Rational Insanity
Defending our culture (from moviemakers who capitalize on it)
Before anything else, I would like to say 'hello' to my second cousin, Letlet Misajon, who texted me after reading an online edition of my column in the States. Kudos to you Let, and make it good out there! Pasensya ka na I wasn't able to reply to your message because the keypad of my phone is going crazy, I haven't had it repaired yet.
All right, now, to this week's agenda.
I recently viewed a pirated VCD of the movie 'White Lady' (by the way, you might be wondering -- a friend lent me the VCD, and besides, I wasn't about to spend precious cash on a movie such as this anyway, plus, if the authorities would really want a crack down on pirated movies, then perhaps theater owners should try and reduce the prices of movie tickets, oh well...), and I was shocked at what they did to our traditional culture here in Panay Island. First of all, our language here is not Ilonggo; ILONGGO refers to people from Iloilo, and the language is called HILIGAYNON! Please remember this folks because this is a very common mistake and it is really disappointing to see our kasimanwas such as Mr. Gian (of the movie 'White Lady') refer to the language as Ilonggo. Goodness! It is a shame if even our own kasimanwas aren't as knowledgeable as our cultures and traditions as they are supposed to be. Anyway, moving on, I was also shocked at how some actors and actre! sses delivered their Hiligaynon lines. Understandably, Boots Anson Roa would not accurately speak the language, but Gian? Whew!
Folks, remember, our culture is capsulized in our language and the easiest way to destroy a people and their culture (according to Doc Leo D.) is by destroying their language first. A movie of national caliber that attempts to inject cultural assertion into its script should do extensive research of the culture they want to use at the very least. Movies are a very powerful tool in educating the masses and what kind of education would the masses get if what movies do nowadays is unintentional mis-education and misinformation. Those involved in the abovementioned movie have not been doing their homework.
For me the movie turned out to be a vain and desperate attempt to culturalize the storyline when in fact the story could have been told without dragging in a regional local culture and mis-portraying it in the process because of inaccurate details. The movie was a clear manifestation of how shallow and faulty research can distort the presentation of facts.
The only good thing about the film was perhaps the singing of the folksong "Ili-ili tulog anay" which I somewhat liked despite their stylizing the original melody of the song -- however, I don't quite get why they had to use that song aside from it being sang by the 'white lady' while she was alive. Again, this brings me to the conclusion that it was a really, really lame attempt to infuse the film with some cultural assertion.
Well, I just have this to say -- to moviegoers about to watch the film, watch it and grit your teeth at how our local culture was portrayed, and to those who made the film (especially the scriptwriter), your lack of knowledge of our culture here is so evident and so glaring that it could actually light up a whole night sky -- yup, a whole night sky, and I am not exaggerating. Next time use your own culture na lang if you can't portray the culture of others accurately. You might as well call us Aswangs na lang, at least you would know what that means!
The movie "White Lady" will definitely make you turn white -- white with rage, that is. Be rational; be insane, every once in a while! TTFN!
Hello to my dearest readers, to Vanessa, to Lea, Jenny, Am-am, Dot, Verona, James, Sheen, Hellpen, Anne, Mary Dale, Chan,Michelle, Zarthus, Jonald, Mr. Bobot, Vic, Vincent, and Rex, Alex, Arvin, Corz, Jim, Kiara, Malikh, Audrae, Franz, Hendrick, Janice, Jay, Jim, Jonathan, Mark, Marz, Mel, Pres, Nhonoy, Niel, Piper, Rheavil, Joey, Alma, Rodolfo, Ecker, Ryan, Roni, Ian, Narle, Sunny and to Anuj of CMC, I love you all! Byers! Salamat gid sa mga walang-hintong text and reactions nyo! Catch Rational Insanity in TNT's online edition, check us out at www.thenewstoday.info, text me at (0920)9254269, or email me at prague@eudoramail.com. Byers! Mmmmmmmwah!