Last August 8, 2015, YayaDUB collapsed in the middle of the #YaKie (YayaDUB and Frankie) Wedding. Everyone knew that the wedding is bound not to push through or at least get cut in the middle of the ceremony. Because YayaDUB’s one true love, Alden Richards, would come in time to stop the wedding. But YayaDUB fainting? Is that part of the deal?
Welcome to the first ever #KalyeSerye in the Philippines a.k.a. #KiligPaMore from Eat Bulaga. It blurred the lines between reality and staged scenes. (That caused the heightened speculation when YayaDUB collapsed.)
#KiligPaMore involved fictional characters situated in the real world – Lola Nidora and her girl Friday, Divina Ursula Bocbocoba Smash. DUBSmash for short. When YayaDUB went out of her way to express her love for resident “dabarkads” Alden Richards, sparks flew. And a new love team is born. Much against the wishes of Lola Nidora. Upon realizing that she can make a “trust fund” out of her girl Friday. She arranged a marriage between YayaDUB and Frankie Arenoli. Hence the #YaKie wedding. With YayaDUB collapsed, the plot thickens.
Everyone is so carried away with the wedding. Both from the antics of Lola Nidora and Frankie and from the anticipation that Alden would arrive in the nick of time. Everyone is preoccupied with the wedding that nobody wanted. In short, everyone saw what they wanted to see. If psychological theories would be applied, the incident where YayaDUB collapsed becomes an interesting case of inattentional blindness.
What is Inattentional Blindness?
According to Hank Green of Crash Course Psychology, “Inattentional blindness is when your full attention is directed elsewhere, you’d be astounded by the scope of things that you fail to notice”. When YayaDUB collapsed, the viewing public were half-relieved and half-nervous. Half-relieved because the wedding was stopped. Half nervous because what will become of the ALDUB love story now?
The aspect of inattentional blindness becomes applicable then the moment it was revealed. When YayaDUB collapsed, it was for real. No wonder it looked real. Also, most netizens end up replaying the wedding clip several times not only because they are rabid fans. Fans realized that so many things have been happening at the same time that YayaDUB collapsed. But everyone’s focus is on YayaDUB. For the sake of everyone still preoccupied with the antics, let’s try summing everything that occurred.
- Before YayaDUB collapsed, the officiating minister read the introduction. Then Lola Nidora asked him to read it again. Frankie was agitated to get the wedding done and over with since the marriage would guarantee his inheritance. Then YayaDUB clung to Frankie’s shoulder and whispered “Kuya”. Jose Manalo (playing Frankie) then removed the monitor from his ear and looked at YayaDUB. His reaction is not seen on the camera.
- Before YayaDUB collapsed, she moved her hand to cling to Frankie’s arm. Minutes later, YayaDUB collapsed before Alden could arrive in time to stop the wedding.
- When YayaDUB collapsed, most of the folks that rushed towards her were the crew from Eat Bulaga. Not the Rogelio 5 (Bodyguards of Lola Nidora who were all named “Rogelio”) Some were fanning her. Later, Lola Nidora was screaming “Maine! Maine!” YayaDUB’s real name was Maine Mendoza. Only a few heard Lola Nidora’s scream. One of them was Frankie.
- This is where reality and the script started getting blurred. Seeing YayaDUB collapsed caused Lola Nidora to scream “Maine! Maine!” Frankie then corrected her. “Anong Maine? YayaDUB!” It seemed as if Wally Bayola (playing Lola Nidora) was overcome with nerves.
So YayaDUB collapsed. What did we miss then? Inattentional blindness occurs when we fail to notice some things. But selective attention is also at work here. That falls on the audience preoccupied with the wedding. Again, quoting Hank Green of Crash Course Psychology, selective attention “keeps us focused and filter out all the chatter to actually get stuff done”. The stuff that the audience wanted to get done is watching the wedding. Once Alden arrives, everyone will just wait for the episode to end and call it a day.
It did not happen. YayaDUB collapsed before Alden arrived to stop it. And she was nowhere to be found. On whether there was any plan for ALDUB to finally meet last Saturday, it’s hard to tell. But selective attention was already at work. Lola Nidora is talking her guts out just to distract everyone else from what is going on. Next thing everyone realizes is that YayaDUB is gone.
In other words, there are things that we fail to notice (inattentional blindness). And there are things that we deliberately ignore (selective attention). We deliberately ignore Lola Nidora because everyone is worried that YayaDUB collapsed. And Lola Nidora put the blame on Alden. To think that it can easily be viewed that Alden is late. There is a nagging suspicion that the fainting is staged because it is YayaDUB’s only way out.
The part where Alden thrashes the wedding – from the flowers to the sign that read “Frankie and YayaDUB” – is where some things cannot be ignored anymore. There was a fist fight between Alden and Frankie with the Rogelio 5. Lola Nidora just won’t shut up. And Alden tore down the wedding sign. Putting the folded sign and showing the part that read “YayaDUB” under his face. The minor problem that occurred after YayaDUB collapsed? You can’t tell the adlibs from the script to reality anymore.
What made the incident where YayaDUB collapsed even more suspicious to the audience? Some of the resident “dabarkads” (mainstays and regulars of Eat Bulaga) also collapsed while joining JoWaPao (the trio of Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros) on the road. These incidents make the segment “Juan For All All For One” as an acid test for EB hosts. Either you get to participate on the road or you breakdown.
Of course, YayaDUB more than earned her spot in the Eat Bulaga universe. Before ALDUB became an item, she was already one of the main attractions of Eat Bulaga’s “EB Problem Solving”. While her lines are totally dependent on whatever the resident DJ or spinner would play. YayaDUB’s facial expressions and timely delivery made her shared segments with Lola Nidora memorable. Then YayaDUB started flirting with Alden and the rest is history. Including the part where YayaDUB collapsed.
Would you realize all of these observations if they were not mentioned here? Watch it all over again by clicking here and see for yourself the professionalism. Kudos to Eat Bulaga staff. After YayaDUB collapsed, everyone was so worried for her. Would ALDUB finally meet in the flesh? To borrow the words of Lola Nidora “Sa tamang panahon” (In the right time) Like Eat Bulaga’s Facebook page as well for more updates.
Chances are there would be more to come in this KalyeSerye. This will not be the last opinion-based piece that you would find here. So might as well follow us on our social media accounts. Like our official Facebook page, The Philippines Web. And follow us on Twitter @pinasamazing. We would be very thankful that you did.
