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Dawn Chang’s “wacky” superpowers in ‘Darna’ seen as a social commentary by netizens

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Looking at it from a different perspective, some viewers see the viral scene as a mere commentary on the tendency for Filipinos’ blind obedience.

It is no secret that the recent television adaptation of Mars Ravelo’s iconic superheroine, Darna, has received a lot of reactions—most of which are negative, unfortunately. Poor visual effects, and plain-looking villain costumes, are [mostly] the unflattering reactions are from. That said, some netizens nevertheless enjoy the show and argue that there is something ‘sociopolitical’ to absorb from its story, somehow.

Twitter user, Mary Anne Primera, brought to attention the viral scene, where Dawn Chang’s character used her powers and made the whole town dance. 

“Darna’s enemy has the ability??? to create flash mobs???” she tweeted.

Ibayan, was among the first ones, to take the scene as merely an effort to reflect Filipinos’ tendency to be gullible and become victims of blind obedience. 

“its a social commentary on filipinos and their tendency for blind obedience, “ she tweeted.

“Also i dont get the hate ( i do pero let me pretend that i dont) i love wacky super powers and flashmob supervillain na kamukha ni emma chamberlain? camp! (as the kids would say),” she added in another tweet.

Another user agreed to her point, and reminded netizens that even Marian Rivera’s Darna had villains with wacky superpowers.“Yeah i mean andami ding ginawa na campy powers and characters sa version ni marian, so wala din namang difference for them to hate lol.”

 “True. Plsss there is a show where a supervillain’s power is controlling dairy and he damn near wiped out the entire superhero population.

Or the power to read people’s minds but only when they’re talking about you. I’m talking about Misfits and it’s the best, “ noted J Marcus, who reminded netizens that even other superhero shows have wacky villains, too. He took the British series, Misfits, as an example.

A Twitter user, somewhat got Ibayan’s point, but understood the fans’ largely “negative” reactions.

“ooo now that sounds great tho tbh i understand why people were caught off guard even tho i feel like the weird supervillains have always been darna’s, as a show, trademark- may nabasa me na people expected it to be serious and dark cuz of how the first episodes were created.”

“We define things in light of our experiences, potential, and skills. Which is clear from the tweet in question. We obviously don’t view the world through the same lenses to perceive how reality presents things. We have different opinions, values, and perspectives because of this,” tweeted Gigi, who seemed to take the disparity in opinions as merely a reflection of how people take what they see.

“Oo nga no, andaming nauto ng budots eh,” tweeted another user, who got reminded of a campaign tactic pulled off by a politician to attract voters: by dancing to the viral dance anthem, Budots.

A timeless pop culture icon, Darna is often seen as a socio-political symbol, given the superheroine’s role in the fight for justice, truth, and peace, among others. 

It is no surprise that observant people can see the layers in Dawn Chang’s character as a grim reminder of our tendency to become blind followers, especially of abusive politicians. That said, the frustration brought about by this new TV adaptation is undoubtedly clear. They wish for it to be better.

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