Where fiction and reality meet: A textual analysis of FPJs Ang Probinsyano using Jean Baudrillards Simulacra

• Main Author: Saul, Leslie Marie I.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Television soap operas > Philippines; Television series > Philippines; Television > Social aspects > Philippines
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/5674
• Institution: De La Salle University

Teleseryes have long been part of the narrative of Filipino programming. From the soap operas on the radio to the telerseryes that the Filipinos have today, these television series have slowly created a niche in Filipino programming. In the increasing popularity of teleseryes, FPJs Ang Probinsyano was able to create a market for action-drama television series. By using prominent issues presented by the media, the program is able to penetrate television programming. With this, a mediated reality is created by the program. This study examines FPJs Ang Probinsyano using the lens of Jean Baudrillards simulacra. Upon analysis of the program, it is argued that FPJs Ang Probinsyano is not a mere television program but a third order simulacrum which contributes to the disappearance of the real. By concealing underlying meanings, the program directs the viewers farther into the hyperreal. Also, through the process of neofiguration, FPJs Ang Probinsyano creates a history familiar but at the same time a flagrant proof that there is no reality anymore in the mediated images it presents. Nevertheless, despite the conclusion that the program contributes to the concealment of the real, this study also critiques some notions of Baudrillards discussion of the hyperreal.