19 June 2018

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Filipinos React to 'Our Cartoon President'

The satirical animation "Our Cartoon President" has caught the attention from the world, including the Philippines. Some Filipinos shared their reactions.

"Our Cartoon President" - Donald Trump
"Our Cartoon President" ((C) 2018 Showtime Networks Inc. and Showtime Digital Inc. All rights reserved.)
Our Cartoon President, the American animated satire created by Stephen Colbert and his team, premiered in 2018, and is based off a prominent segment on Colbert's show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The series is a parody of the Trump administration and aims to give viewers an "all access look" at the day-to-day of the White House, as satirized by the writers. 
Trump, voiced by Jeff Bergman, is the main focus of the series but is also heavily lampoons other characters that interact with Trump on a daily basis. This includes his family -- Melania, Ivanka, Don, and Eric -- and his administration, like the vice president, the White House secretary, and members of his staff. 
The show also includes real-life events such as the State of the Union address and the White House Correspondents' Dinner as well as fictional events such as Trump delivering a speech at the Academy Awards.
The series, which now has 10 episodes, has seven additional episodes upcoming which are scheduled to premiere on July 15, 2018 much to the delight of its fans. 
While the series is largely relevant to Americans, the show has also caught the attention of fans around the globe. 

"Our Cartoon President" - Donald Trump
"Our Cartoon President" (Image via LoupDargent.info)
Here are the reactions of Filipinos who watched the first few episodes of Our Cartoon President:
26-year-old Karl Echaluse, a freelance filmmaker and improviser from Manila, lauded the characterization of the series, commenting that the way the cast was caricatured was especially humorous. "The way they look and the way they were voiced made it easy for me to identify them, or at least recognize them even though I might have only seen them a few times on the news," Echaluse shared. "It does a great job of really finding a characteristic or a quality about one character and sticking to it," he adds.
"I'm not very well-versed in American politics but I feel like the show gives me an idea of how crazy things can get," 52-year-old housewife Althea Mendoza says. "They're very brave to do a show like this. I'm not sure we've seen anything like this in our country." Mendoza also commented on how the show is not afraid to take things into more absurd and surreal territory.
34-year-old manager and mother, Shayne Losenara, agrees. "It's daring. It's clear what the writers feel about the administration and they get their opinions across very sharply," she says. "And it helps me get sense of who the people are that Trump has chosen to surround him, even if they're all a spoof of the actual people. I feel like it's still anchored on true qualities that are just exaggerated."
"As a Filipino, sometimes we don't always know what's happening in American politics. While I'm not saying that you should watch this instead of the news, it at least helps us get familiar with the who and the what. It's a step towards being a little bit more informed, and it's an entertaining way to do that too," Echaluse closes.


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