Barely three days after the pageant, she instantly became famous in the Philippines. Her Facebook status started it all. Filipinos went wild, and Nicole Lynn instantly became a trending topic in various social networking sites.
So, who is Nicole Lynn?
Photo credit: missearth.tv
Her real name is Nicole Kelly. She is 22 years old. She represented the state of Florida in the Miss Earth United States 2011 pageant held early this year. Despite being one of the shortest candidate at 5'4", she went home with the crown and earned the rights to represent the USA to the international Miss Earth contest.
She arrived in Manila on the third week of November. Not even a day after her arrival, the organizers immediately scheduled her with a few more candidates to guest on a local TV show, "Wil Time Big Time". Nicole, being new to the Filipino culture, may have gotten the shock of her life!
Her Status on Facebook
"Wil Time Big Time" is a show that caters to the masses. It is where everyone would dance, sing and scream (and it could get even crazier than that). They give out so much money as prizes that the contestants, mostly from poor families, would do everything to win them. They would fall in line early in the morning to get a chance to make it as a studio audience where they could see their idol, the host himself, Willie Revillame. This happens daily.
So, the sight of beautiful ladies of various nationalities may have mesmerized the audience. Nicole is an all-American girl - blonde, white and sweet. For a regular Pinoy, she looks like a barbie doll. They may have wanted to dance with her, touch her - not just her hand, but even her long blonde hair. It was a sign of "admiration" for a Pinoy who doesn't get to stand beside a white, pretty girl everyday.
Being new to this culture, Nicole may have indeed found it ridiculous and crazy. Also, when she arrived, she may have immediately experienced the traffic, and got a glimpse of the infamous EDSA where everything is messy (think: giant billboards, street children crossing the street, smoke belching vehicles). And so, she got excited to share her experience to her friends on Facebook which is unfortunately, a very negative one (assuming that she was really the one who posted it).
Can we blame Nicole for her comments? The answer is no. Even a Filipino would comment about something so negative about a country he or she visited. Let's admit it, Filipinos sometimes make fun of others too (amoy putok, maitim, etc.). So this could happen to anyone, anywhere, regardless of race or nationality.
What was Nicole's mistake? She came unprepared. She should have at least taken sometime to check more about the Philippines, its people and the culture. If you are going to another country for the first time, you should know what to expect. Her even bigger mistake is publicly posting her comments on Facebook (again, assuming that it was her who did that). She could have shared her thoughts to her friends and family in private.
She is a Miss Earth candidate, she is a beauty queen and Filipinos are so passionate of their beauty queens. Therefore, a negative comment about the Philippines from a beauty queen (or a celebrity) would spark criticisms and outrage, especially in the internet.
But again, what if her Facebook account was really hacked? What could be the motive of the hacker? And if Nicole's explanation is true, should the Filipinos apologize for their equally offensive remarks against her?
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