The Anti-Hero

Do you ever root for the villain to win? Are you at times sick of the fact that the hero always win? That's the reason why I don't like Steven Seagal and Van Damme movies. I won't pretend I haven't seen any but when I fortuitously come across one while surfing channels, sometimes I stick on it just to find out if Stiffy-Steven or Jean-Claude gets whacked in the end. And don't get me started on their outfits.

Seriously, sometimes, the antagonist in the plot is more interesting than the protagonist. Take Dr. Doom for example. In my book, he's way cooler than the Fantastic Four. He's super-strong, an evil genius, and he wears this really menacingly sick iron mask with a little dark green riding hood. In contrast, Reed Richards--apart from having a incredibly stupid sounding name--stretches. Stretch and you're a hero. That's the stupid Reed Richards character is all about. My dick stretches about three to four times its original size but I don't call it a hero. Well at least I won't go draw a comic book about it.

In the movie "Untouchables," there starred my all time favorite actor Bobby De Niro opposite Kevin Costner. Bobby was Al Capone, and the Californian Dork played Elliott Ness. I mean, come on, in the real world, can The Bodyguard shine Bobby De Niro's shoes? I didn't think so. When I first saw the movie, I wished so hard that Costner's character should die I pissed my pants a little bit. By the way, the baseball bat scene in which Capone bludgeons a mobster is loosely based on an actual 1929 incident when Capone bludgeoned three (3) mobsters to death; Albert Anselmi, Jo "Hop Toad" Giuinta and John Scalise.

Here in our country, I can't help but to root for the anti-hero, because the supposed protagonists are really crooks. The current administration is the number one crook, who holds out itself as the hero. After so many fuckin' photo-ops, even they believe that they are the goddam good guys. One law school professor, once said, "Corruption is institutionalized in the framework of our government." I believe that the government is actually against national growth. If we take a look at most successful economies, we'll discover that they began from humble entrepeneurial endeavors of people who believed in their own ablilities and had the courage to pursue their dreams. I'm talking about the pioneers, businessmen of any kind, they be inventors or bootleggers. In the old economy, the way to succeed was to "build a better mousetrap." What better way to build a better mousetrap if you don't copy the original? My father used to tell me that when he was very young, all things made in Japan were crap. Mostly, he adds, they were cheap imitations of U.S. and European made products, and they were consistently poor in quality. Of course, they were considerably cheaper so folks bought them, warts and all. How things have changed! When I was growing up, all the best products are made in Japan. The best bicycles, the best toys, the best video-games, the best everything. The Japanese built a better mousetrap. These days, China (that includes Taiwan) is the new Japan. Chinese products flood the domestic markets. As a consumer, I can clearly see the improvements in the quality of their products in less than a ten (10) year span. Some Chinese products are now competitive in quality even against the best in the market. Here's my point: The Chinese, and the Japanese before them didn't fuck the entrepeneurs. Their governments weren't busting the balls of the bootleggers for infringing copyrights and patents owned by some foreign schmucks. Their governments actually encouraged and induced local enterprise advancement, by fostering an environment conducive to business growth and expansion. Whereas in this country, the government does all it can to make a quick buck.

My uncle (Don Marcelino), together with my father (Don Bonifacio) and other friends of the family, own and operate some small business. One of these meager businesses is a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Refilling Plant. All these businesses are, in the eyes of the law, legal. The bosses faithfully comply with all laws, rules and regulations pertinent and relevant to their businesses. All documents, permits, taxes, and what-else-the-fuck-have-you are secured and with reasonable promptitude. However, in compliance with these legal requirements, the people in government--apart from the legally mandated fees and charges--charge and collect ridiculous sums of money from the businesses to go directly into their pockets. Some describe it as the "cost of doing business," or padulas money, even if it is totally unnecessary. The main thing is this: even when you go legal, you get fucked on the ass by this government. From the City Hall to the Office of the President, all them snakes and alligators want to bleed everyone dry.

It is bad enough that local businessmen tolerate this sub rosa culture, but an even greater and previously unimaginable evil have spawned in this GMA adminstration: The Presidential Task Force. Along with the super-irresponsible television media that we have, the elite of the elite, top-of-the-foodchain crooks in government have rallied under the presidential banner to create chaos and to extract even more cash from businessmen. Under pain of prosecution and negative media exposure, these motherfuckers extort money from businesses like those belonging to my family. Our LPG refilling plant has been raided by task force after task force and featured on TV crime shows on both big channels. These task force fuckers think they are Elliot Ness and the untouchables. They climb the gates, force open the locks, shout various uneducated profanities, and brandish their cheap U.S. surplus M-16 Armalites and WWII M-14s at my father's poor employees who are there to make an honest living refilling cooking gas. One of them, my father's cook, was even sent to prison for a couple of nights after a task-force raid. Did he make the monggo stew too fuckin' salty? Everytime they do this, they only want one thing: money. The cops want money, the newsmen want money, the government lawyers want money, the judge wants money, the mayor wants money...what every single authority-type motherfucker wants is money. It is not enough anymore to simply keep their beaks wet. These birds have turned into vultures and they want flesh and blood. They are making a killing. How can legitimate business survive in an environment like this?

Perhaps it is time for us to make the jump from hero to anti-hero.