Duyongco, Nathalie Final Paper Speech 131

Quiapon, Aureen Mae A. Prof. Oscar Serquina

CRAZY RICH YAAAARN?:

A Rhetorical Analysis of Selected Vlogs from Heart Evangelista's Youtube Channel

Introduction

First spotted acting on a children-friendly television show entitled G-mik, Heart

Evangelista has gone on to become a well-known influencer, television host, singer, model,
philanthropist, and now, painter. She carries an impressive following with 9.3 million
followers on Instagram and 2.57 million subscribers on YouTube. Aside from this, she has
been branded as the true to life “Crazy Rich Asian” hailing from the Philippines with her
luxurious lifestyle. With that being said, it does lead us to the question: How does Heart
effectively create social media content in relation to contemporary rhetorical theories?

It is common knowledge among many that Evangelista is from a well-off and

influential family. From being the daughter of Reynaldo Evangelista Ongpauco, the Food and
Beverage magnate behind the Barrio Fiesta Group of restaurants here in the Philippines,
and Maria Cecilia del Gallego Payawal, whose family owns a sugar cane plantation in
Camarines Sur, Evangelista most definitely lived an affluent life. With this, she was granted
the opportunity to spend most of her childhood abroad. Later on, she moved back to the
Philippines to test her luck in being a celebrity. Growing up in such a privileged family, it is
perhaps fair to say that she most likely got a head start in the glamour stakes due to her
family’s wealth, influence, and power. Despite that, it is not to say that Evangelista merely
got everything handed to her on a silver platter.

Her career in the limelight of becoming a Filipino celebrity began on G-mik—a

famous youth-oriented television show produced by ABS-CBN—at just 13 years old. She
gave life to the character of Missy Sandejas who was introduced to the public alongside
many famous names like Angelica Panganiban, Anne Curtis, Camille Prats, among
others—all of them being up and coming celebrities who wanted to make a name for
themselves. After getting noticed on G-mik, she also got into modeling and hosting. In the
last five years, she has starred in Juan Happy Love Story (2016), Mulawin vs Ravena (2017),
Follow Your Heart (2017), My Korean Jagiya (2017-2018), Starstruck (2019), and I Left My
Heart in Sorsogon (2021-Present). After many years of work, she is now a 20-year veteran of
the entertainment business.

Aside from being a well-known celebrity in the Philippines, Evangelista has also
made a name for herself in the world as an artist. Since 2014, she has hosted thirteen (13)
different art exhibitions around the country. Moreover, she is known for her paintings on
various designer pieces which have been showcased at multiple galleries including the
Ayala Museum and Galerie Joaquin.

With this, Evangelista has made her mark in the world as not just a famous artist but
one that is also luxurious and influential (Forbes France). From having million-dollar
endorsements, religiously buying from luxury brands like Hermes and Chanel, and coming
from a wealthy family, Evangelista definitely is able to influence a large number of
individuals.

With this influence, power, and wealth, it is undeniable that she carries a lot of
responsibilities since she is in the public eye. As we continue to enjoy a tech-savvy society,
it is inevitable that our lives begin to be affected by many social media icons like that of
Heart Evangelista. This then has led the pair to realize that more than having a lavish
lifestyle, influencers like Evangelista, especially as she is branded as a “Crazy Rich Asian”
affects our lives in many ways. The author of the franchise, Kevin Kwan, explained that
when he was writing, he was not creating fictional characters but rather taking inspiration
from stars like Evangelista (Punj). This is a statement rejected by the artist herself. Despite
what appears to be a grand and costly lifestyle full of luxury bags, jewelry, shoes, and
clothes, she insists that her extravagance comes from many years of hard work in the
entertainment industry. Although, this may not be the case from an outsider’s perspective.

With all of these in mind, in this paper, the pair aims to answer three (3) main
questions:
 1. How does she make use of visual rhetoric to enforce her image as a “Crazy
Rich Asian?”
2. How does she present terministic screens in her vlogs?
3. How does her portrayal of her “crazy rich” lifestyle on social media influence
the public and what are its implications?

In doing so, they will analyze current public opinion, narratives, and visual rhetoric
which they believe and see as essential tools used by Heart Evangelista in strengthening her
presence and overall public image. The pair will additionally make use of specific videos
from the artist’s Youtube channel to have a better grasp of her image.

Methodology

Heart Evangelista’s Youtube Channel, Love Marie Escudero gives the public a glimpse
of her lifestyle, passions, and interests. Having millions of subscribers, it has a high level of
engagement which applies to her other social media platforms as well namely, Facebook
and Instagram. However, her channel is uniquely curated since it allows her to post longer
videos that aim to widen her reach and show a side of her that she would not usually post
on the aforementioned platforms. Her status as a famous actress, socialite, and celebrated
artist definitely catapulted her to being a high-profile influencer. The vlogs on her channel
garner millions of views and are flooded with positive comments from fans or viewers.
They are quite fascinating to watch since it features Heart’s art, travels, fashion, and
experiences. Some of her most-watched vlogs that the pair have chosen to analyze are 1)
Paris Fashion Week 2020 with 2.4 million views and 2) WFH: How I Paint on Handbags for
my Clients with 1.6 million views. Both briefly capture her Crazy Rich Asian lifestyle
wherein she not only exudes elegance and extravagance but also playfulness and
authenticity. The former highlights her reputation as a fashion icon and influencer—she has
truly cemented her name in the international fashion industry as she works with the likes
of Dior, Bulgari, Ferragamo, Jean Paul Gaultier, and other global luxury brands. The latter
focuses on her work as an artist that she also gets to profit largely from as she makes art
come to life on a hundred thousand dollar canvas. To paint a clearer picture, here is a
detailed description for each vlog:

1. Paris Fashion Week 2020 - In addition to clips of the fashion shows she had seen
and her outfits of the day, she also showed some of her photoshoots which are the
content solely created for the brands taken at different places in Paris. A little sneak
peek is provided of her getting ready with hair and make-up either in her hotel room
or in the van. Music is played while her team preps her and it seemed like a sort of
fun bonding amid all the work needed to be done. She also acknowledges her team
on other occasions like when she took a video of them having dinner, taking them
out to lunch in her favorite restaurant, and including them in the frame when
walking to the venue and doing the photoshoots.

2. WFH: How I Paint on Handbags for my Clients - Evangelista shared that painting for
her is therapeutic but she gets extremely nervous that she prays four Hail Marys
before she can start, understandably so since her canvas costs a fortune—for today
it’s a Hermes Kelly Handbag. Aside from seeing her talent at work, viewers also get
to witness her thought and visualization process. It is also worth mentioning that
the design she chose to paint on the bag is three elegant girls because in her own
words: “I love painting girls. It best represents my work and the look of my work.”

These vlogs reinforce her branding as a real-life Crazy Rich Asian and also convey her roles
as an influencer and an artist. With this in mind, it is important to delve deeper into its
rhetorical significance by analyzing it using these theories: visual rhetoric, terministic
screens, and public opinion.

Through visual rhetoric, images can be interpreted in a communicative sense that

gives meaning to and sheds light on certain things not conveyed through speech. Vlogs have
limited time and so the rule of thumb is to show not tell. Together with terministic screens
that aim to only illustrate a specific reality, it supports the image an influencer wants to
portray. This subjects them to public opinion and so it is inevitable for influencers to be
constantly judged and criticized online. Taking all these into account, the pair has
undergone the process of watching both vlogs and noting all the significant details. Then,
they have gathered materials such as articles, interviews, and other credible online content
to supplement the artifacts and support their analysis. Lastly, the theories were utilized to
gain deeper insights and analyze how rhetoric was effectively employed in the vlogs.

Results and Analyses

Heart as an Influencer

Sophisticated, multitalented, and gifted with good looks, Heart Evangelista surely
sparks admiration and envy. On top of making a name for herself by being in the show
business and a brand ambassador at a young age, she also became an international fashion
icon as the face of several luxury brand campaigns including Ferragamo (most recent). Her
sense of style, love for fashion, and a vast collection of high-end bags and statement pieces
coupled with her lighthearted personality not only drew people’s attention but also
endeared her to fans and followers, making her a top influencer. Paris Fashion Week 2020
depicts this, and to gain a deeper understanding, it is analyzed using the following theories:

Visual Rhetoric

Images communicate what speech cannot and this is exactly how Evangelista let us
into her world—a world that seems unreachable yet through her became visible to
ordinary citizens. Experiencing her journey vicariously through her vlog would not have
been possible without the pictures and videos she captured. One can only dream of wearing
millions of pesos worth of clothes, shoes, and bags, and here it can be seen that she is
definitely living the dream. Every gift and invitation she received from brands, every
fashion show she attended, exquisite clothes she wore, and luxurious bags, shoes, and
jewelry she sported are testaments to the glamorous lifestyle she has. Moreover, the
presence of her reliable team makes her job look easy because she gets to be pampered and
not left to do everything by herself. Even though she mentions it’s a busy and tiring day, she
never looked exhausted. She always looked radiantly flawless on cam that it’s difficult to
believe her crazy rich Asian life is not perfect. This is how powerful her visual rhetoric is.
Terministic Screens

Vlogs are not merely for self-expression. It’s more of sharing a part of yourself you
would like the world to see. It humanizes famous personalities whom people only get to
watch on screen and read about in magazines. Although vlogs allow anyone who has a
device with access to the internet to get to know celebrities or any public figure on a deeper
level, it does not fully captivate their whole being for they carefully choose what to present.
This is in line with Burke’s terministic screens which states that language selects reality
through the use of terms that function as filters or screens which direct our attention
towards something and away from others. Evangelista’s week in Paris was summed up in a
twenty-minute vlog that flaunts her beauty, style, and of course the high-end brands that
she works with. She has seen numerous Fashion Weeks in the past but Paris Fashion Week
2020 is special for one specific reason. As she mentioned in her vlog: “It’s my first time to
attend the Chanel Fashion Show. It was such a dream.” Aside from Chanel, she also attended
fashion shows of Schiaparelli, Ulyana, Georges Hobeika, Giambattista Valli, Alexandre
Vauthier, Armani Prive, Elie Saab, and the last one of Jean Paul Gaultier. But she insists that
it’s not all that it seems to be and sheds light on what Fashion Week is about:

"It's work guys. When we do fashion week it's not necessarily shopping and
everything. It's really about work, creating content for the brands, the brands fly you in
to create content for them, and they send us clothes. So these are all clothes sent by the
brands.”

Through the term “work” one can imagine her waking up early to prepare, rushing
to go from one venue to the next, quickly changing into one outfit after another, having
endless photo shoots, and so on. Without having to show what really goes on behind the
scenes, she directs our attention to a reality she wants to depict—that a lot of hard work is
put into the glitz and glamor. She emphasized this herself as she talks about her mental
health, expressing her struggle with anxiety: “Some things you don’t see on cam.” and when
she admitted that her responses were already prepared: "Dapat may mga fixed dialogues na
ko or else I'll just lose it." Through terministic screens, we perceive her with rose-colored
glasses—someone who despite her busy schedule never fails to emerge effortlessly
fashionable and beautiful.

Public Opinion

Her beauty does not only pertain to her style and facial features but to her slender
and youthful figure as well. This was accentuated by the outfits she wore and the looks she
sported during Fashion Week. Indeed she is content and confident with her body yet there
are people who denigrate her for it, not because of its appearance but due to a different
reason entirely.

One of the challenges of being an influencer is living under an inescapable public

eye—enduring unwarranted criticisms and public scrutiny—Evangelista is no exception. As
the wife of former Senator and current Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero, she is dubbed as
Sorsogon’s first lady which elevates her status in the political scene. She is definitely no
stranger to bashers and offensive comments and she chooses to stand up for herself by
firing back at offensive, misogynistic comments. Through her witty, well-formulated
responses, she was able to fuel a feminist public discourse. An exemplary manifestation of
this was in relation to her miscarriage. She got pregnant with twins back in 2018 but lost
both babies. It was a devastating loss and since then whenever pregnancy is brought up,
she reiterates that it’s a very sensitive topic (Rappler).

Last September 6, 2021, in a series of tweets, she responded to a compilation of

screenshots that showed several TikTok users’ comments about her body. “Sayang lang ang
ganda ng katawan, hindi mabuntis ng asawa,” one comment read (Rappler). Evangelista
tweeted: “...it’s my body.” and “I’m not mad, just furious how people think na need mo
magkaanak para maging masaya. I am already a happy person and grateful…” She also
added: “nobody knows the real struggle [of conceiving]” This created a public discussion on
Twitter regarding women’s bodies and inherent value—that a woman’s worth is not tied to
childbearing and it does not make anyone become any less of a woman by being unable to
or choosing not to have children. It’s disappointing that in this day and age, there are still
those who reduce women to being baby machines. This proves that public discourse is all
the more important now because it demands the “continual testing and reexamination of
beliefs” (Zarefsky).

Heart as an Artist

Heart Evangelista, aside from being an influencer, is also a well-known artist,

especially amongst luxury bag owners. To share her talent, she showed her art-making
process via one of her YouTube vlogs entitled “Work from Home: How I Paint on Handbags
for My Clients.” Aside from this, she has multiple recorded and written interviews which
will aid the analysis of her identity as a rhetorical figure. Through these videos, her
audience gets a glimpse of how beyond movies, teleseryes, and the show business
personality, rises someone who is ultimately an artist. To further understand Heart as an
artist, beyond what we see in the different sequences found in her videos, we must take a
look under the following lenses:

Visual Rhetoric

In a nutshell, visual rhetoric pertains to how people can be persuaded by the things
they see (Newbold). More than how visuals are manipulated to persuade its viewers, visual
rhetoric centers on how we interpret and make meaning out of the objects around us. With
Evangelista being a well-known artist, it is inevitable that her paintings carry meanings
even outside her subject for that particular artwork.

At large, Evangelista’s art points to the essence of why artists create art in the first
place: to assert their identity to the public. As she said in an interview with Ayala Museum:

“I started painting again because, you know, with acting there’s just a limit
sometimes. If you don’t get the roles you want, you really can’t express how you
feel. But when I started painting again, I felt like I had total freedom. Nobody
told me what to do, nobody yelled ‘cut!’ or ‘action!’ It was therapy for me.”

In this, her followers understand what her art stands for. Unlike realists who use
ordinary people in ordinary surroundings as subjects for their works, Evangelista goes on a
different route (Vila). She is one to incorporate various elements in her paintings like fishes,
flowers, and especially women surrounded with ambiguous shapes. In other words, she is
able to paint whatever her heart desires and still gain profit from it—a type of freedom, not
all artists can afford. Talking about the creative field of the arts, there is the assumption that
artists drive the artwork, but often it is not discussed how a market can dictate the work
(Kyu)—how ultimately, artists cannot work as freely as they want due to lack of prior fame
that individuals like Evangelista hold.

When asked at an interview with CNN Philippines about her identity as an artist, she
responds: “It’s kind of intense for me to talk about the art scene because I feel that a lot of
people are raising their eyebrows, like, ‘Oh, artista, but she’s painting.” To add, she also states
that at the end of the day, she’s just a painter who wants to paint, regardless of the public’s
opinion. With that, it can be said that her art, regardless of whatever she chooses to paint,
will still gain attention since it is created by Heart Evangelista—an individual with immense
influence, power, and wealth already in her hands.

Narratives

There is a famous metaphor that states that language is a vehicle or tool for
expressing an individual's thoughts. This is challenged by Kenneth Burke’s terministic
screens by asking us to see language’s operation even in our perceptions of the world—this
tells people that language has a broader realm of power than just the moments of actual
speech or delivery.

According to Burke, every terminology selects, reflects, and deflects some aspect of
experienced reality. In the case of Evangelista’s creation of her art, it selects reality by only
choosing to present her more luxurious creations. From painting Hermes Kellys which
amounts to at least PHP 200,000 to selling her regular paintings worth 3 million USD, she
and the press only release these lavish pieces created. Additionally, they try to portray how
charitable she is by releasing articles and videos of her philanthropic work. When this is
analyzed and discovered, observers will begin to realize that those that are not recorded do
not accumulate the same kind of meanings as those that are socially selected for us to look
at. While Evangelista and the media may have good reasons for selecting this type of reality
nevertheless, this terminology encourages us to look at her as the “Crazy Rich Asian” she is
branded to be. In turn, it also deflects certain features of reality. In the selection of
Evangelista as a “Crazy Rich Asian,” people are bound by this single and distinct reality and
deflects from a lot of the other realities of who she is. Her rhetoric is thus just centered
around her being an artist and not on other things like her family background, celebrity
status, political affiliation, and the like. Finally, terminology also reflects reality. In the idea
of Heart being an artist, it is important to understand that reflections are often partial,
inverse, and can be highly distorted. This understanding reminds us that the selected
reality, more often than not, has different, sometimes unreliable, meanings hence why
public opinion is torn towards Evangelista.

Public Opinion

It is common knowledge that reputation protects and gives individuals a degree of

control over how they are viewed (Komisarjevsky). Artists like Evangelista rely heavily on
their reputations since it is the main foundation of their careers. With this, every move they
make is calculated and well thought about in order to ensure that public opinion is
controlled and regulated. That said, Evangelista’s venture in the arts did not go untouched
by her critics. While it came as a surprise to the public when the actress started dabbling in
art, as if it were a sudden development, Evangelista claims that it was more like coming into
a full circle. She often talks about how even at a young age, she was already very much
interested in the field of traditional art but upon starting acting, it was pushed to the
sidelines.

In her art-making vlogs, she often talks about her personal art style. While she is
inspired by the work of Klimt and Picasso, she also tries to increase female representation
in her pieces. She states in a video: “I love painting girls and so that’s what best represents
my work and the look of my work.” We can connect this feminine touch with her reputation
as a prim and proper individual. This goes to show that Evangelista tries to include her
image and reality in the pieces that she is creating which can be accepted or rejected by the
public.

While as much as Evangelista wants positive affirmation from the public with regard
to her art, this is not always the case. There have been multiple accounts where people
would describe her work as mediocre and ordinary; at times, her art would even be labeled
as out of touch. This connects to Habermas’ definition of a public sphere in which the public
opposes the authorities or powerful. In addition, she is even at times attacked for her
charity art events because philanthropy often favors the rich—and no one holds
philanthropists like Evangelista accountable. This then also challenges the imposing
ideology of the bourgeois public sphere. To quote Friedrich Engels:

“The bourgeoisie is charitable out of self-interest; it gives nothing

outright, but regards gifts as business matter, makes a bargain with the poor,
saying: ‘If I spend this much upon benevolent institutions, I thereby purchase
the right not to be troubled any further’.”

This analysis by Engels makes sense for the case of Evangelista because he talks
about the charitable efforts of the rich in contrast to the actual reality faced by those who
are struggling—a far one from that of Evangelista’s.

Conclusion

Heart Evangelista is living proof of the importance of power and reputation in

building and maintaining one’s life. From being born to a well-known and respected family,
to gaining traction via show business, to receiving sponsorship and endorsement deals with
local and international brands, to being a respected artist, and now to being an online
influencer, she shows how power, wealth, and influence can and will take you a long way.

Truly, Evangelista—even with the glitz and glamour—is not perfect, but she is one of
the better ones out there. While it is not the pair’s goal to disregard the efforts of
Evangelista in giving back to the marginalized, it is vital for people to question where this is
coming from in the first place. Evangelista definitely puts star power to good use by being a
catalyst of change of some sort by donating money and goods but this can only go so far.

As our society becomes more saturated with celebrities and content creators, it is
high time that we become more cautious about who we support and follow. Evangelista is
the perfect example to show how reality is shaped by the media and in turn, has societal
implications that we cannot escape.

It is undeniable that the digital age has revolutionized mass media. As we see it
manifest, Evangelista from being a mere celebrity people see on their television screens is
now on the TikTok For You Pages, reaching more and more people. This shows how the
internet allows the universal inexpensive creation and publication of ideas, whether it be a
one-minute video or a 280 character Tweet. It is a cultural paradox because society
simultaneously experiences the centralization of influence in corporate mass media and the
rapid expansion of populist mass media which can be both dangerous to the developing
communities people are in (Sylwester).

For future analyses, the pair recommends using other frameworks such as the
connection of gender and technology with Heart Evangelista. As mentioned, Evangelista has
become one of the most prominent social media influencers of today’s generation hence
why her presence in platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are good points of analysis.
Additionally, considering that she is a Filipino woman with immense power and connection
it would be great to have a more feminist point of view to further understand her part in
today’s society.

Having great influence and massive impact on people’s lives, rhetoric has the power
to preserve and defy tradition, strongly support and bring down oppressive regimes, and
promote and deprive us of equality, justice, and our rights. To blindly believe and accept is
atrocious for we are all called to be critical and vigilant as well as to be a catalyst for change.
Not everything one sees can spur them into action but if one is influenced or convinced of a
certain belief or ideology, it is enough for them to change their perception and move in a
different direction.
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