Alec Mapa and the LGBT Movement

Alec Mapa is an openly gay Filipino American actor, comedian, and writer. He has recurring roles in “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty” where the characters he plays are flamboyantly homosexual. Mapa has been recognized by the LGBT community as an outspoken promoter of equal rights. His identity as a gay Filipino American is significant in this regard: large parts of the Filipino community are anti-gay rights according to their religious dogmas, and for Mapa to stand up as the gay Filipino American posterchild really enables the gay Filipino minority to be comfortable with their identities.

Alec Mapa, gay Filipino American actor

The LGBT equal rights movement has really been picking up in recent years, and Mapa's visibility on national television lends to society's perception of LGBT community as a normal part of everyday life (which it is, but isn't perceived as). Though gay rights have suffered in the past couple years' elections, Mapa's and others' dedication to the cause has not wavered. Beyond just representing the LGBT community on television, Mapa participates in fund raising events to raise money for equal rights.

Mapa with cast members of "Ugly Betty"

Part of the growth of the LGBT movement is due to national exposure of a wide spectrum of sexual identities. However, playing a flamboyantly gay character is extremely challenging to do because the character potentially can scare off the audience. It's one thing for the audience to find out that a character is gay and be comfortable with it, but another thing entirely to know from first glance that a character is gay and be comfortable with it. Mapa has a very good way of representing the flamboyant lifestyle while making the characters palatable to a potentially anti-gay audience. In this respect, Mapa can lend support to gay Filipino American and Asian Americans who are coming to terms with their identities. Also, he helps society identify with having the LGBT community as an integral part of society.

Mapa on set of "Desperate Housewives" with Eva Longoria

As a gay Filipino American playing gay characters on national television, Alec Mapa has lent considerable support to the LGBT community. He and other actors and actresses have been doing their part to bring awareness of the LGBT community and cultural acceptance and equal rights for all. Mapa's role in bringing awareness has been particularly helpful in the Asian American community, where being openly gay can be very hard to do and be supported due to the anti-gay posturing of the culture as a whole. Hopefully, with time, Mapa's efforts will shine through and the LGBT community will gain the equal rights and cultural acceptance they deserve.

Mapa at the GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Awards with Kate Walsh

-RZ

Apl. De. Ap.'s BEBOT

Apl. De. Ap.’s song “Bebot” from the 2005 Black Eyed Peas album Monkey Business sparked controversy for this two music videos. Pat Ginelsa, the director of “The Apl Song” and the award winning film “The Debut”, directed and shot Bebot “Generation One” and “Generation Two”.

The first of these two music videos, “Generation One”, pays tribute to the history of the Filipino American male worker. Set in Stockton, which is often noted as an important site for Filipino “bachelor communities”, the music video follows Apl as a agricultural laborer leaving the fields after a lone day and then going to a Taxi Dancehall. It is in this space that the bulk of the video takes place.

Personally, I like this video a lot more on several levels. First, I feel like the video is far more aesthetically pleasing and more in line with Pat Ginelsa’s work. Secondly, I really enjoy the way that Apl. De. Ap., Pat Ginelsa, and the rest of the Black Eyed Peas (though their roles in this music video are to be like Fergie in every video) offer an alternative history lesson using their popularity. Finally, I like this video more because it’s not filled with fleshy gyrating female bodies, but shows both men and women dancing in pleasure. Also, I like their red lipstick!

I feel like “Generation One” of the “Bebot” music videos also stays more true to way that the Black Eyed Peas reached high commercial success. Well, it stays more true to their roots. I guess “Generation Two” can be summed up as the entry of Fergilicious. Apl. De. Ap. and Will. I. Am. (in both their oldly named glory) started a B-Boy dance crew called Tribal Nation in the 90’s. They performed around Southern California. DJ Icey Ice, when he came to talk about Filipin@s in Hip Hop, talked about how the early stages of the Black Eyed Peas would perform at his parties. I feel like “Generation One” is more authentic.

On the other hand, “Generation Two” is the pop culture new and less true performative version. I feel like even though it is the exact same song playing, the music video destroys the vibe of the song and distorts it into another music video that I could pass on. I have several issues with this music video. The role of Apl’s mother, or maybe even the “thick accented Aunt”, plays on a stereotype of the Filipina American, which is often also documented in Pilipino Culture Nights. Secondly, the video revolves around the performing female body. It’s difficult to believe that the music video is not “objectifying women” as the notes before the video state. Finally, I just don’t like the bright colors as much. I feel like they are distracting and borderline irritating.

I’m not making the stance that music videos cannot be contemporary, but rather that “Generation Two” leaves me feeling a bit disappointed. I wonder whether progressive artists that I know, who work the activist networks, would be just as willing to sacrifice the integrity of their history to make a video that would receive more airtime. Whether their popularity must come at the expense of women?

Apl.de.ap still does great work for the Filipin@ and Filipin@ American community. He started the Apl Foundation, which gives back to communities and children within the Philippines and throughout Asia. He also started his own music company called Jeepney Music, Inc., handling DJs such as Free School, DJ Rockyrock, DJ MIA, and PoetNameLife.



-GY