#RCReadathon2020 – Popfluences: Pop Culture That Influenced Us

August 21, 2020 by Miles | Leave a comment

A discussion on how pop culture icons (personalities, movies, TV shows, comics, games) have influenced the way we tell our stories. Discussion took place last Saturday, August 15!

Panelists: Carla de Guzman, Katrina Ramos Atienza, Kesh Tanglao, Mina V. Esguerra, Six de los Reyes, Tania Arpa

Follow the #RCReadathon2020 tag on Twitter, or check out our lineup for the rest of the panels!

Welcome to our #RomanceClass #RCReadathon2020 panel this afternoon on POPFLUENCES! Follow this thread to know more about selected pop culture faves that have shaped how we create things. Joining me are Tania Arpa, Carla de Guzman, Six de los Reyes, Kesh Tanglao, and Bianca Mori. pic.twitter.com/0XTQAhusWY
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

SWEET DREAMS books were a huge part of my reading life as a teen. When I discovered this US YA series there had already been 100+ books out. Most were teen romances, often standalones, and through these I discovered tropes I liked (enemies!) and the “voice” I enjoyed (snarky!). pic.twitter.com/MAC2yKurYz
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

The books I write have traces of Sweet Dreams, to this day. But it’s bec I’ve wanted to create that same feeling, but with people/ places/things that I actually know. That are here. Can this format and story type include us? Be about us? And the answer I feel is yes and yes. pic.twitter.com/Tf4wRoWJ6b
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

Still I saw what they were trying to do—that is, meet everyone’s expectations but also introduce new things. I took note (pre-getting published!) of how DREAMBOY explored different hero types with the same guy. How YOU ARE THE ONE is about immigration and identity. pic.twitter.com/S9xyAru6EF
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

If you’re going to watch a Filipino romance movie right now though, I highly recommend Isa Pa With Feelings, released 2019. (And then maybe work your way back to the older movies with lots of context and warnings haha.)https://t.co/XFyYP3guV5 https://t.co/FVP49Tnodo
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

Hello! I’m Tania, and I do… things. I'm part of the #RomanceClass doing stuff like book covers and podcasts and more recently, the #HelloEverAfter where I try to *professionally* give directions on how the scenes go without hiding behind my tablet. #RCReadathon2020
— Tania Arpa (@TaniaArpa) August 15, 2020

the Crosswinds series had this thing with geometric shapes and that wild 80's thing where they just discovered color. I loved it. Here's my favorite title in that series “Sylvia Smith-Smith” next to my latest cover design project #RCReadathon2020 pic.twitter.com/B7zkGQMN8v
— Tania Arpa (@TaniaArpa) August 15, 2020

Speaking of Jay, it was fortuitous that she and I were both asian pop culture fangirls. #RCReadathon2020 pic.twitter.com/O5jF8dzk0N
— Tania Arpa (@TaniaArpa) August 15, 2020

https://twitter.com/carlakdeguzman/status/1294541334695432193

https://twitter.com/carlakdeguzman/status/1294541948758319104

https://twitter.com/carlakdeguzman/status/1294542989860118529

Flash forward to 2017 and I became a staunch advocate of Reylo. Their enemies to lovers storyline was really compelling to me, and finding their place in the universe in each other was so powerful.

Not a romance, though. But the fanfic community is AMAZING at healing my heart. pic.twitter.com/BtmRjPigHO
— Carla de Guzman (@carlakdeguzman) August 15, 2020

https://twitter.com/carlakdeguzman/status/1294544695729590274

I have more to say about tropes, fanfic, romance and why the current trend of illustrated covers bothers me, but perhaps a discussion for another time!

Now to talk about her influences, over to my favorite mermaid @sixdlr !🧜‍♀️
— Carla de Guzman (@carlakdeguzman) August 15, 2020

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294547775598653440

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294549009298632706

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294550290872463361

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294551757079449600

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294553116365357057

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294553940726448128

https://twitter.com/sixdlr/status/1294555032289865729

https://twitter.com/kctanglao/status/1294555755916320768

https://twitter.com/kctanglao/status/1294556558043385861

https://twitter.com/kctanglao/status/1294557243455623170

https://twitter.com/kctanglao/status/1294558051387637765

thanks Kesh! Happy Saturday everyone! I'm Bianca Mori. I write contemporary, romantic suspense & single mom romance. But the trope I keep coming back to? High society romance. #RCReadathon2020 pic.twitter.com/WdM7JH0pTP
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

Ultra fave: Sharon Cuneta-Miguel Rodriguez movie To Love Again (1983). Watch it for: arranged marriage between rich families, running away to a logging town, LI constantly told he looks like Christopher Reeve & surprisingly cute blood transfusion ligawan.

(CW parental suicide) pic.twitter.com/NVWOGpTVK5
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

Palimos ng Pag Ibig (1986, directed by THE Eddie Garcia) is a surrogate parent melodrama, where Edu Manzano decides to make a baby with destitute Dina Bonnevie to save his marriage to Vilma Santos. 🤷‍♀️

(CW sexual coercion, child endangerment, ableism) pic.twitter.com/sA1UhgE6Lu
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

Finally there's Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita (1989), my fave Pinoy revenge film. Christopher de Leon (Alfred) is a striving probinsyano who marries Sharon C. (Salve), set to inherit her father's modest wealth. #RCReadathon2020 pic.twitter.com/LGbvo6Lk0k
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

I wanted to watch the trailer earlier but ended up watching the whole movie and taking screencaps LOL https://t.co/qvi8RMljBS
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

I guess why I write stories in this world, and why it was a favorite pop culture setting back in the day, is that, as with any trope, it allows one to play with structure and explore power dynamics within the trope parameters. #RCReadathon2020
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

My challenge is to interpret the tropes I love so much, preserve camp elements but not perpetuate harm. I want to create characters that engage and sometimes question their privilege, and at the least, strive to make it fair for those not in their social sphere. #RCReadathon2020
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

thanks for reading! I hope you found these tweets interesting; all 3 movies are available in full on YouTube if you want to check them out (but do note CWs above. My books are here: https://t.co/Z61gWo2ina

Back to you @minavesguerra! #RCReadathon2020
— Bianca Mori (@thebiancamori) August 15, 2020

One more #RCReadathon2020 thing happening today is #RomanceClass Mukbang Nights. Dinner date with authors? Eating food featured in their books? Sounds like a party haha. It’ll be here: https://t.co/oprejInWGs

Thanks, everyone! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kVzxw0lWbS
— Mina (@minavesguerra) August 15, 2020

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