Beyond Hope

For the past week, it's been impossible to glance at the morning paper without seeing headlines about the whole Kris Aquino/James Yap/Hope Centeno business on the front page. Far be it for me to belittle anyone's romantic woes, even those of Kris Aquino's (she being our country's undisputed queen of screwed-up relationships), I hardly think her problems with James constitute a matter of such grave import as to merit front page news. Why does the whole frickin' country have to get involved in Kris Aquino's love life? Yes, she's a public figure, but surely there are more pressing matters that the public should be concerned with, such as the May elections, rising oil prices, or Angelina Jolie's plans of adopting another Asian child.

Seriously though, I am sick and tired of hearing about Kris being rushed to the hospital for false labor pains, or James issuing a statement of apology, or Hope showing photos of her with James that may or may not have been digitally altered. I don't feel sorry for any of the players in this sordid saga, but of the three I'm actually most unsympathetic towards Kris. Her track record with men smacks of not just immature recklessness but a sheer disregard for intelligent discernment. Her behavior spits in the face of her Atenean education and family name. I'm not condoning philandering nor defending James Yap (hell, he's guilty of SOMEthing, it's clear from the pathetic look he wears on his face whenever he's on TV now). But the manner in which Kris handles her supposedly private affairs is so crass, so vulgar, I can't bring myself to feel anything but contempt for her. I suspect she actually enjoys the attention-- never mind if it tends to be negative-- and that she likes being perceived as the victim/martyr. Could this be a psychological explanation for her penchant for entering doomed-from-the-start relationships with unsavory characters like Philip Salvador? So that she can appear on national television, makeup streaked with tears, milking her misery for all it's worth and beseeching the audience for their pity and love? In some ways she reminds me of a whiny, ditzy version of Evita Peron, minus the class and poise.

All the media hype about the Hope "scandal" is just encouraging Kris to become increasingly melodramatic and has further fueled her twisted notion that she's OBLIGED to share everything about her life with the entire country (classic example of too-much-information: when she announced to the entire nation that she contracted an STD from Joey Marquez). FYI, Ms. Aquino, some self-respecting citizens of this country couldn't care less what happens to you or James or even Baby James, so stop shoving your sob story down our throats. You may not have any dignity left to destroy, but for chrissake, don't drag the rest of us down into your pit of self-abasement.