'Budoy' offers false hopes to families with special children

False Hopes: Does the popular soap opera, “Budoy,” give false hopes to parents of mentally challenged children?

The top-rating ABS-CBN teleserye starring Gerald Anderson is being criticized by some sectors for peddling false hopes to families dealing with special children. Halfway through the story penned by Philip King and directed by Ruel Bayani and Claudio “Tots” Sanchez-Mariscal IV, Budoy, as played by Anderson, meets an accident that fortunately or unfortunately bangs his head on a hard object, lulling him to deep sleep or some kind of coma.

When he wakes up, he is suddenly a reformed person. He is now the most intelligent boy on campus. He no longer stutters while his parents have opted to give him a total personality makeover.

Soon enough, Budoy leads a seemingly normal life. He has even squired a girlfriend in the beautiful Jessy Mendiola.

Some people, including those from the medical profession, have expressed concern about the message being transmitted by “Budoy” to the public. A doctor-friend has warned that some people might have the wrong impression that an accident, such as a head-bang, could rock the brain of a mentally challenged individual, enough for him to wake up with a spark of genius and a normal life to boot.

This is farthest from the truth, he says, adding that viewers should be warned adequately. “Budoy” was planned by ABS-CBN as an advocacy series to uphold the dignity of special children. Selling false hopes to these children and their families by fictionalizing and romanticizing their condition ruins that advocacy altogether.

By NESTOR CUARTERO

mb.com.ph

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