Shades of Brown

Earlier this month a friend forwarded me a quick note asking if I had seen the music video to the Black Eyed Peas song, Bebot. In his opinion, the song is “obnoxious,” but having personal connections to the maker of the video, he was passing along the link to the video.

As I said in an earlier post, my music taste has come under some half-hearted ridicule by friends, so it’s not actually all that surprising that I hadn’t yet heard of Bebot, or the video. (To my credit, I had heard of the Black Eyed Peas before and knew that one of their members was Filipino, but that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge about the group or their music—except, of course, for knowing “Hey Mama” from all the iPod commercials.)

It was in this context that I first watched the video. Initially, my reactions included being glad that I was made aware of The Little Manila Foundation and their efforts to

advocate for the historic preservation of the Little Manila Historic Site in Stockton, California and provide education and leadership to revitalize our Filipina/o American community

I was also happy to see so many Filipino faces in the video, and frankly, to hear lyrics in Tagalog from a mainstream music group.

Compared to my home town of Daly City, in this DC I feel like I hardly hear any Tagalog (or Visayan or Illocano) anywhere, so in a very real way, it was refreshing just to hear it. And to see so many brown bodies...well, that was definitely welcome, too.


This is a tangent, but...
Speaking of brownness...I have to say that I continue to be amazed by how much people have been commenting on my brownness as of late. Apparently I’m so much browner now than what they last remember that they are compelled to comment on my coloring. I know that I’ve been getting a little more color this summer—I’ve been doing regular workouts in my housing complex’s outdoor pool and running outside, too—but I also know that I’m not as dark as I can get. (I’ve got to work on getting a picture of my “remarkably” brown self.)

I just can’t wrap my head around why people comment on my coloring. I mean, I understand why people say I look like I’ve lost weight—it’s supposed to be a compliment. But when they say I’m darker...? Are they expecting I’ll say that it’s because I’ve been on vacation lounging on some beach? If it’s supposed to be a compliment, how so? Or, are such comments merely manifestations of the continued privilege and dominance of whiteness/lightness?


But back to Bebot...

I also have to admit that when I heard the song that first time as I watched the video, I definitely imagined in my head kinging to it. (Maybe even at IDKE.8 Austin, TX)

Is it a problematic song in regards to its representation of women? Yeah.

But doesn’t a female-bodied immigrant, queer, Filipino king performing it in a white-dominated queer space change the boundaries, texture, and meaning of the song? Yeah, I think so.

Will I bring Phil I. Pinas out to do it...well, that remains to be seen…

Though I’d characterize my reactions to Bebot and its video as mildly positive, it’s been interesting to read all the discussion surrounding the Bebot video, mostly critiquing it. I can certainly see the points that these critiques raise, but I definitely don’t have the same fervor for speaking out against the video’s shortcomings. On one hand, I worry that this is a sign of my complacency with oppression. On the other hand, I feel confident that the Filipino American community is a vast and complex thing, and that there are many ways to see something, reflecting the different nuances of our varied lived realities and the oppressions and privileges therein. (Not that it has to be only one or the other of these things...)


To read some of what’s being said about the video check out:

Director’s statement by Patricio Ginelsa, as well as Ginelsa’s blog
Kid Hero’s Bebot site, as well as Kid Hero’s other projects
An Open Letter to Apl.de.Ap, Patricio Ginelsa/KidHeroes, and Xylophone Films
About Bebot, a Collective Review Blog