Twin Rats aka Kambal sa Uma
Notice the resemblance?
Look closer.
If you strain hard enough, you’d swear they’re twins. NOT!!
In an ambitious bid to increase its ratings, television network ABS-CBN has recently launched another high budget teleserye: Kambal sa Uma. Featuring rat-human mutants, Kambal sa Uma is an adaptation of a 1979 movie of the same title. One word of advice: Avoid it like the bubonic plague.
You don’t believe me?
Do you know the show is based on a stupid premise? A pregnant woman, who somehow got insanely interested in rats, gives birth to rat-human mutants. Wow. They expect us to believe that unhealthy obsession with rats can actually make rat genes combine with human genes.*
Still having faith in folk stories?
That’s good. You can follow their advise and stop bathing on Good Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays, and on all days that fall on the calendar. Who knows, you might smell like your rat-human-mutant-idol soon.
Surely you’re not impressed with the acting?
The extras are horrible! They react too quickly. For example, some extras removed one of the rat-human-mutant’s clothes, thereby exposing her furry back. They showed disgust**, even before the dreaded exposure.
And did I mention the show was stupid?
Yes it is, but not as stupid as the logic of the show. I don’t think Filipinos would dare kill deformed children, even if they look like abominations of the human-rat-hybrid kind. Experience dictates that Filipinos are more enterprising. The show should have featured the kidnap of one of the rat-human-mutants and sold her to a freak show!
Do you know that stupidity is contagious, especially if seen on TV?
You don’t?!! Then I pity you. The show must have taken hold of your intellect. Btw, I saw a mild case of Kambal sa Uma-induced stupidity today. He’s not yet at your level but he was getting there. He just came to the Health Center where I was doing my immersion when he suddenly said:
Hala! Buhi lagi na siya?!
WHAT! She’s alive?!
Apparently, what he last saw was one of the young rat-human-mutants being thrown to sea to drown. (Did I mention that those extras should have earned money had they sold the mutant at a freak show instead of murdering her?) As a sign of respect to the old man, I kept silent but my head was going:
WHAT!? HAS THE SHOW POSSESSED YOU THIS EARLY? THAT SHOW IS ONLY 1 WEEK OLD. YOU HAVE SEEN SCREEN SHOTS OF THE MUTANT GROWN UP, RIGHT? WHY WERE YOU SHOCKED TO SEE HER ALIVE?!
Btw, perhaps I’ve made a hasty diagnosis of your mental capacity. You may have some hope left. Surely, the show mustn’t have possessed you too quickly. Let me test your IQ with one question. If you can’t answer this, then you’re hopeless. Keep watching the show. It’s already owned you…
Q: What does Uma in Kambal sa Uma mean?
WHAT?! YOU’VE BEEN WATCHING THE SHOW FOR A WEEK, AND YOU STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT ITS TITLE EVEN MEANS? THEN THAT JUST PROVES ME RIGHT. STUPID. JUST STUPID. KAMBAL SA UMA IS STUPID.
*I don’t care if it’s Filipino folklore. It’s still stupid.
**Oops, I think disgust is too heavy a word to describe what they were trying to portray. It does, however, describe the way I felt about their acting.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
Perhaps the acting could be improved (I can’t tell as I don’t speak the language) but I agree with your logic about it being more realistic that if their secret was out the girls would end up in a freak show. On the other hand your assertion about twins isn’t totally logical. Not all twins are identical. Monozygotic twins (‘natural clones’) are identical, due to having formed from a single early embryo which split, but fraternal twins are not identical and are not always even the same sex as they originate from two eggs fertilized at the same time. the premise may be odd but it could be weird enough to be worth sticking with. Including a supernatural element (a curse or spell) to explain the deformity would have worked better within the logic of the show in my opinion.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I can see your prejudice agaisnt the network and not with the show. Try to see things without any prejudice. Though some of your assertions here are more stupid than the reasons you have posted. George has explained it. And Filipinos are people who stick with folklore, whether you care or not, the point is, you wasted time writing this in order to stop people from watching. Do you really hope that this naive blog would stop the media and the mass from watching it? Hays…
May 19th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Prejudiced? I don’t think I’m the one who’s prejudiced here. It seems like you’re the one who is prejudiced against Filipinos who believe that Philippine TV shows should improve.
Don’t you see what’s wrong with the picture? It seems that what we see these days are remakes of old comics that were based on American heroes e.g. Darna, Lastikman, etc. Could they at least show us something logical, or something minus screaming at one another and grabbing hairs.
Btw, DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I WAS TRYING TO STOP PEOPLE FROM WATCHING THAT SHOW?! That feat would be next to impossible. If people get their fix from this, then I say give them their opium. They’ll need it for the coming debacle this country is destined to fulfill.
And have you heard about “freedom of expression”? By writing this blog, I’m practicing it whether you like it or not. Why not practice this basic human right? I suggest you make your own blog and write interesting posts. I’m sure the the “media and mass [sic]” would love to read about how your belief in folklore made you appreciate Filipino shows.
May 19th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
@George: I did not assert anything about twins in the post. I intentionally left science out of my post, coz the show also intentionally left out logic and science out.
I agree with you. The premise of the show is both odd and weird, but many people don’t care. Who knows? The show may show that the old woman witch could have cursed the mother to bear rat mutants, and then blamed her unnatural craving for it.. But the fans won’t care. They’ll just accept anything they on that show..
June 19th, 2009 at 3:10 am
i seldom watch filipino tv series… coz story lines are not that believable. but hey, all of you has the right to express what you fee;. by the way… “uma” means field… so exact translation would be “twins in the field”… just informing. have a nice day.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
thanx! So that’s what it means.. Was wondering about the possible connection of the Cebuano uma, which btw means “farm/to farm”. hehe.
June 30th, 2009 at 4:01 am
hahaha kya,
I was literally laughing while reading this post last summer and I made another crucial decision(great! crucial) to read it again this time…
and as usual, I’m laughing for the second time.
maybe i’d be reading this post sometime in the future and who knows? maybe i won’t be laughing.
who knows?
July 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
My mother complains of having to sit through this when she needs to watch May Bukas Pa. I understand why.
Now no matter how bad a plot can be, no matter how illogical and ridiculous, the show itself can be good if executed well.
I do agree of your review, however, that the show has so many stupid flaws.
Now it’s not so bad during the timeline of their moments as babies and children (which they never seem to emphasis a lot in these dramas that do timeskips, which is a pity because so much of the plot can come out of it…) but then it jumps off a cliff when we get to the main story of them as young adults.
It suddenly turns into a stupid teen drama as Vira (the more human twin who really has not much besides her back hair) is pressured into the cheerleading team by her snobby sister with bad acting and poor execution of this particular arc. In fact Vira herself is not very likable in my opinion, as she seems just as manipulative as her sister at times. At least Ella’s perspective is more decent compared to Vira’s perspective, but still pretty dumb. Ella (doomed with the rat ears and tail) is depicted as utterly helpless and weak, letting herself get captured by crazy people one way and the other… they try to make her sympathetic, but most of the time it’s just overdone.
And then the worst part of this show is the stupid music placements at the wrong times, no less, horrible music choices for certain situations. Why are you using “Time of My Life” by Green Day for a kiss scene? And then playing it during a breakup scene? And then in a random zoom-out scene? How is this even appropriate for this show at all?!
Me watching this show is ongoing and at least that stupid high school arc is done and over with. Maybe they can finally get into something that will help improve the show?
July 4th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
wow. I admire your patience.
It made me lol when you mentioned they played Green Day over and over!
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
george eat your heart out. ITS RAITING!!! (even higher than GMA’s primetime soaps) you simply can’t argue with success…
more than its flaws KAMBAL SA UMA is a show that has full of values. I’m not at all surprised that you didn’t see that… maybe its because you don’t have any values…
enjoy watching, looks like you’re a fan to know all those details…
poser!!!
August 11th, 2009 at 10:10 am
kung sino man ang “admin” sa blogs na to e inutil ka. wala kang ka kwenta kwentang hinayupak ka. nagsusulat ka ng opinyon mong walang kakuwenta kuwenta. mamatay ka na sanang tarantado ka. bumalik ka sa pinanggalingan mo. tang ina mo..shit ka!!!
August 11th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I hoped it would get better. It did not.
Why did Ella suddenly become an utter bitch for no reason? Why is Vera suddenly the damsel in distress? Is this awkward acting trying to promote character development that makes no sense? What’s with the suddenly added new characters?
Success has nothing to do with quality. Take Twilight for example, something Stephen King and countless other writers had endlessly critiqued Ms. Meyer for her sloppy writing.
This show is only popular for the celebrities in it and well schemed time slot. Why isn’t “The Wedding” in this time slot instead? It’s well worth more it’s time then this mess. Here’s a word for these producers: when something you are adapting is already critically panned and still is dating to 30 years ago, I think that’s a clue you shouldn’t.
August 14th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
wow. the stuff fanatics say…
August 28th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
i do agree,,,the people making this show doesn’t know what reality is anymore. even though it’s based on comics they shouldn’t act so ridiculously stupid. no offense, they don’t make sense at all.
@kumunistang intsik: wow i’d expect to read that from someone who watches stupid drama shows all his/her life. if u are a guy u are gay. hahaha u did not even defended the show but trash talk instead. u are very very smart. pangalan mo plang e. lalo ka ala wenta.
“Success has nothing to do with quality. Take Twilight for example, something Stephen King and countless other writers had endlessly critiqued Ms. Meyer for her sloppy writing. ”
-true! Edward Cullen is the worst vampire ever made in history. true blood is awesome by the way.
August 31st, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I’m gonna reinstate my opinion. I think the show would have had a much better quality in story had they not try to adapt it from a movie that was pretty bad in itself already.
Now it might be floppy regardless but it wouldn’t be as bad as it is right now. The story is already to the point where they completely threw the “rat twins” plot device out the window. It is rarely brought up into the story, save for the few first episodes, and Ella has completely got rid of her deformity (as it seems). So what was the point of it to begin with then?
It would have made more sense if they were born with actual deformities (that can still be related with superstition) rather than with the unrealistic rat features, and it would have still made sense. Like, Ella and Vera could have been born with features that their closed community shunned them for being “demonic” or such. It would have gone on to be a normal twin separation drama story without the “magic” that is pretty useless in the actual story.
December 24th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Människoråttor är väldigt vackra,och dom har rätt att födas och finnas till. Det här är väldigt intressant,och dessa tvillingflickor är systrar och det syns tydligt. Den ena tvillingen är människoråtta,och hon är både vacker och mycket söt. Det borde födas fler människoråttor i världen,och stamcellsforskningen skulle kunna hjälpa dessa personer på traven att få bli till.Båda flickorna är söta,och dom har rått-mutant-gener i sitt blod.Detta är dom födda med,och det skall dom vara mycket stolta för.Och vi andra som vill att våra barn skall få råttgener skall kunna få det med hjälp av vetenskpen. Vanliga råttor är också väldigt vackra djur,och människan är släkt med råttan.
Alla djur är släkt med varandra på något sätt,och vi vanliga människor är också släkt med djuren.Människoråttor och övriga människodjur är en blandning mellan människa och råtta/djur.Vi har alla någon form av släktband mellan arterna,och detta skall inte förhindras genom förnekande,bortförklaringar,aborter eller operationer mm.
Jag personligen avundas människo-rått-tjejen Ella,och jag skulle mer än gärna också vilja ha en protionell och välsvarvad råttsvans som Ella har.Fast lite kortare dock,så den inte tar i golvet/marken.Jag gillar även Ellas råttöron och hennes råtthår på huvudet.
Jag är mycket intresserad av människoråttor och råttor,och jag läser allt jag kommer över om dom.
January 2nd, 2010 at 3:49 pm
yeah..
your swedish is quite nice.. but i’ve no way of checking. haha.