Pak Ga(y)nern! Comedy as Platform for Gay Empowerment: An Analysis of Vice Ganda’s Brand of Comedy as Presented in the Television Programs It’s Showtime and Gandang Gabi Vice

Abstract

De la Cruz, B. J. P. (2017). Pak Ga(y)nern! Comedy as Platform for Gay Empowerment: An Analysis of Vice Ganda’s Brand of Comedy as Presented in the Television Programs It’s Showtime and Gandang Gabi Vice, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

A horse turned host, the unkabogable Jose Marie Viceral or Vice Ganda’s distinct comedic brand on television provides a discourse on gay empowerment. The research studies how mediated gay humor empowers the bakla. Specifically, it analyzes how Vice Ganda’s brand of gay wit and humor in television shows It’s Showtime and Gandang Gabi Vice is used as a mechanism to champion the bakla.

In order to describe Vice Ganda’s brand of wit and humor as presented in It’s Showtime and Gandang Gabi Vice, to relate gender and humor in the discursive production of gay identity vis-à-vis self-determination, and to examine the role Vice Ganda’s wit and humor plays in supporting the bakla and encouraging self-determination, I employ a qualitative study of textual analysis by viewing selected episodes of the comedian host’s segments concerning the bakla.

Garcia’s Philippine-based gay culture is adapted to localize Butler’s gender performativity. Since gender is a becoming rather than a being, I look into De Marinis’ semiotics of performance in examining Vice Ganda’s communicative manipulation on the bakla through Jackson’s technologies of subjective interpretivity. Furthermore, I utilize Jacob’s theoretical aspects of communication in operationalizing studies on humor, LGBTQ, and empowerment as an effective interpersonal tool of gay identity development.

Keywords: Vice Ganda, bakla, comedy, gender performativity, semiotics

Abstrak

De la Cruz, B. J. P. (2017). Pak Ga(y)nern! Komedi Bilang Plataporma ng Pagpapalakas sa Bakla: Isang Pagsusuri ng Tatak ng Komedi na Ipinamalas ni Vice Ganda sa mga Programang Pantelebisyon na It’s Showtime at Gandang Gabi Vice, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Kolehiyo ng Pangmadlang Komunikasyon.

Mula kabayo hanggang hinete, naglalaan ng diskurso sa empowerment ang kakaibang tatak ng komedi sa telebisyon ng unkabogable na si Jose Marie Viceral o Vice Ganda. Sinasaliksik ng pag-aaral na ito kung paano pinalalakas ng mediated na baklang humor ang bakla. Sa partikular, sinusuri nito kung paano ginagamit bilang mekanismo sa pagkiling sa bakla ang tatak ng baklang wit at humor ni Vice Ganda sa mga palabas pantelebisyon na It’s Showtime at Gandang Gabi Vice.

Upang ilarawan ang tatak ng wit and humor ni Vice Ganda na mapapanood sa It’s Showtime at Gandang Gabi Vice, iugnay ang kasarian at humor sa discursive na produksyon ng kaakuhang bakla at determinasyong pansarili, at suriin ang papel na ginagampanan ng wit at humor ni Vice Ganda sa pagsuporta sa bakla at panawagan sa determinasyong pansarili, ginagamitan ko ito ng qualitative na pag-aaral ng tekstwal na pagsusuri sa pamamagitan ng pagtunghay sa mga piling episode ng mga segment ng komedyanteng host na tumutukoy sa bakla.

Batayan ang kulturang baklang Pilipino ni Garcia upang ilugar ang gender performativity ni Butler. Bilang ang kasarian ay pandiwa sa halip na pagkatao, tinitingnan ko ang semiotics ng performance ni De Marinis sa pagsiyasat ng komunikatibong manipulasyon ni Vice Ganda sa bakla sa pamamagitan ng mga teknolohiya ng subjective interpretivity ni Jackson. Higit, nilalangkapan ko ng mga teoretikal na aspekto ng komunikasyon ni Jacob ang pananaliksik upang iangkop ang mga pag-aaral sa humor, LGBTQ, at empowerment bilang epektibong kasangkapang interpersonal ng pagpapaunlad ng baklang kaakuhan.

Susing-dalumat: Vice Ganda, bakla, comedy, gender performativity, semiotics

View Thesis