LET’S face it, some celebrities are just contentious without even trying. Whether it’s because they often have controversial lives, or have opined about sensitive issues, celebrities are often easy targets for exploitative actions by those who either disagree with them or want to use them for clout and monetization.
Take Vice Ganda, for example. Everything she does is fodder for clickbait and fake news. Once perused, her words are often twisted, taken out of context, or spliced to appear more sensational, scandalous, and even argumentative.
Is this the price one pays for arguably being the biggest star in the country today? It is easy to reckon so, as Vice Ganda often figures in headlines – whether online or otherwise – for all the wrong reasons. Vloggers, bloggers, and even those who want to go viral on social media have found ways to distort Vice Ganda’s words or reactions into the most exaggerated versions possible in order to attract viewers, readers, and potential advertisers.
In the age where perception is more valued than facts, this kind of misinterpretations of the truth become more popular than the truth itself, and this is dangerous. Having understood the effects of misinformation in society, there is a crisis brewing within the online community in regard to what is factual and what is purely opinion.
While it may be difficult to separate one’s feelings from actuality, there must be a clear line that one shouldn’t cross in expressing one’s point of view. For instance, Vice Ganda’s reaction to certain issues is not taken contextually by some opinion makers, and instead judged based on what the perceiver felt upon seeing it. Here is where the problem lies. Once personal positions are put into play instead of the cold, hard facts, the truth is watered down, and the effects are often catastrophic.
For Vice Ganda, this is an almost daily struggle: to always be cautious about being misquoted, misinterpreted, and misjudged. For someone who is constantly exposed to the ubiquitous cameras that are regularly thrust in her face – whether willingly or not – it is nearly impossible to always filter what one can or cannot say.
The sad reality is that many people are now making a living out of creating scandalous versions of the truth. The allure of going viral or gaining subscribers and followers is too great to pass up even in the name of decency. Sadly, many people also fall for these types of reportage, a glaring and alarming effect of largely unpoliced, free-for-all platforms.
However, those who know Vice Ganda well are not easily swayed by the false outrage masked as witty clickbait one-liners, and misleading titles. They know how the Unkaboggable Star is herself a warrior for truth. Vice Ganda has always stood up for accuracy, validity, and yes honesty. That is why her life is also a testament to living her truth, and always being on the side of authenticity.
We have not yet seen the last of the fake news items on Vice Ganda, and that is also one of the sad facts we have to deal with in this current, social climate. But we can always find the truth in the life she has led up to this point; and that life has always been an example in genuineness.