Author’s note: I enjoin folks who might recognize any of these personalities to keep the information to themselves. “Receipts” of these accounts are not that difficult to access, and I make sure to possess whatever evidence I need.
BLIND ITEM #1
A few followers asked when I’ll be following through my threat to do more gossip writing than my well-being will allow. Problem is, I can’t provide something that everyone already knows about, aside from the usual limit of not having enough time. Retirement somewhat eased the latter difficulty, though not significantly and possibly delusively.
11011But then an irresistible opportunity presented itself. It involved a well-regarded production that generated well-concealed controversy on its own, made by people whose names would continue increasing in importance through the years. The cause of the aforementioned controversy is that the director decided to add a section that didn’t have the sanction of the author of the literary property on which the project was based.
11011A lot of mostly academic outrage against the resulting product ensued, leading to a court case where the author demanded that the scenes that offended him be excised. The producer, who also handled camera duties, remarked that the director praised his work for making the improvised characters look demonic. To the director’s credit, his sexual coming-out led to a somewhat healthier attitude toward the subjects he exploited. The author and his supporters complained that the new sequences emasculated his narrative – which ironically the director supported, in order to supposedly reveal how the hero was, in his own words, “dirtied.”
11011An entire clutch of speculative efforts arose, centered on recalling what the missing scenes were. (One of the belated revelations was that the best shot that I remembered in the entire film, occurred at the end of this now-missing section, after the producer had resigned from cinematographic duties and was replaced by his assistant.) Calls for the restoration of the lost sequence were answered by the producer’s admission that he had gotten rid of them, since before the contemporary era of releasing directors’ cuts, excised footage was treated nonchalantly and presumably allowed to deteriorate or disappear.
11011So why bring this up? In order to be consistent about moral judgment. When a censors chief like Maria Kalaw Katigbak or Manuel Morato announces that she destroyed sections or entire films that she considered immoral, I never hesitate to remark to anyone who’s interested that this should be counted as criminal activity, the destruction of the nation’s cultural patrimony. It should also motivate audiovisual artists to realize that they have even less of an excuse to complain of lost work during the digital age: always make sure that at least one extra copy exists, even if it happens to be owned by a so-called video pirate.
BLIND ITEM #2
Ever wondered, as I did, why the conflict between two prestigious film personalities instantly escalated to thermonuclear proportions? I wasn’t as clueless as a supposedly decades-old entertainment publication, whose writers wondered why one of them brought up the name of an actress who recently died. The pair were, as people used to say, involved with each other, while the person with whom this guy quarreled was perceived as responsible for her welfare.
11011And that should have explained everything, so why am I bringing it up here, anonymously at that? Because, hold on tight, the circumstance of the actress’s death isn’t as simple as the usual case of a health crisis that wasn’t properly monitored, as officially announced. The police files tell a different story. (Time for you to turn away if you’d rather not find out.)
11011She was found entirely naked, a cord around her neck – a case listed as suicide. And nope, I have no further information beyond this, including whether one or the other of the quarrelers was aware of what exactly happened. A very distressing situation, as you can imagine: no wonder the family declared “heart attack” as cause of death.
11011Speaking of which, make sure to schedule your annual health checkups, if you still haven’t had them in over a year. And never ever hesitate to look up resources for any issue pertaining to your mental health, including avoiding toxic personalities whenever you can.
Á!
ORCID ID 
Ámauteurish! 