The Face That Launched a Million Tweets

(part 1)

At the time of this writing, the official hashtag of the AlDub love team has reached a record 11 straight days of at least a million tweets worldwide and it shows no signs of abating. Last August 29, it made another milestone of 3.6 million tweets, easily surpassing the 3.34 million recorded by the visit of Pope Francis. The fans proudly call themselves citizens of the virtual AlDub nation. Or Kingdom, if the fans will have it their way. And they swear allegiance to King Alden Richards and Queen YayaDub (dubsmash queen Maine Mendoza).

A lot has been written about Alden (Richard Faulkerson, Jr in real life), a regular host of Eat Bulaga, a hardworking and talented hearthrob but whose career in showbiz did not soar as it should. What was missing? Enter Maine, a 20-year old Youtube star for her Dubsmash videos. Maine acts as a snobbish Yaya (or personal assistant) to the antagonistic, rich, and image-conscious Lola Nidora, superbly portrayed by comedic genius Wally Bayola. Yaya does not talk. She ‘dubs’ songs and movie dialogues, with matching facial contortions. Alden doesn’t talk too. They communicate love notes on fansigns shown on cameras.  Lola, as everyone by now knows, is the MH — malaking hadlang — between the star-crossed lovers.  How did a weird, speechless, long-distance love blossom between an unlikely couple and grip a nation? It seemed Eat Bulaga stumbled upon a goldmine. Director Mike Tuviera said they found out that Maine had a real crush on Alden, and they wanted to know how Maine would react when she sees Alden looking at her dubbing performance. The directors experimented, Alden was shown looking and smiling at Maine, and to everyone’s teenage giggle, Yaya lost her composure, betrayed her snob, and coyly smiled. Ayun! A budding love team! Eat Bulaga pounced on the idea and unleashed in the audience a raw emotion lying dormant in their hearts, the kilig, and a powerful love story.

I’ve always wanted to know what made the whole nation gaga over another love team, so I asked my friends. They gave me THE look, at times scornful, most often pitiful. This is no ordinary love team. I was still unmoved, so I turned to the ultimate authority over these matters — my parents. They were shocked I wasn’t a fan yet. Okaayy, since success has many fathers, lets analyze this piece-meal. Let’s look at the newbie, the new face that stole a million hearts.

I first saw Maine in her dubsmash videos last summer. I was amused, but wasn’t really thrilled. She was pretty, but not stunning. I thought she looked too common, too ordinary, to be put up there in the showbiz pedestal. I was wrong. But Maine herself admitted in her blog that she never thought she’d land in showbiz because she didn’t have the looks, the charm, the talent. I guess she’s wrong too. 🙂

So what’s in YayaDub that gripped the whole nation? Like an unseen, swift and fatal left hook from Pacquiao, she came from nowhere and knocked our defenses.  She’s not as stunning as the other girls. She did not come from reality-tv or a talent contest. She hasn’t won a national singing or dance competition. But perhaps it’s her simplicity, her bubby energy, and her ordinariness that attracted us. Her ‘weakness’ was her strength. To her credit, she also has a skill many actors should learn: she can make us laugh. She distorts her face and makes herself ugly to make us feel good.

I presented this theory to my friends and they quite agree. It’s been a long while since we last saw an actress who could make wacky faces effortlessly and dance as if sinasaniban. At present we are awashed with many cute girls, some with good acting skills. But they cannot give us a belly-aching laugh. Maine’s antics reminds me of the funny portrayals by Nida Blanca, Maricel Soriano, Jolina Magdangal, Sarah Geronimo, even by Ai-ai and Pokwang. But her self-deprecating humor is notches higher.

It’s too early to tell how she’ll do as an actress. But it is obvious she’s a natural comedienne, comfortable in front of the camera and hardworking too. Besides, the whole nation adores her like a queen. So I hope she’s given the training and break she deserves.

The face of Helen of Troy was thought to be so mesmerizing thousands of men willingly fought and died over her. Little did we know that a common, funny face could do the same, but without the bloodshed, just good vibes.

(Next: ‘Kilig’ Me Softly)