Nestor U. Torre: Out of sight, out of mind

Angel Locsin has gone on vacation from her high-flying career, reportedly to take a course in fashion design in Italy. Wrong move. With only a few exceptions, the viewing public here doesn't take kindly to stars who put their careers on hold to attend to their private lives.

When stars on leave decide to resume their careers, they often discover that show biz fans have latched onto other stars or new starlets, and

aren't enthusiastic about supporting their comeback bids.

Exceptions

There are exceptions, of course, like Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta taking time off to have babies without losing the bulk of their fan base, which then patronized their comeback TV and film starrers.

Please, note, however, that the likes of Sharon and Vilma were firmly established veteran stars when they went on extended leave from show biz. Their fans were already "time-tested" and proven to be loyalists through and through.

Not so for relative newcomer Sandara Park, who some years ago made the big mistake of flying home to Korea to resume her studies for some six months.

Disappointing

People warned her not to do it because she was a big sensation at the time, starring in hit movies and TV shows. But Sandara ignored the warnings, flew home to Korea, did what she felt she had to do, then eventually resumed her career here, and, uh, what career?

That's right, her disappointed fans, dejected because they felt rejected, didn't patronize her comeback venture, and Sandara learned her lesson the hard way.

We'd hate to have that happen to Angel Locsin, who's impressed us with her hard work, going from one hit TV-film project to the next with enthusiasm and resolve.

Risky move

Recently, Angel impressed us all the more when she turned movie producer, a risky move at this troubled time for local films.

There may be unstated reasons for Angel's Italian sojourn. She may feel overwhelmed by certain problematic relationships, career disappointments and other stresses, hence her need to get away from a spell. We submit, however, that leaving at this time could only make things worse.

Career vacations can work for relative newcomers only if they leave enough advance TV-film productions behind to keep their fans happy while they're gone. Without such a "support" mechanism, the wiser decision would be to stay the course and further build up an already flourishing show biz career. Otherwise, as far as local fans go, it's out of sight, out of mind.
Nestor Torre
Inquirer