Redefining hiya

Redefining Hiya: How Face to Face Challenges Its Guest Participants’ Value of Hiya

Salonga, M.F.S. (2011). Redefining Hiya: How Face to Face Challenges Its Guest Participants’ Value of Hiya, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

The study aims to know how the nature of the talk show Face to Face influences the mindset and meaning formation of its guest participants for joining the culturally deviant program. “Violence is the simplest and cheapest dramatic means to demonstrate who wins in the game of life and rules by which the game is played” (Gerbner in Griffin, 2009). In Face to Face, discussion of two opposing parties is not all there is. There is always a segment where two sides make an effort to hurt and curse each other. Gerbner’s words hold true whenever the said talk show permits or truly allots airtime for deliberate attempted violence, which is not socially, culturally and publicly accepted in the country. Physical and environmental factors influence the attitudes and behaviors of the guest participants, and so the meanings of their actions change as well. Also, hiya has been redefined now that the Philippines falls in a modern type of society. It would also be interesting to look at this topic in a political economy angle where program content is commodified. The TV talk show, Face to Face, is more than just a public place. It is a nationally broadcast arena of conflicting parties that actually challenges the Filipinos’ unique trait, hiya. In a culture that is bound by strict unspoken social norms, Face to Face exposes an alternative way of conflict-resolution that challenges Filipinos’ notion of hiya.

Keywords: Redefinition, Hiya, Face to Face

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