There is much to learn from the elegance and class with which the world’s most famous actors applaud each other. With great dignity and solid attitude, the cameras focus on the winner, not without glancing at those who were competing for that particular Oscar. In those moments, we always see winners and losers applauding, sometimes even effusively, as the extraordinary work of the winner is recognized without the kind of reactions we often see at our festivals.
Just two days after having enjoyed another night of Oscars, red carpet and world-class style, let’s talk about two recent cases in our festivals that we have to move from anonymity to denunciation, although I will reserve some names, with the desire not to open wounds but to close them, in order to find a formula that will lead us to some kind of union agreement.
Many of us were witnesses when Garnier BBDO won the Volcano for agency of the year and a few started to shout an unusual chorus in them: “DDB! DDB! DDB!”, only to hear many others join in. The herd effect happened once again, ignited by a few ardent people, which generated a moment of classic Costa Rican lowliness. Why can’t we leave aside our idiosyncratic serruchapisos of always? It was time to applaud the winners, although it is understandable the frustration of those who thought they were winners, either before or on that same night.
When in last week’s Caribbean, Tribu stood up to pick up a modest bronze for the Osa campaign, I am also confirmed that shouts were heard from the table of another Costa Rican agency saying: “Fusil! Fusil! Fusil!”, to the ears of the entire room filled with people from many other countries. Doesn’t it seem to you that it is more of the same and that it should not be like this? Did it occur to anyone to shout: “Save Osa! Or perhaps, to recognize years of pro bono work in favor of a national cause: “Contribution! Noble contribution! Costa Rica!”? No, of course not, but on the contrary, we were won over by the culture of the “choteadora”, and even on a foreign stage, we could not be unanimously applauded among Ticos. The screaming serruchapisos of that night, however, did not have to listen to a “Trucho!, trucho!, trucho!”, which they would have earned on multiple occasions, if it were not for the simple reason that the rest of Costa Ricans, that is, the absolute majority present, do enjoy the class, education and level that these few lacked.
The low-down idiosyncrasy of the Tico is a scourge that must be eradicated, and to those who suffer it with ardor, envy and resentment, I can only recommend professional and spiritual help. We must cut this behavior inherited from the same pachucos who shouted “Bitch!” to the most successful national teams, even in international scenarios, as I heard with pain in Germany playing against the Poles. It is the result of a sick national system, where there is no one to blame, although there may be those responsible for changing the harmful course of this destructive attitude. As in any dysfunctional family, let us remember that what is not cut, is passed on; what is not eliminated in one generation, is passed on to the next. For all this, I ask: What will be our legacy?
When the Dominican jury of Pagés BBDO at the last Volcán scolded us all in the Herradura hall, he did it with a certain indignation for the pathetic demonstration of selfishness and poverty of spirits by only applauding his own, while a few boos were heard. That’s not the way! That’s not the way to grow! Enough! Ladies and gentlemen, it is up to us to learn to lose and also to win. If we win, it must be done with humility, and if we lose, we owe it to class and elegance. A few at one table or another should not set the tone, and for this reason, we must set an example, correcting and pointing out precisely what should be changed. When will we understand that in this game, we win more if we all win?
Without anonymity and showing our faces, without giving a smile in front and then gnawing from behind, here is my indignation for this harmful behavior of some losers and winners, as a wake-up call, because the competition is not among us but outside, that to raise the creative level of any agency, we need the whole country. Together, we must move from jokes to applause, from daggers to constructive ideas, from selfishness to generosity, from denial to recognition, even when some pain is present.
That said, let’s get down to work. There is much to do and much to build. I turn the page and leave nothing behind. I do not doubt for a second that, from the very heads of absolutely all the agencies in the country, we will make a unanimous and united effort to change cultures, to improve the level of the creative product and our cultural legacy, that we will win more if we all win.
Meanwhile, in the last Caribbean, Costa Rica as a whole won, because together we added up to be the most awarded country. This deserves a total applause, recognizing that it would not have been won without the contribution of the many agencies that have brought at least a bronze, silver or gold. With elegance and height, it would have been said last night, “And the Oscar goes to… Costa Rica!”
PS. More on these topics in last week’s articles, The Dark Side of Tico and Culture Matters.