FILM ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUE

Task 1

"Wala namang mawawala kung maniniwala"

          Ded na si Lolo is an indepedent film directed by the late Soxie Topacio. The film showed Filipino culture in terms of superstitous traditions to a burial of a family member. Sibling rivalry was also tackled in the movie and the unconditional love of a mother. Filipino cannot help but ask who are those people that keep on saying superstitions anyway but still believe in it because as they say, "wala namang mawawala kung maniniwala." 

          The story was told in the eyes of BJ Forbes who played the role of Bobet in the story, the son of Charing (Manilyn Reynes)  and Kiko (Richard Quan) and the grandson of the dead. The story was unfold in the start of the wake until the held of burial. Superstitions are said to be true in the sense that Filipinos tend to follow it. One of these is when Junee (Roderick Paulate) wore a red colored gown in the wake of their father's funeral. His eldest sister, Dolores (Elizabeth Oropes) ordered him to change his clothes because as superstition says, it is a sign of being disrespectful for the family of the dead and the dead himself. The rosary should be cut so that a family member will not be the next one to pass away. The order of the names of the family members in the casket should be chronological and should get it before the burial. Another were believe to bring bad luck to the family once the casket gets in contact with tears, to take a bath at the house where the dead's wake is executed, to clean the house where the dead lies during the wake, to accompany the guests as they leave the wake and the burial time should be before 12 noon. It is said to be good luck when a certain money was put at the hand of the dead and get and keep it before the burial starts.

          Sibling rivalry was before Mameng (Gina Alajar) and Dolores (Elizabeth Oropesa). Dolores was jealous to Mameng because she felt that she was getting unequal amount of their father's attention, discipline and responsiveness. She was threatened by the arrival of Mameng. But at the end of the story, Mameng and Dolores burst out of emotions and eventually got fine. Aling Pilar (Perla Bautista), the first wife of the dead, showed unconditional love to her husband eventhough she was replaced by another woman who was the mother of Syano, Dolores, Mameng, Charing and Junee. She showed and gave support to them until the day of the burial.

"Palubog ang barko, sinong sasagipin mo: alaga mo o anak mo?"

          Inang Yaya was directed by Pablo Biglang-awa and Veronica Velasco. The movie was starred by Maricel Soriano who played the role of Norma who straddles between being a mother to Ruby (Tala Santos) and being a nanny to her employer's daughter, Louise (Erika Oreta). Norma left her daughter in the province to be a nanny to May(Sunshine Cruz) and Noel's (Zoren Legazpi) daughter. An emergency forces Norma to bring Ruby with her to Manila and May is kind enough to accept Ruby in the household. However, Louise competes with Ruby for Norma's affection. Now, Norma has to balance her love and attention for the two special people in her life: her daughter and her ward. 

          The movie showed the sacrifices of being a dual mother to their natural children and their children out of employment. It is undeniably obvious that a parents' affection for their child is what made them a real parents. Norma is somehow different to May. Louise loves Norma more than her true mother, May. This maybe because of that Norma gives more love to her than May does. A loving mother is a lot more than that. A mom is someone who is there for their kids, who loves them no matter what. Who will lay down their life for their child. It's a selfless sacrifice and a mom isn't a mom by just giving birth, but a mom can be a mom to any child even if it's not their child as what Norma is.

Task 2

          Ded na si Lolo and Inang Yaya both showed mother's unconditional love eventhough they were not their children. Aling Pilar showed her maternal love to the children of her husband from her husband's second wife through supporting them financially and emotionally. Norma, from Inang Yaya, showed her unconditional love to her ward, Louise eventhough she is not her true daughter. She took good care of her and made Louise feel that she has a mother to lean on.

Task 3
          Life is full of drama. Different lines portray different emotions. Some were happy but some are were not but as what Nicholas Sparks said, "The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it." I seconded with what he said. Everything happens for a reason.  My life as a student is as colorful as a rainbow but I cannot deny that are times that I feel gloomy. Everytime I fail, for some reason I feel like a part of me is broken. Eventually, I'll get depressed and as the time goes by, I am getting used to it. Don't be ashamed to weep, it is right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.

Been there, done that

          There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it.

          When the girls find out, they’ll never speak to him again as long as he lives.  The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, “Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I’m dead meat.”  He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered.

         As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy’s lap. The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, “Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!”

          Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else – Susie.  She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. “You’ve done enough, you klutz!”

          Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Susie whispers back, “I wet my pants once too.”

          All of us go through all good and bad things in life.  We should always remember how we felt when we were in same condition and should not mock others for being in it.  Always try to understand their situation as if you are in it and help much as possible praying to God that today you are in a condition to help someone who needs it.

Take control or be controlled

     A wealthy man requested an old scholar to wean his son away from his bad habits.  The scholar took the youth for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. “Now pull out that one,” said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out. “Now take this one out,” said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. “It’s impossible,” said the boy, panting with the effort. “So it is with bad habits,” said the sage. “When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted.”

     The session with the old man changed the boy’s life. Don’t wait for bad habits to grow in you, drop them while you have control over it else they will get control you.

It was a perfect illusion

          Here's the thing about love, it is hard to put into words. Love brings up emotions that run the game from agony to ecstasy. Love can inspire us to accomplish some of the craziest and most amazing feats. Love can make you happier than you've ever been, sadder than you've ever been, angrier than you've ever been. It can elate you and deflate you almost at the same time.  While we can all pretty much recognize the emotions associated with love, actually finding the words to explain those feelings is a pretty tough order. People have searched for centuries to find the right way to say "I love you" and to try to explain those butterflies in your stomach, that warm fuzzy feeling in your belly and that heart skipping a beat. One thing we know is that whether you've love and won or loved and lost, it's always worth it. Here is a story of a guy who fell in love with girl who never loved him back.
          Once, there was this guy who was in love with a girl. She wasn’t the most beautiful and gorgeous but for him, she was everything. He used to dream about her, about spending the rest of life with her. His friends told him, “Why do you dream so much about her, when you don’t even know if she loves you or not?  First tell her your feelings, and get to know if she likes you or not." He felt that was the right way. The girl knew from the beginning that this guy loves her. One day when he proposed, she rejected him. His friends thought he would take alcohol, drugs and ruin his life. To their surprise, he was not depressed. When they asked him how was it that he is not sad,  he replied, "Why should I feel bad? I lost one who never loved me and she lost the one who really loved and cared for her."

          True love is hard to get. Love is all about giving to other person without greed of gaining anything in return. If other person rejects it, its him or her who will be losing the most important thing in life. So never feel rejected. The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves. In order for oneself to be happy, it is necessary to make at least one other person happy. But it's a very dangerous state. You are inclined to wrecklessness and kind of tune out the rest of your life and everything that's been important to you. It's actually not all that pleasurable. I don't know who the hell wants to get in a situation where you can't bear an hour without somebody's company. Be in the state that if somebody loves you then love him or her back. If he or she don't, then leave. It is not a loss if it is wasn't worth keeping.

The smartest man in the world

    A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute and yelled to the passengers that they better jump, and he himself bailed out. Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining. The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out. The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.” He also grabbed a parachute and jumped. The priest looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.” The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, “Not to worry Father, the smartest man in the world just took off with my back pack.”

     Working hard and working smart are sometimes can be two different things. The world don't need smart professionals but those professionals who know how deal with their professions properly. Your job doesn’t always define you, but being a good human being does.

Million reasons to quit, one reason to live

     There was a time when I have a lot of friends. I was a bit shy and reserved. I never really wanted to be popular, but I did want to have someone to share secrets and laughs with. All through junior high school, though, I just slipped in and out of "light" friendships where I didn't find a lot of comfort or companionship. When it came time to go to senior high school, I was quite nervous. I was going to be rooming with someone I didn't know and living in a town 300 miles away from home. There wouldn't be a single person I knew in town. I had no idea how I was going to make friends in this new environment.
     The first week of classes, something happened that changed my life forever. In our Oral Communication in Context class, I was asked (as were all the students) to share a little about myself. I told everyone where I called home and all of the other ordinary details that students share in such situations. The final question for each student was always the same, "What is your goal for this class?" Now, most of the students said it was to get a good grade, pass the class or something similar, but for some reason, I said something entirely different. I said that my goal was to make just one good friend. While most of the students sat in silence, one student came to me and held out her hand and introduced herself. She asked if I could be her friend. The whole room was silent – all eyes focused on us and the hand extended just in front of. I smiled and stretched my hand out to take her's and a friendship was formed. It was a friendship that lasted all through senior high school.
      It was back then when I was about to enter senior high school, I never thought of having a bestfriend. I never imagined that I could be with somebody I can laugh and cry with. I thought that my life as a senior will be the same as before, a loner but everything changed as I found myself wrong because I became bestfriends with the people that I never thought that I could be with. One of them is Angela. You will not like her at first but as the time goes by you'll get to know each other and inch by inch you'll get closer and closer that will form a bond between the both of you that no one could ever set you from her apart. Being her bestfriend is such a great opportunity because having her is also having a mother and a superhero at the same time. She cares like a mom and protects and keeps me away from danger like a real superhero does. She is always at my side whenever I have a problem or something that I cannot burst out to anyone except her. She makes me laugh whenever I'm sad and my crying shoulder everytime I'm in the deepest state of my life. I love her and I treasure her so much. She is a four-leaf clover and a pot of gold of mine at the end of a rainbow.
     Angela Reyes is a friend who you can count on and she'll be there. She might not be perfect in pleasing the world but she can please you that your wolrd can be perfect!

Treasure, that is what you are

     Two men were seriously ill. They occupied the same room in the hospital. One of them was lying in the bed near the only window in their room. Everyday he was allowed to spend some time sitting up in his bed to help draining the fluid from lungs. The other man was forced to spend all his days flat on his back. They talked a lot about their life, families, jobs, vacations. Everytime, when the first man was sitting by the window, he described in details all that he saw outside the window. His roommate always looked for those moments, when his world was broadened and brightened up by the world outside. Amazing views of a park with a beautiful lake could be seen from the window of their room. Children delightfully played among ducks and swans. Couples walked arm in arm among colouTwo men were seriously ill. They occupied the same room in the hospital. One of them was lying in the bed near the only window in their room. Every day he was allowed to spend some time sitting up in his bed to help draining the fluid from lungs. The other man was forced to spend all his days flat on his back. They talked a lot about their life, families, jobs, vacations. Everytime, when the first man was sitting by the window, he described in details all that he saw outside the window. His roommate always looked for those moments, when his world was broadened and brightened up by the world outside. Amazing views of a park with a beautiful lake could be seen from the window of their room. Children delightfully played among ducks and swans. Couples walked arm in arm among colorful flowers. Also the stunning city skyline could be seen.

     When the man by the window had been thoroughly describing all that was happening outside the window, his roommate would close his eyes and imaged all the beautiful scenes of life that were told to him. One night the man, whose bed was near the window, died peacefully during sleep and his roommate was very sad. After some time, when the nurse came to visit him, he asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse agreed and kindly made the switch. When she left, the man slowly and painfully propped himself up on one elbow and took the first look at the world outside. He was stunned. The window faced a blank wall. When the nurse came to visit him the next time, he told her about beautiful things outside the window that his roommate described him. The nurse replied that his roommate was a blind man that probably he just tried to encourage him.

     In life, we encounter different people. Some only care for themselves and some care for others the way they care about themselves. But, the greatest of them all are those people who forget about themselves just for the sake of others. Everyone should appreciate those kind of people because having them is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not all treasures are silver and gold others are those people who encourages you in all aspects of life. The one who finds a faithful friend, finds a treasure.