JE C.C.
Controversial director Yap weaponized a statement to disprove VP Robredo’s claim on working 18 hours a day, only to receive social media backlash.
Darryl Yap is all over social media again.
Its’ not about his controversial movies anymore, but rather for his remarks that seem out of sense. How did we get here?
First, let’s go back to his equally controversial facebook page where he makes available his short films and other content[s] to the public. For someone, who does not believe that an 18-hour workday is possible, Yap seems to find ease in creating non-stop content for his various platforms, not to mention he can stake to claim to be the busiest film director today.
He helmed more than 10 full-length features, last year most of which were badly criticized. Perhaps, you should also know he writes his materials—and he directs them, yes.
The current uproar emanated from Yap’s ‘Lenlen’ videos on Facebook and YouTube. The videos are part of his ‘Kape Chronicles’ which feature Senator Imee Marcos, comedian Juliana Segovia-Parizcova, and a certain Rhoanna Marie.
The first part of the video is a spoof of the Angelica Panganiban video, which went viral a few days earlier.
Yap’s response, itself, became viral, although there are arguably more negative comments about it. Yap once said that ‘…every bash is cash’, hence his choice to make more ‘Lenlen’ videos.
After the Bitter Lenlen episode, he released two more (so far): Lutang Lenlen and the latest, Pagod Lenlen. The latest video certainly elicited more negative, not to mention angrier, reactions, as it raises the brows of the working class.
In the controversial video largely seen as a response to Vice President Leni Robredo’s statement about working 18 hours a day on average, Yap quoted inc.com’s writer, Geofrey James whose article titled ‘Anyone Who Claims to Work 18 Hours a Day Is Either Lying or Stupid’ talked about work productivity.
Yap took this statement out of context to disprove Robredo’s claim, as the article itself isn’t about that. If you go to the article itself, you’d find that statement isn’t complete as it also said that ‘After about 10 hours, you’re not getting work done; you’re creating more work for yourself.’
The article shredded the statement to thinner details by addressing those who claim an 18-hour workday without breaks, and consistently. It’s a refresher about the law of diminishing returns, as it cites studies that prove that pulling a workload beyond the normal—say, 40 to 49 hours—only results in reduced productivity.
Yap didn’t even have to complete the statement to understand that it can not be used to debunk Robredo’s declaration; he claimed he wasn’t able to sleep for 29 hours while working on his debut film in 2019.
The whole article should not be taken out of context as it is about time management and being productive at work. It merely points out that deliberately skipping rest or sleep to accomplish more work, is both impossible and dumb. It does not address however the realities of blue-collar workers, medical and economic front liners, and entrepreneurs who barely have a choice but to work more than the usual number of hours.
The article took the example of those who are present at workplaces and barely spend their work hours productively. It, however, failed to make mention of those who do their job the entire time they are at work and have to do additional, overtime work, to meet deadlines.
Headlines truly make a huge difference in the way we think, but it can also be how we interpret them that creates the bigger damage. Yap weaponized James’ headline to counter Robredo’s statement, without understanding its right context, and apparently, without realizing its repercussions.
Certainly, some workers go beyond their usual shifts and work hours to accomplish relevant work, and to say they’re stupid or lying makes Yap utterly out of touch.
But then let’s go back to his old post where he claimed he didn’t sleep for 29 hours to make his first film. Is he stupid or is he just lying?
