HP4 and the Phenomenon of the Pinoy Movie-going Family
To an I.T. geek like me it sounds more like an early model Hewlett-Packard printer, but it’s not—it’s the latest Harry Potter movie “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”
It’s been 3 years since I’ve read the book when it first came out, but I feel like doing a Kuya Maui on this one and for a few lines harp about the stuff the movie didn’t put in. They cut short the Quidditch World Cup, never showing a game before the camping grounds massacre; they didn’t say that although Bulgarian quidditch star player Viktor Krum was all brawn he was also “utal”; Fleur delaCoeur of Beauxbatons wasn’t as helpless and hapless as she was in the movie; and Rita Skeeter was a lot more sinister in the book being a crafty shapeshifter, exposing “secrets” left and right.
All this of course, contributes to bring to the fore our three protagonists Ron, Hermione and Harry himself, who have all grown up quite nicely in the book/movie as well as the actors in real life. It’s a good thing the production has kept most of the child actors who starred in the first movie, and seeing them growing up yearly adds something of a family touch to the series.
The movie is enjoyable, quite, as a matter of fact. But it is NOT a children’s movie, definitely not one for the 8 years old and below age bracket. Some of the scenes are actually terrifying to a 3 year old who has never even read Harry Potter, which is why it baffled me to see parents with toddlers in tow walking into SM Sucat’s Cinema 2 last night. I had thought that the minimum age for children to walk into any movie is 5. There were scenes in the movie that may have been far too horrifying for a child that age. On top of that, it was the last full show for the day, starting at 7:40pm, so one could expect to be walking out of the mall around 10pm. Yet there they were, kids as young as two or three years old, wilting on their parents shoulders, parents who were dressed like they had come straight from the office. I’ve heard of parents compensating, but this seems to be too much, especially for such small kids who may never even heard of Harry Potter if not for their parents. My unsolicited advice to parents who want to take their toddlers to see it — DON’T.
Get the DVD when it comes out. Or even better, wait for your kids to grow up and read the books before letting them watch the DVDs.
All Due Respect
Those of us who saw the 7 o’clock news on abs-cbn tonight may have seen the two Filipino war veterans who so proudly declared that they are on the side of the six American servicemen who raped a Filipina in Subic. One of them even justified the rape by saying that since the girl was from Zamboanga she deserved the ignominy as she had obviously gone to Subic to become a prostitute. The other veteran said that since the arrival of the Americans our Filipinas have lost their Maria Clara image and are no longer deserving of respect.
Without prejudice to other Filipino war veterans who may not share the sentiments of these two old gentlemen, I would like to address these two old men who spoke their minds on the news.
I fear for your womenfolk, you two who fought alongside the Americans and are still fighting alongside them now, you who consider these foreigners your brothers-in-arms. I fear for your wives and your daughters and your daughter’s daughters, you who seem to think that you fought for America and that you should remain loyal to the country that rapes the lands they conquer in the name of freedom. Can you look back, you two old gentlemen, and try to remember who and what you fought for? Was it for your family and your countrymen and your country? Do you remember who your family, your countrymen and your country are? Perhaps age has dulled your memory, so please let me remind you.
Your family is Filipino, unless they have all migrated to the United States and become Americans. Your countrymen are Filipino, and many still choose to remain Filipino no matter where in the world they are. Your country is the Philippines, no matter how inept and corrupt and just plain stupid its government is. Why pledge your loyalty and brotherhood to a country that has long ignored your pleas for your pensions and benefits? Do you think that by allying yourselves with six American rapists, America will look kindly on you and finally grant your requests?
I need to tell you that I reacted so violently to your declaration on the 7 o’clock news. That I never thought I could say such disrespectful words to two men who could have been my own grandfathers. But when I heard you say what you said on the news, I said “Putanginanyo! Putanginanyongdalawa!” I meant no disrespect to your mothers, they who may be rolling in their graves after hearing you speak such words, that this Filipina deserved what was coming to her because she was not Maria Clara.
I wonder what you think of the women in your family, you two who have condemmed a young girl who had suffered such pain and indignity in the hands of your “brothers-in-arms”. Do you see them as the Maria Claras you think that Filipinas should still be? Do you remember who Maria Clara is? She is the bastard daughter of a Spanish friar who had (implicitly) raped a married woman in the confessional! Read your Rizal! I don’t rightly know what you mean by being a Maria Clara is, in this day and age. I cannot even begin to comprehend the ideals you adhere to, you who believe that six rapists are in the right, because they assaulted a girl who is not “Maria Clara”.
I have no idea if you were heroes during the war. And frankly I don’t care. All heroism you may have shown during the war is now dashed by the narrowness of your minds.
And as a post script I am posting this link from the Austrian-Philippine Website: Philippine Heroines of the Revolution: Maria Clara They Were Not written by Dr. Robert L. Yoder, FAPC. These are our heroines, these are the women you probably do not also hold in reverence, you two gentlemen who seem to be touched in the head by some strange belief that your brother Americans really give a shit about what you believe.
A Major Find!
I have been so out of it lately, so when I found this link on Pinoytopblogs I was overjoyed. I have long been a fan of Pugad Baboy and I consider this site, as well as the sites it links to, a major find!
To Juan Tapulan, the originator of the Comics Station, maayong laki ka jud!
Ang tawag namin nuon
sa Rizal Avenue - Avenida Rizal
sa Roxas Blvd - Dewey Boulevard
sa Holloween - Todos Los Santos
sa Holiday - Fiesta Oficial
sa dress - vestida
alam ko marami pa kayong naririnig sa mga lola nyo … paki dagdagan nalang 
feeling damatans lang po.
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