Romanticizing Gray

Newly crowned Miss Universe, Catriona Gray’s final answer in the interview portion of the contest triggered some critical responses about her romanticizing poverty instead of addressing it. Here is the full text of her mini-speech:

“I work a lot in the slums of Tondo, Manila, and the life there is very poor and very sad. I’ve always taught myself to look for the beauty in it, to look for the beauty in the faces of the children, and to be grateful. I would bring this aspect as a Miss Universe to see situations with a silver lining, and to assess where I could give something, where I could provide something as a spokesperson. If I could teach also people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children would have a smile on their face. Thank you.“

I would contend, however, that rather than romanticizing poverty, the message is one of seeking to rise above it. The very first sentence already describes life in the slums as “very poor and very sad.” Not quite so romantic. It is then followed by a very personal statement – “I taught myself to look for beauty in it.” It’s not about poverty being beautiful, but on making the most of a bad situation.

“Silver lining” comes from the old saying “Every cloud has a silver lining” meaning a negative circumstance can still yield positive benefits. It is not a denial of the negative, nor an idealization of it, but a means of seeing oneself through it. In her case, it was seeing the children’s faces — probably dirty, greasy faces, some with gap-toothed grins and some filled with tears and snot — but she learned to see these as beautiful, as humans. And she also learned to be grateful — perhaps of her privilege, of not being born there, but also of having the opportunity to serve and help them and see how to alleviate their situation.

In short, it was a message of hope amidst all the despair.

Could she have done better? Could she have made the point clearer? Definitely yes. But then again, with only 30 seconds to answer an impromptu question, the added pressure of being on an international stage, with thousands watching live and millions more watching remotely, it is unreasonable to expect a nuanced and perfectly crafted answer, complete with citations and case studies. It’s a beauty pageant, not a thesis defense.

I read one comment saying that her answer was obviously prepared and so we shouldn’t be so easy on her because there was no pressure. On this I would simply credit that comment to inexperience. I know what it’s like competing on a stage. As a Toastmaster, I’ve competed on a national stage. My speech was fully prepared and I had rehearsed it so many times. I knew it so well that you could hold a copy of the speech in your hand, read any sentence there, and I could continue the speech from there. I could even tell you what sentence came before the one you just read, and the one before that even.

Did that level of preparedness eliminate the pressure and nervousness? Of course not. My hands were still cold as ice as the emcee called me and welcomed me on stage. My point is, no level of preparedness removes the tension and the pressure. And she was on a bigger stage than I was with the hopes of millions of Filipinos all over the world riding on her back. I cannot even begin to fathom the intense pressure she must have been under, nor the ignorance of that remark.

The irony of it all is while the handful of critics were bashing her (many of whom are keyboard warriors who have probably never set foot in the slums where Catriona worked), those poor children whose lives she touched were busy cheering her, with joy and hope blazing in their hearts.

Originally published in Sunstar Davao.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.