By Ronald Constantino
HE LAST OF – In a previous column on showbiz titles, there was none for movie queen. Why? As noted time and again, there’s no more “queendom,” so why should there be a queen?
Sharon Cuneta and Maricel Soriano are the last of the movie queens. They “ruled” in the ‘80s.
And before them: Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos of the ‘70s, Susan Roces and Amalia Fuentes of the ‘60s, Gloria Romero and Nida Blanca of the ‘50s, and Carmen Rosales and Rosa del Rosario of the ‘40s.
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MULTI-MEDIA STARS – In the ‘90s, cinema played second fiddle, in a manner of speaking, to television.
And then came commercials, even billboards, and the powerful social media, which created multi-media queens in place of movie queens. The measure of one’s popularity depended on TV exposure, number of commercial endorsements and even billboards (especially along EDSA), and socmed trending.
Of course, cinema box-office appeal also counts, but not as important as before.
So enter multi-media stars. Exit movie queens.
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BIG NAMES – Who are the big names these days, actresses with many TV shows, endorsements, billboards, socmed following? Big stars but not movie queens.
As they come to mind: Jennylyn Mercado, Marian Rivera, Lovi Poe, Bea Alonzo, Sarah Geronimo (also top singer, concert artist), Toni Gonzaga, Anne Curtis.
Among the millennials: Kathryn Bernardo, Liza Soberano, Julia Barretto, Bianca Umali, Maine Mendoza, Barbie Forteza, Bea Binene.
(Oh, how about the movie-king title? Highspeed will focus on them next.)
