A few days ago, GMA released the trailer for its upcoming TV show entitled Alyas Robin Hood, which starred one of its most popular actors, Dingdong Dantes.
If you have not played the video above, it shows Dantes wielding a bow and arrow in a green outfit with a hood. Now, where have I seen that before?
Oh. Right.
Apparently, the similarities between the weapon and costume of the protagonists from both shows did not sit well with Arrow and comic book fans.
And this picture that appeared on LionhearTV only made matters worse for ARH.
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Although the above image is fan made, it somehow emphasized how much Alyas Robin Hood resembles Oliver Queen a.k.a. the Green Arrow.
Despite the similarities in outfit and weapon, Suzette Doctolero, GMA Head Writer, insists that the character Dantes' will portray is different from that of Stephen Amell. This sparked a social media war of sorts between Doctolero and Arrow/comic book fans.
Now, I am not making this blog post to defend Doctolero. In fact, I agree that Alyas Robin Hood, at the very least, was inspired by Arrow. Despite her claims that the ARH drew inspiration from the Prince of Thieves, it is very hard to deny that her brainchild was a product of the growing popularity of spandex-clad archers such as the Green Arrow and Hawkeye.
Now, I am not making this blog post to defend Doctolero. In fact, I agree that Alyas Robin Hood, at the very least, was inspired by Arrow. Despite her claims that the ARH drew inspiration from the Prince of Thieves, it is very hard to deny that her brainchild was a product of the growing popularity of spandex-clad archers such as the Green Arrow and Hawkeye.
However, Filipino netizens could be going overboard with their treatment of Doctolero and Alyas Robin Hood, especially when you consider that...
Whether you are a gamer or not, you most likely heard of the game No Man's Sky in the past few days because it received so much flak for being boring and sucking so bad.
What was wrong? Well, the developers basically shot themselves in the foot when the actual game was not able to live up to the expectations set by its trailer back in E3 2014.
With reference to No Man's Sky, trailers do not tell the entire story.
Although the trailer for ARH screams Arrow, there is still a chance that it goes a different direction from what CW took with its archer. I mean, just look at Hollywood. Almost every movie has the same trailer but they do not necessarily tell the same story. Take a look.
To be honest, I do think that there will be a lot of Arrow-like elements in Alyas Robin Hood, but nothing is certain until the actual run of the show. Outside of ARH's production staff, no one has enough evidence to prove that the show will be nothing but a Pinoy version of Oliver Queen's adventures, so why not give Alyas Robin Hood and its creators a break and a chance?
Besides, a big network like GMA has a lot of reliable lawyers in its payroll. Don't you think at least one them would advise the people behind ARH if they were committing copyright infringement?
2. It Is Not The First Time We Copied Something From the West
After being colonized by the Spaniards for about 377 years and then the Americans for around 48 years, Filipinos have developed a liking from almost anything that comes from the west. This is what most people refer to as colonial mentality.
Having said that, it is not surprising that our pop culture and pop icons have been largely influenced by westerners -- Hagibis was our answer to the Village People, the Eraserheads were comparable to the Beatles, Batang X were inspired by the X-Men and Darna is akin to Wonder Woman. And let us not forget about the times Joey de Leon starred in movies as Filipino versions of Batman and Tarzan. It is things like this that earned Filipinos the reputation of being great imitators.
It may be frustrating to some that Doctolero refuses to admit the similarities between her brainchild and CW's archer, but if you put that matter aside, is there anything wrong with Alyas Robin Hood resembling Arrow?
3. The Show May Not Be Designed For You
Pictures of a conversation between Doctolero and a certain Dindo Antonio Gujelde III has recently surfaced on Facebook. In the said pictures, Doctolero described that ARH is designed for the masses, a good population of which not familiar with Arrow.
While some people would disagree with Doctolero's line of thinking, she is not entirely incorrect.
Although the Internet is now more accessible to individuals that belong to the Class D socioeconomic category thanks to the rise affordable of technology, it is not a guarantee that people will look up Arrow. And in the event that they did, who is to say that it piqued their interest?
There is a reason why shows like the Walking Dead and Supernatural are translated into Tagalog and it probably has something to do with appeal. Even if they do understand the language, it does not have the same appeal as having actors/actresses deliver dialogues in your native tongue.
In addition, the masses will most likely have a hard time relating to the cultural references (how many of us have been to the US, eh?) in Arrow, so creating a quasi-Filipino version of it in the form of Alyas Robin Hood could be more appealing to the average Juan dela Cruz.
And even if ARH is an Arrow ripoff, I bet the people who are complaining about it probably spend most of their time binge-watching foreign TV shows or movies, so I do not see how it affects them in a major way.
4. It Is An Arrow Clone... What Now?
Let me put myself in the shoes of Doctolero/Alyas Robin Hood haters right now. I have established that ARH is a ripoff of Arrow/Green Arrow, that was inspired by Robin Hood and Edgar Wallace's The Green Archer. What's next? Like seriously, what now?
I mean, people appear to be a little enthusiastic in insulting and criticizing the makers of this show that I cannot help but think that it is borderline cyberbullying. I feel like I am watching crazed Arrow/comic book fanatics frothing their mouths with the desire to take down whatever is related to Alyas Robin Hood and the show itself. Now, I am not taking GMA's side on this one. As I said, I believe Doctolero and company are blind to the similarities between ARH and Arrow. But if there is really a strong case against them, shouldn't we be hearing news about DC suing GMA over this? And yet here we are and the best we could is a comment from Amell saying Alyas Robin Hood "looks familiar".
On the other hand, the situation motivated some individuals to suggest that TV networks should attend local comic book conventions where they can draw inspiration from original works of our homegrown artists. Perhaps if more people started thinking like this, we could end up with more lemonades than lemons.
Going back to ARH, it remains to be seen. The only time we can pass judgement on it is once it starts airing. Until then, can we just allow interested parties to enjoy the show while the rest of us move on?
Let me put myself in the shoes of Doctolero/Alyas Robin Hood haters right now. I have established that ARH is a ripoff of Arrow/Green Arrow, that was inspired by Robin Hood and Edgar Wallace's The Green Archer. What's next? Like seriously, what now?
I mean, people appear to be a little enthusiastic in insulting and criticizing the makers of this show that I cannot help but think that it is borderline cyberbullying. I feel like I am watching crazed Arrow/comic book fanatics frothing their mouths with the desire to take down whatever is related to Alyas Robin Hood and the show itself. Now, I am not taking GMA's side on this one. As I said, I believe Doctolero and company are blind to the similarities between ARH and Arrow. But if there is really a strong case against them, shouldn't we be hearing news about DC suing GMA over this? And yet here we are and the best we could is a comment from Amell saying Alyas Robin Hood "looks familiar".
On the other hand, the situation motivated some individuals to suggest that TV networks should attend local comic book conventions where they can draw inspiration from original works of our homegrown artists. Perhaps if more people started thinking like this, we could end up with more lemonades than lemons.
Going back to ARH, it remains to be seen. The only time we can pass judgement on it is once it starts airing. Until then, can we just allow interested parties to enjoy the show while the rest of us move on?
