THE HERALDING of the New Year yesterday was not the same as in the years before, meaning that this year starts off with a grayish gloom. It’s not surprising how Pantone chose Ultimate Gray as the color of the year but did they not realize that there is another color they assigned? (It is called Illuminating, a specific hue of yellow.)
Thus, the two-color combination fits with the zeitgeist of every people in the world. The former color can mean the clouds of doubt or fog of uncertainty hovering over us on a post-pandemic future or gray areas where it is difficult to determine right from wrong. The latter color can define as the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e. after the lingering pandemic comes the vaccine) or a shining moment for new players, platforms or methods.
Applying the Colors
So how our world, our country and our media see the two colors conspiring for the new year?
The World
The whole world in 2021 begins at the gloom with the new mutating variant of the virus (grey) while they try to build new normalcy in social lives (Illuminating). While planning to go forward, animosity and skepticism against the competing superpower brought us to its knees (grey).
In the United States, the illuminating hope to restore the prestige of public office will happen in 18 days with the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice President, respectively but they must face the gray clouds of doubt in working with a solidly conservative Supreme Court and more importantly, a split Congress (pending the outcome of the run-off U.S. Senate election in the state of Georgia next week).
The United Kingdom had the bright spot as they were the first country to administer the COVID vaccine but now shadowed as they were labeled as the new mutation of the virus. Also, fogs of uncertainty arise for the implementation of the last-minute new deal with the European Union after leaving the bloc 11 months prior — which may signal the last straw for one of the constituent countries who voted to remain, Scotland.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel will step down after almost 16 years in power, casting the clouds of doubt over the most influential country of the EU. Her successor will be determined in the Bundestag election this September.
In Japan, the reset button was pressed so that their rescheduled Olympics could proceed as the vaccine is in their reach but the people felt doubtful, putting their spectacle to the world to waste (especially to our very own Carlos Yulo’s campaign for the first gold medal).
Our Country in 2021
This is the year that we will commemorate the 500th anniversary of two historical angles of our country — the embracement of Christian faith (whose jubilee celebration will start this April and end the following year, instead of culminating it) and Lapulapu’s heroism.
For the politically aware, it is the final full calendar year (and the last quarter) of the Duterte presidency — which give us some relief as we reach the end of the tunnel — but the fog of uncertainty reigns as many of us are speculating who will be running and filing their certificates of candidacy to succeed him.
The Philippine Media
This New Year is the first under the New Landscape.
The frequencies of VHF 2, UHF 23, 101.9 MHz and 630 kHz (for Metro Manila) are now on the search of new owners. The winning bidders will get the privilege to run those frequencies for the 25-year lease, net on their respective franchise dates (it’s an illuminating opportunity for those deficient in portfolio).
The surviving free-to-air media giants, GMA and TV5, have their own sparks this year but they have their clouds of doubt ahead of the year with all the individual deficiencies and issues they must address. (The latter network will go first this month, the former on next month.)
Digital television transition is now doubtful to prosper by the end-2023 as scheduled (gray). Some content producers and consumers — like you and me — are not patient anymore as they will skip the slow process and move on to streaming platforms like Netflix or Kumu (illuminating).
A New Year’s Theme
Inspired by CGP Grey’s initiative, instead of investing in New Year’s resolutions that will just fail within a fortnight (two weeks), we are going to invest this year in a theme. For the Turf, the year 2021 is the Year of Reclamation.
With the end of the pandemic lingering on the horizon, we are reclaiming our somewhat normal lives despite the significant damages they left behind.
For some countries, they are taking back control and they’re taking back their soul for their national character. For our country, we are planning to reclaim dignity and honor in choosing our next leader despite the lasting impact of what we are now.
In this blogging sphere, we are reclaiming things that are lost as we learned our lessons from the past year due to the inundation of the aftereffects of the fall of a major player. We’ll try our best though.
No comments:
Post a Comment