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silongdisenyoatbp · 6 years

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Being a Person with Disability (PWD)

Growing up, I have this view that persons with disability (PWDs) are those in wheelchairs or crutches. Thinking about it, it may be because the icon we have been using looks like someone in a wheelchair. Eventually, this view of mine changed drastically as I became one - someone with disability.

I have been diagnosed with depressive disorder by my doctor. It took me a while to seek professional help. However, I have known friends who were diagnosed with mental health conditions that have acquired their PWD IDs. So the moment I was diagnosed, I sought applying for the card. Besides, it will ease up my expenses especially on my medications.

Having this condition opened more options for me - I could seek discounts on my purchases and fares and access seats and areas provided for PWDs. However, the nature of my disability is not as understood yet by people. Whenever I seat on the area provided for PWDs, I am always asked why am I there. Basically, I still have to explain that I am a PWD every time. Even if I get to enjoy my privileges, there’s this discomfort in the need to always flag my disability. As much as I want to blame people for being ignorant, the thing is, there isn’t as much awareness on the parameters of disability. People don’t know that there is such thing as psychosocial disability, in which my condition falls under.

The law may be providing benefits to people like us, there isn’t as much awareness campaign into looking at disability beyond the wheelchairs and crutches. There are so many other disabilities that are needed to be recognized by everyone.

What I am trying to say here is that we still have a long way to go in making our country as PWD-friendly as what is needed. Nonetheless, as much as PWDs, like me, have the social responsibility in pushing for awareness, the government and private organizations should also take part on this.

#disability #filmpoliticsandsociety #PWD

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silongdisenyoatbp · 6 years

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On Netflix’s “Pose”

It has been a few weeks since I finished watching the Netflix series Pose. The said series is about outcasts or “lost souls” are bound into a community through balls and “houses”. Every ball, people from houses get to wear something based on categories and be confident on their own skin. Basically, it is a story of safe spaces. Until now, I could say that it has been the best series I have watched so far and I would discuss it on three (3) points.

1. Representation and Diversity

Through the years, there became more awareness and sensitivity with regards to representation in media. We could see criticisms to shows or movies who would cast a white person to play a person of color (POC) or a straight man to portray a homosexual or transgender woman. Remember the flak to Scarlett Johansson, a cisgender woman, when she was supposed to play the role of a transgender man in Rub & Tug? Eventually, she backed out from the role. Recently, in the Philippines, Maymay Entrata and the rest of the cast of an upcoming episode in Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK) due to painting “blackface” to represent an Aeta character. Sadly, it looks like the episode will push through albeit the backlash.

This question on representation and diversity does not apply to Pose. The cast is mostly from the LGBTQ+ community. You could only see few cisgender men and women in the cast. It is a breath of fresh air seeing lots of transgender women in the cast playing transgender roles. They didn’t disappoint as they were really good actresses. This is important because for so long, it is rare for transgenders to have major roles in movies and series. Either they are stereotyped, treated superficially, or, worse, not casted at all to give way for well-known cisgender actors, to be dubbed as “mark of their versatility in acting”.

Aside from representation in terms of the cast, the mere representation of stories of transgenders, especially in 1980s where HIV and homosexuality/transgenderism are heavily frowned upon, is truly important. Their stories are rather silenced in media and Pose resists to that kind of erasure. Furthermore, the series gave more layers to transgenderism and homosexuality - it gave them a human face. In essence, the series definitely deviated from the convenient norms in media of misrepresentation, minority erasure, and stereotyping.

2. Roots of the LGBTQ+ Movement

It is a sad reality at the moment where even within the LGBTQ+ community, there is discrimination and enforcement of “hierarchy”. You would see “masculine” gay men view “effeminates” lowly, transgender men and women unrecognized as men and women, and others discriminate those with HIV and AIDS. If you would think of it, the community should be more loving of each other and united in the call for gender equality and equity.

Pose serves as a great reminder as to why we are struggling and dreaming of a better world for the LGBTQ+ community. Firstly, it reminded us of the vital role of transgenders in the movement. In the series, in houses (or family), there are “mothers” and they are usually transgender women. They are the ones who guide their houses and join with them in the fight for love and acceptance. Historically, transgenders were those at the forefront of the movement, especially in the Stonewall Riot. Personally, I think many people are not aware of this. Even in the LGBTQ+ movement in the Philippines, transgenders had a huge role especially in making the first Pride March in the country possible. Secondly, the series reminded us the importance of the LGBTQ+ movement. It showed how gruesome was the condition of the LGBTQ+ community back then - outcasted, discriminated, harassed. What moved me the most was how society treat people with HIV - in hospitals, they are left to die, even not taken care of at all. These are the stories that are needed by the current generation to remind them to keep on with the fight for gender equality and equity because these are still the realities we have at the moment.

3. Deeper Context of Drag Culture

There is a growing appreciation of drag culture worldwide due to its mainstreaming in media through the likes of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Drag Race Thailand. I have been an avid viewer of Drag Race for almost two years now and I have had better appreciation of drag as an art form and as a protest. This also applies to even straight men and women who are fans of the show and the craft.

Pose gives better context to the essence and importance of drag culture, rooted from the house and ball culture. It is not necessarily about being beautiful or fierce or talented - it is about being more comfortable with one’s skin and redefining gender norms and notions of beauty. This was advanced with the help of balls and existence of houses that created a safe space to really express one’s identity. Personally, I got to understand many nuances in Drag Race after watching the series, not just on the phrases but also to the essence of the challenges in Drag Race. I would arguably say that viewers of Drag Race should also watch Pose because it gives them better understanding of drag culture.

All in all, Pose exceeded my expectations on a series as it presented stories that are historically silenced in the media and reminded the viewers as to why we keep on dreaming of an a more accepting society.

#pose #Netflix #series #lgbtq community #filmpoliticsandsociety

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silongdisenyoatbp · 8 years

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My Ex and Whys and the Changing Formula of Mainstream Filipino Films

Earlier, me and my partner decided to watch Cathy Garcia-Molina’s latest film “My Ex and Whys” starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil. During my undergrad, while writing my thesis, I have read from so many articles and journals how mainstream films have always been formulaic - following a certain formula. I completely agree with that statement as it is extremely observable in our country. From the-poor-meets-rich-with-the-warehouse-plot-twist to happily-ever-afters and now to two-broken-people-sort-things-out-when-they-go-somewhere-else, Filipino mainstream films took a new form, a new formula.

Undeniably, movies learned to capitalize more on the pain and joy of love. And this has been always the goal of many of recent Filipino films. Personally, I liked the film but I was able to predict where the story will go, just like how I was able to predict the story of movies in the 2000s. Just to be clear, this predictability I am talking about was not the type of predictability where I know endings will be forced or “pilit”. This predictability was good enough because it does not teach its viewers to be shallow but to reflect more on what we see everyday.

At the end of the day, predictability will always be part of mainstream movies because filmmakers are pressured to gain profit from the huge amount of capital given to them. It is now a question whether or not this predictability will be beneficial to society or even a question whether or not predictability should have a place in the cinema.

#Film #filmpoliticsandsociety #musings

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silongdisenyoatbp · 6 years

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On the Need for Third World Interior Design

When I was on my first year as a Development Studies student, I mentioned to my professor that I want to pursue Interior Design as it was my dream course since I was in high school. It is his nature to support students in aligning what they do to what they are passionate about and I was not an exception. I can still remember him mention the concept of Third World Interior Design. He used as an example a simple bahay kubo, albeit its simplicity, and even image of poverty, that can be applied with the practices in Interior Design. What he may be implying is that keeping a house aesthetically and ergonomically sound does not necessarily require a huge amount of money.

What does Interior Design really espouse? I personally think it should help in reimagining how a space can be used with respect to a person’s well-being - that they could live with dignity.

Right now, the reality is Interior Design is something an ordinary Filipino would not know or even want. This is because it can only been accessed by those with economic capacity. If one would look at lifestyle magazines, they would be amazed by celebrities’ mansions that are well-designed. Sadly, most of the people who would be at awe to the wonders of Interior Design would not be able to have it in their own homes. At the end of a day of work or school, they will go home to their typical houses, whose spaces are not maximized to fullest extent of utility and design. There are those who even go to almost identical houses, especially those provided by government housing agencies. Houses in relocation areas are even bare when given to families. I personally think this does not even contribute to their well-being even if it should. If we go to beautiful houses, we feel good - we can work better, we can eat better, we can sleep better, we can play better. Even if the game Sims, the aesthetics of the house could influence the mood of a Sim.

In the production of materials used in Interior Design, there is a seeming disparity in terms of wealth distribution. Definitely, interior designers and manufacturers of materials are getting rich from this. Design fee, alone, would be costly. Of course, to become an interior designer, you have to shell out a lot of money, so charging a hefty design fee would mean a faster return of investment. But have you ever wondered who weaved the cloths on our furniture or at least collected the materials? From what communities are these from? Are they even aware of the end-product of their labor? Could they even buy it? Among those construction workers, who among them have a house that is designed professionally?

The questions I have here are: Why can’t the beauty of Interior Design reach those in poverty, or at least those who are not as well-off than those who could usually afford having their homes professionally designed? Why are the fruits of the production in Interior Design mostly enjoyed by those on the higher echelons? Why can’t the workers who help create these designs even have them on their homes? Why is Interior Design exclusionary based on socio-economic class?

I believe there is a need for change. Upon searching the term Third World Interior Design online, I could not see any entry. That is a problem. It seems like for developing countries like the Philippines, Interior Design is not a priority. I am not here arguing that it should be a priority at the expense of other basic needs. What I am pointing out is that maybe if we see its importance, perhaps it could change how the government plan out national housing programs, or we could see the irony experienced by those who build beautiful houses, or we could give focus to communities where materials are gathered - that they are vital in the production.

As there may be almost no conception of Third World Interior Design, I would vow to make it. An Interior Design I envision is something that could reach even those who are not millionaires, something that is sustainable, something that empowers communities. This is because I believe in Interior Design, I believe in its capability of helping us live with more dignity.

We need to create Third World Interior Design.

#interior design #Third World #filmpoliticsandsociety

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