The Limits of Resilience

(a rant about Super Typhoon Uwan, DPW’s hiatus, Maya Imamori’s firing, and how I’m tired of the word resilience)

From left to right: Maya Imamori as Sumino Ichikawa (photo by TV Asahi & Toei), satellite image of Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-wong) (photo by the Japan Meteorological Agency), Adam Priest holding the DPW Worlds Championship (photo by @itsomgjess on Instagram and Twitter)

Resilience.

The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

It has been a rough and tough few days, not just for me, but for everyone else around me. I can’t help but feel down about everything that has been happening.

First, Maya Imamori gets unjustly fired from her role in Gozyuger after a malicious, months-long slander campaign perpetrated against her, mainly by Shukan Bunshun. Instead of choosing to protect her, Seju (her agency) and Toei decided to wash their hands clean to not deal with it, with Toei themselves cutting and editing her out of Gozyuger starting with the latest episode the day after.

The entire thing is a myriad of caveats, speculation, and overall eye-opening (and for some, misunderstanding) of Japan’s entertainment industry, its double standards (especially for women) and even general culture and reception as a whole, but the common consensus (one that I also stand on) is that someone as young as her (she is two months younger than me; insane to think about) shouldn’t go through something like this.

As fans of her and tokusatsu in general, a bunch of us expressed their support for her online, most of which through fanart of her and her role as Sumino Ichikawa/GozyuUnicorn, and whether or not she sees them, all we can hope is that she keeps being resilient and get back up on her feet.

Resilience.

Right after that, Deadlock Pro-Wrestling, one of the best independent wrestling promotions in the United States, announced that after their 4th Year Anniversary show + one more show in Japan, they would be taking a hiatus indefinitely. With the other being Prestige Wrestling, now two of North America’s most prominent indy promotions are closing shop.

Obviously, they’re both not done yet, and although independent wrestling doesn’t end there and that there are multiple other promotions (West Coast Pro, DEFY, etc.) that people can support and watch, you can’t help but feel uneasy about the current scene. To quote, when Joey Janela was asked what was the future of independent wrestling, he simply answered: “Bleak.”

For now, at least DPW and Prestige are still running while they can. With the remaining time that they have, I bet you they are gonna give you a reason to want them to come back. Indy wrestling may be bleak, but don’t let that hinder you from cheering them and joining them show their resilience to keep running.

Resilience.

In between both of those things, another typhoon struck our country once again.

It was a Super Typhoon with the local name of Uwan (Fung-wong). You’ve probably seen it but in case you haven’t, a satellite image of typhoon showed just how massive it was, nearly engulfing the entirety of the Philippines from head to toe.

(Photo: @BackpirchCrew on Twitter)

Me and my father decided to drive around the city. I can’t help but look at all the damage. Thankfully a lot of the flood subsized unlike last year with Kristine, but it was so eerie. We both said to ourselves that it looked like the aftermath of an apocalypse.

As of right now, we are still currently under no electricity. Our local electricians are doing their job swiftly and efficiently as they can, but alas, all we can do right now is be patient and maintain our resilience.

Resilience.

It’s a word that always gets thrown around in disasters like this, most especially by our politicians. As Filipinos, we’re told to thug it out and get back up again, because after all, the only other option is death.

If this was any other year, I would’ve been used to it. I would’ve just told myself that despite all the damage and despite our politicians using typhoons and other related disasters as brownie points for the next election, we have no other choice but to get up on our feet. There’s no time to be mad.

The thing is however, this isn’t any other year.

Knowing what we know now about how much money was wasted on substandard flood control projects, a lot of which abandoned to the point that they are being referred to as “ghost projects”, knowing how many lives could’ve been saved if these politicians and contractors weren’t so greedy and corrupt, I couldn’t help myself.

I couldn’t help myself as I look at all the damage everywhere, how people are STILL begging for rescue on their rooftops as their houses get flooded. I look at all of it and can’t help but think about how all of this could’ve been easily avoided and managed if our country wasn’t so rotten to its core.

I didn’t just take it with a grain of salt. I took a handful of it, probably more.

Just about a month prior, I participated in one of the protests part of the “Trillion Peso March”. I was joined by multiple other people: fellow students from college and senior high, faculty, staff, elderly, priests, workers, artists, etc. All of us were gathered at the Basilica Minore as we let our voices be heard, as we prayed and hoped that, once and for all, that everybody who needs to be imprisoned should be imprisoned, for the sake of justice, for the sake of everybody, for the sake of our future.

It has been more than 100 days since, and nobody has been sentenced to imprisonment yet.

Honestly, what did I expect? The idea of the corrupt putting the corrupt to justice was never gonna work, wasn’t it?

For now, I am sitting here, reflecting on every single typhoon that has passed by, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. As I continue to ramble here, all I can really do is encourage myself and those around me, do the best I can in spite of the situation. Because the only other option is death, I have to choose to be resilient.

Resilience.

I hate the word resilience.

I’m tired of being resilient.

(Photo by me.)

Related work:

[embed]The Unexpected and the Calling in the Aftermath AKA: My train of thoughts during Typhoon Kristinemedium.com