it.

When I was a naïve and junior blogger, I hated to see Mariano show up because I didn't quite know how to deal with him. Now as a wise, mature blogger (gag, choke) I know that it is not necessary to deal with HIM  . . . It is necessary to deal with myself, to check if I have the ability to find where he is coming from.

He works on multiple levels. His remark above that anyone who disagrees with his brother's religion better run for their lives is a statement: (1) of his brother's deep commitment to his faith, (2) a poke at the hypocrisy of a religious person being a violent person, (3) a poke at the violent history of many churches, and (4) a poke at the violence that overflows from the Bible.

Did Mariano intend all that when he wrote the line? Did Monet intend to make all of the humanities cheer by painting haystacks?

Does it matter what he intended? Or is the point what we are able to take away?

Here's his pop-off in a recent blog about U.S. President Obama not visiting the Philippines:
_______________

I am happy that Obama skipped Philippines. Obama is aware that University of the Philipppines, an Ivy-league school, journalism graduates would have asked Obama whose side he is in: MARQUEZ or MANNY PACQUIAO.

A head of state asked that question will be in quandary.

When newbee Hillary droppeud by Philippines, she was asked the same question by U.P. Journalism graduates: MANNY PACQUIAO or de la HOYA . IT PUTTED HILLARY IN A BAD SITUATION. 

Goodness, Hillary must have advised Obama not to drop by Manila to elude such ambush question. 

If U.P. journalism graduate ask this stupid question, I just wonder how stupid those students not schooling in University of the PHilippines.
________________

Coming out of left field, for sure. Taking shots at Pacquiao, tactlessness, journalism and education. Slaughtering grammar and spelling. Making a fine joke.

When I write a blog, that is the kind of takeaway that makes writing worthwhile. It is inspirational. A contributor takes my article and sends it to new places with new information or new ideas . . . sometimes correcting or opposing what I wrote.

Many of you do that and it is what distinguishes a blog from a chat room, and what distinguishes this particular blog from others.  Y'all have your own styles, for sure, but you take the root of the article and enlarge on it.

Continue doing that! But please, please, please do not seek to emulate Mariano.

One is quite enough, thanks! hahahaha

I focus this write-up on Mariano because I think he is grossly misunderstood in the Philippines. Many here read literally, not between the lines, not beyond the obvious.

Mariano works well beyond the obvious . . .in style . . . with a twist . . . with humor. And sometimes, if you believe him, his style is drunk.

If you can take him and not go banzai, you can take anyone.

I'm wondering why I'm the only blogger who gets it, that he is brash  . . . sometimes brutal . . . but brilliant? Why is he is banned everywhere but Rappler and here at the Society? And I sense he is working hard on getting thrown out of Rappler. Here's why I don't ban him:

  • It takes a bent mind to appreciate a bent mind, and he bends mine even further.

  • He represents the cynical me better than I can myself.

  • It takes an artist to appreciate art; I'd like to think that.

  • I admire true individuality, a person who stands for himself and no other organization or ideology or person. He is the total opposite of a whiner.

  • I like to laugh.

  • Or maybe I simply like pain every once in a while, eh? What is the psychological term for that?

If you have a spare 10 minutes sometime, scroll through the comment thread on this Rappler article. Find Mariano's comments and also observe the reactions of other readers. I laughed aloud.

And remember, remember. When he gets your goat, really drives you banshee, that is the time to stop and reflect on why. 

And also remember, you are always free not to read his schtick.

For myself. I read.

31 comments:

  1. Unfortunately I woke up early today and read this. I now run the risk of laughing endlessly again about Mariano's writing and skipping breakfast.

    My first time to read Mariano was in a comment he wrote in Rappler. Joe responded with a call to elect Mariano as President, with all his Englitches. I laughed very hard at this, and it continued into the night. I had to tell my wife the story over and over again.

    Then I posted here, telling Joe I have to continue my laughing here, since I dont know Mariano. It turns out he writes here, too.

    I disagree with about 40-50% of Mariano's views. But his perceptiveness and sick humor is priceless. Im actually torn about his Englitches- is it done purposely or is he really like that?

    Just read his comments on the last piece I wrote- the one before this post. Dont write him off as a nonsensical commenter just because you disagree with him.

    He is actually saying something, and making you laugh while you're reading it. A gem of a commenter- sick, funny but deep. He should hone that skill and go mano a mano with Teddy Boy.

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    1. That's it! That's it exactly. Half the time I say, "oh, my, here we go again," and the other half the time I die laughing, and the laughing is the kind that is infectious and keeps coming on. He is so unexpected, so out of the ordinary with his zingers. I think his Englitches is half natural-speak and half for effect, and we can never know which.

      Delete
  2. "Admiration: our polite recognition to another's resemblance to ourselves"

    Recognition:

    "Knowledge in the end is based on acknowledgement" - Wittgenstein

    "People always clap for the wrong things" - JD Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

    "Only two things can make you famous-- being noble or notorious" -Ram Rohan

    "Perception can be one sided or variant: the glass is half full or half empty"- TF Hodge, From Within I Rise

    He he he - the Mark of Johnny Lin



    ReplyDelete
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    1. "A good man's mule oft like the sleekest steed doth run." JoeAm

      "A day without laughter is a day wasted." Charlie Chaplin

      "Laughter is known to reduce pain, reduce stress, increase our body's resistance to disease and improve the function of blood vessels and increase blood flow, which can help protect us against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems." Arianna Huffington's rag

      Delete
  3. Mariano is Pinoy, right, but says he hates Pinoys. So this becomes a Mr. Jekyll and Hyde act that's at least to me great humor. Like a big mirror is being held in front of us who are self-righteous, pompous, hypocritical, naive, pretensious, onanistic...

    DocB

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    1. o·nan·ism   [oh-nuh-niz-uhm]
      noun
      1.withdrawal of the penis in sexual intercourse so that ejaculation takes place outside the vagina; coitus interruptus.
      2.masturbation.

      Thanks for the enlightenment, doc. That's a new one for me.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, too. Coitus interruptus is a new one for me. If I remember right the biblical Onan just jacked off. Before, being onanistic meant to me being selfish and a show off. Now it comes down to just wasting spit.

      DocB

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  4. Another writer who's as deep as Mariano is Edgar. But where Edgar seems to be holding back (erasing some posts sometimes), Mariano is pushing the pedals. Maybe testing JoeAm's limits of tolerance.

    DocB

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    1. Yes, Edgar will get his turn in JoeAm's honorarium to bent minds.

      Mariano actually restrains himself here at the Society. If one gives respect, one oft gets it back.

      I'm thinking that, yes, Mariano says he hates Pinoys, but can that really be if he writes so passionately and carves so exquisitely?

      Delete
  5. 1. Would add these adjectival terms and phrases: irreverent, iconoclastic, uninhibited, hell-bent, don’t give a damn, take-no-hostage, stream of consciousness.

    2. The comparison to painters work. What about writers? Puts me in mind of:

    2.1 Harlan Ellison, William Burroughs, James Ellroy, James Joyce?

    3. Need to double-take at the misspellings: for example tangalog or meseries.

    3.1 For JoeAm, “tanga” means fool.
    3.2 Miseries – state of ill-being (normal definition)
    3.3 Me-series – state of my ill-being?

    4. Are we guilty of over interpretation? Is the wit intended or purely subconscious? Some are, but some seem to be incidental.

    5. Sorry, Mariano – or congratulations - you’re one badass.

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    1. Thanks for the translations. I'm probably missing half his jokes, but the other half is riot enough.

      I don't know 2.1 authors. Ambrose Bierce comes to mind for me. You see shades of it in "Catch 22" (Joseph Heller). Or the television series "Mash". Organized lunacy.

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    2. Mariano may qualify as a "shock" artist. If he were a painter, he won't be the crass and kitschy Jeff Koons consorting with Illonah Staller but more the African artist whose name escapes me and who made a picture of Madonna using his poopoo as paint. Title: Brown Madonna. Or I'm completely mistaken.

      DocB

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    3. Don't know the artist. Possibly completely mistaken. Never has so little information caused me to laugh quite so hard.

      Delete
  6. I am also known as "The Thinker", "Subliminal Messenger" and "The One" in AntiPinoy. benign0, the watchdog of English usage and perfection of spelling, concatenate my "tiling-tiling" comments. How he hates those that copy my style in one of those benign0's tirade on me. American language is safe while benign0 is around. He taught me elementary english. Concatenate my "tiling-tiling" into one comment. He did not want me to comment on every comment done by others.

    benign0 should understand that I am verbose when I comment under-the-influence. I am discursive when I am angry. I laugh, how benign0 hates my laughter, "HAWR! HAWR! HAWR!" "HAR! HAR! HAR!" "HA! HA! HA!" when I am amused. Filipino culture is amusing. It should deserve a laugh. And readers should know that I am being entertained. I laugh "HA! HA!HA!" because I cannot put into words my laughter except "HA! HA! HA!".

    I am a serial commentator, posting series of comments, because I am SUBMIT-happy. I make comment, hit SUBMIT, and never look back then realize that I got some more to say instead of dawdling what I need to add. Do not bother to correct my englishtzes and spelling. If I did, I start to revise my comment, water it down, by then it simply loose its spontaneity and thought. Anger is gone. Laughter is gone. I became just any polite courteous commentator that is bland absence of fun.

    I love to tease. Titillate. Poke fun at them. I wanted them to hate me. So they will remember NOT ME but my comments. Unfortunately, they remember me INSTEAD OF MY COMPELLING COMMENTS.

    Seriously, I hate being banned. Imagine trolling for meaningful blogs that I can comment on which are very few and far between.

    I started hating Filipinos when my Filipino boss accused me of harming her. Management called LAPD. By that time they came I was on a JetBlue flight to New York to personally break the news to my mother. My mother admonished me, "How many times I told you be careful with FILIPINOS !!!! How many times I told you to stay low and never be on top of your Filipino bosses !!! Tell me the truth, did you threaten to kill her?"

    Actually I did not threaten her. Cross my heart !!!! Internal Affairs said so. LAPD said so. They friggin' checked my company e-mails. NOTHING ! Our Finance Division was divided along ethnic lines. FILIPNOS who are hate my guts and my intelligence and creativity and WHITES and BLACKS and NON-FILIPINO-ASIANS that just love me for being frank and funny.

    Since they couldn't find anything, no guns. No knives. They suspended me for using F-bombs and A-bombs which are my trademarks.

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    1. I never believed God since I was in my elementary days. My unbelief is validated by the number of distitute irresponsibly religious Filipinos.

      I hate English. I hate it soooo much that I make fun of this language. English language is subtle covert discrimination in the PHilipines. I see Filipinos struggle with english and Filipinos laugh at every mistake they make. I hate it when they interview potential employees in english. I hate it when my Letter-to-the-Editor is edited for english (why can't they just publish my letter with grammatical error and erroenous spelling in its original form?). Europeans struggle with english. They do not laugh at each other spoken english, I take. Why can't we be like them?

      Another pet peeve of mine is Filipinos love for white and fair skin. Another discriminatory index.

      There is so much wrong in the PHilippines that I cannot stop laughing. FILIPINOS ARE ENTERTAINING. I can imagine a day Filipinos not misbehaving.

      Delete
    2. Those F-bombs will nail you every time. Thanks for putting the auto in the biography.

      Delete
    3. I AM A LIVING PROOF THAT THERE IS NO GOD !!!

      I am enjoying life. I consider myself wealthy above all Filipinos. Many would trade places with me. I know how to push grocery carts unlike Filipos that drive cars like they are pushing carts in Filipno grocery stores. My bumper sticker says ... CAUTION: FILIPINO DRIVER

      BUT, THERE MAY BE GOD !!!!

      Because Obama is not extending Bush tax cut for the top 2% if you get my drift :)

      Delete
    4. Allegedly Threaten a woman went to see mom in New York , called subliminal messenger, can we add another name NB

      He he he

      Johnny Lin

      Delete
  7. I love making sweeping generalized conclusions because Filipinos do not have statistics. I just based it on observation:

    There are no realistic accurate statistics on poverty. But I do know poverty when I see one. Easy.

    I know Filipinos are not intelligent. Just look at the Philippines and the people they elected. Easy.

    I also know Filipinos are not intelligent beause they are led-commanded-controlled and they meekly follow like docile domisticated animals abroad. If POEA statistics are to be believed, which in my observation is correct, only less than 1% of OFWs are in "managerial" and "scientific" employment. Less than 1% is kind of high for my taste. Majority of OFWs (according to the PHilippine Media gayly bannered as the cause of brain-drain) are in command-and-controlled working environment.

    I also know that God is inutile just by reading all of the above.

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    1. Well, sweeping generationalizations to me are an expedient digestion of the facts, with extractions and deductions added in to create meaning. I love them, too. They save a lot of time.

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    2. Is your use of the Rorschach image a caution to readers of Mariano's posts?

      Delete
    3. Ha! Comedian again. Reminds me of an old joke. Psychiatrist holds up blank piece of paper. "What do you see." Patient stares. "A naked lady having sex." I forget the rest of the joke.

      Delete
  8. My take is that this Mariano fellow is a real artist, not an accidental one.

    I remember laughing at one his comments on Rappler that said "I hate cybercrime law. Because the international community hates it sooo much. In fact, this law is the laughing stock in bars in Somalia and Yemen."

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    1. Let it be herein declared that Mariano is indeed acknowledged to be a "real artist" and not an accidental artist.

      I remember reading that remark, too, and cracked up. Where does he get this stuff?

      Delete
    2. Most likely he's doing it like Hemingway or Nick Joaquin - he writes after coming home from work, with bottles of beer or wine.

      He has that rare ability of combining stuff from different categories and ties it all up together with irony, sarcasm and humor.

      Delete
  9. I see Mariano Renato Pacifico as a parody of many things Filipino; the negativism, the penchant for Ill disposed criticism, the readiness to emulate anybody else's opinion but that of a fellow Filipino, and so many more. It's not a familiar brand of humor to many Filipinos, thus the tendency to reject if not outrightly feel repulsed by his commentary.

    I don't think there is anything accidental about his craft; the englitching, even the misspellings all appear deliberate.

    I think whoever he really is, our Mariano is a highly intelligent man.

    And he probably also cheers for Manny Pacquiao.

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    1. Like Cha I surmise Mariano is a very intelligent person, a gifted writer wasting his talent...who should be making lotsa money writing jokes for Jay Leno!

      Delete
    2. Parody, indeed. I think we all cheer for Pacquiao in the ring. The Legislature . . . ummmmmm . . . not me.

      It is interesting how even literate people like Benigno cannot see through their ego to find out what is really going on with Mariano. I think the art of dialogue with someone who is different is rare in any world, and almost impossible in the Philippines.

      Delete
  10. In order for Mariano to make money off his jokes, he'd need an agent. I heartily recommend Anabelle Rama.

    DocB

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  11. If Mariano is an artist, then Mideo Cruz is off the hook. Freedom of speech is guaranteed. Obscenity is covered.

    DocB

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