behn12

Column: ETAL
By Behn Cervantes
Title: From a Distance

I have been to Paris four times. I have been to London the same number of times, but I have never trod the Eiffel Tower, the London Bridge or the Big Ben sites. Ever!
And, I have NO intention of doing so.
I think these architectural wonders should be appreciated, yes from a distance. I do not know the lyrics of the song but they should include the sentiments that sometimes things are to be appreciated ...from a distance, with objectivity.
Imagine my shock when my friends and I chanced upon Stonehenge during sunset. It was eerily glorious. It was beautiful! You understand why ancient Brits made it a religious site. With that glorious thought in my mind, I was astounded when someone warned me about stepping on human feces. In the Stonehenge shrine?! It was the doing of some crackpot who wanted to destroy the spiritual ambience. Indeed, some gang mate of that idiot also peed among the stones so I smelled urine.
What a bummer!
I would have preferred remembering it from a distance.
This feeling of disgust strengthened my position that certain sites are better from a distance. The Empire State and Chrysler Buildings I have appreciated, yes from a distance. When a visiting friend suggested we go to the top of the erstwhile Twin World Trade Center, I suggested he do it alone confessing that in the six years i lived in the New York area I had never become 'familiar' with the now gone buildings.
However, i love surprising friends like Maris Diokno with the delicate designs of the Woolworth Building, a truly under-rated attraction of Lower Manhattan. Actually, its many fine details i connect to the 'poor, little rich girl' traits of owner and heiress Barbara Hutton.
Fortunately, it isn't as 'touristy' as the Empire, Chrysler, or the World Trade Buildings so lesser visitors cross its facade although the building has a number of architectural attractions. In fact, at some point, it was the tallest skyscraper in Manhattan.
I loved both St. Mark's Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower…from a distance. They make architectural sense.
Distance allows a viewer to fill in whatever blanks with his or her own expectations. After all, proximity breeds contempt.
This morning while island-hopping Alaminos' 100 Islands, the boatman asked me "Do you want to get off?" I looked at the garish yellow sign identifying the island and replied "No thanks."
Too often, visitors come upon distracting graffiti and discarded plastic wrappers in venerated architectural wonder. For example, I detested walking though the legendary Banaue Rice Terraces and finding litter on its trails.
I hated the rusty galvanized roofs that now protect natives from the elements. I appreciate instead the grass that once covered their huts.
I also do not appreciate the modern T-shirts with smart aleck sayings worn by contemporary native youth. I think the more colorful native attire would have been far more photogenic for both international and local tourists.
We traveled so far for such color and authenticity, after all. In a near-by hut, I heard American music while a neighbor had a Manila noon-time show. These were aurally and visually wrong indeed.
Proximity does breed contempt.
Mr. Cervantes is a cultural activist-stage-film-television actor-director-playwright-columnist, founder of the UP Repertory Company and inveterate traveler