Maganda at Maputi

First, colonial aesthetics today may be partly rooted in various dramatic forms, (during both the
Spanish and American colonial regimes), which perpetuated the value of "white is beautiful". In
the passion play called sinakulo, natives playing Christ and most especially the Virgin was
chosen on the basis of their resemblance to both istampitas and images of Christ and the virgin.
Then, the value of "white is beautiful" has been and is one of our colonial mentality's most
ridiculous and destructive expressions. Because of it, Filipinas have lavished money on surgery
and trips abroad to have their eyes made wider and their noses sculptured to aquiline or
decently Caucasian proportions.
Finally, such a view of ourselves betrays a mind that does not have enough depth and
interiority to see that what makes a person beautiful is not the pigmentation of his skin or the
size of his nose or the smallness or bigness of his eyes and mouth but his goodness and dignity
as a person.

Masaya and May Palabas

First, in Spanish times the komedya delighted audiences for days on with batallas or fights
between individuals (both men and women) or armies. Batallas which were done to the tune of
the Carranza and executed in steps of the curacha, to the accompaniment of a brass or bamboo
band accounted for at least half of the total performance time.
Next, Filipino films of the 1930s and 1940s were heavily influenced by stage shows and
musicals, which took the song and dance of the zarzuela and magnified these into a potpourri
of chorus numbers and production designs. Heavy American dramas, on the other hand, fixated
many audiences in the stage of soap operas of the sudsiest variety, with luxuriant words and
tragic situations. The tradition of entertainment through bakbakan, iyakan and sayawan has
been so strong that it is responsible to a large extent for the sad and sub-literate state of
Filipino movies.
Finally, from the first Filipino movie (1919) starring the Queen of staged zarzuelas Atang de la
Rama, to Waray Waray, starring the 1950s song and dance team Nida Blanca and Nestor de
Villa. Filipinos are used to seeing their heroes in formula films that satisfy the need for a certain
kind of emotional response from an audience, whether it be tears, laughter, or sheer adrenalin.
It is this entertainment that draws its validity from its ability to transport its audience from the
world of the real to a make-believe world.
Mabuti ang Inaapi
First, in Spanish times, the pasyon and its dramatic equivalent, the sinakulo, had Christ as
"Mabining tao" whose main virtue seemed to be the lack of a backbone. During the American
regime, the Spanish zarzuela and drama that were indigenized by local playwrights as well as
romantic short stories and novels by Filipinos, usually had for heroine, blushing rural maids or
cabaret girls.
Then, what is wrong with the reprehensible masochism, or the love of being persecuted and of
suffering, which sometimes expresses itself among Filipinos? This is a psychotic drive toward
self-flagellation, in a dubious obsession to let out one's blood to ward off bad.
Finally, many Filipinos have become superficial and escapist. They do not think deeply about
their present problems nor do the roots of the problems. For, once suffering is accepted as a
"natural" state of man in this world, how can a person then question it? In short, if suffering is a
virtue, why end it?

Maganda Pa ang Daigdig

In Maganda Pa ang Daigdig, the last value which stipulates that "all is right with the world" is
not a value in itself, but a world view that arises as a consequence of the second and third. Like
all the other disvalues, the terminal world view was molded by our colonial experience.
Then in the morality plays of the 19th and 20th centuries, there are heroes and heroines who
are almost always portrayed as modern Robin Hoods or superman. But what is wrong with the
morality play today? Again, nothing in\ritself, if it ends in a simplistic view of the problems of
our society, misrepresents those problems and worse, "sayers".
Finally, filmmakers give the masses hope that they can change society in an antipodal to giving
them hope in an oppressive status quo. In a weekly ritual, maids and labanderas and farmer's
wives who sweat to eke out a living, pay hard earned wages to cry over the persecution of their
heroes and heroines, only to be told in the end that life is not so bad after all.
Values for an Independent People
First, the most urgent need confronting the Filipino masses today is that of economic liberation.
But economic liberation shall become a reality only if the masses themselves are able to face
and analyze the condition they live in.
Finally, to neutralize and eventually eradicate these negative values, artists, scholars and
teachers should create or propagate pro-Filipino values.

Maganda ang Kayumanggi

First, the Filipino colonial mentality, or the blind belief that Anglo-American culture is superior
to the native in all ways, is not easily uprooted. It is clear then that such a mentality shall
merely follow the economy's horse. If so, then it is indeed; the Filipino smash the icons of his,
colonial culture and build end models that embody his own native culture.
Next, Filipino aesthetics will blossom only if the Filipino can depict his experience with the
utmost authentic city, he writes. Both stage and screen should create only characters,
situations and stories which are automatically Filipino.
Lastly, In dressing, Filipinas should employ colors that will enhance her brown skin, as older
Filipinas did with the use of navy blues and Franciscan browns for their "dark skins".

Masaya ang Palabas na May Laman

First, Lino Brocka has succeeded in doing this in many of his movies, by infusing escapism genre
films with fresh insights and a generally realistic point of view. One wishes, however, that more
of our comedians would go into this type of substantial Chalinesque comedy.
Next, we suggest that the adrenalin we now waste on the cut-and-dried predictabilities of
action films, be focused on physical combats which emanate from within. We suggest that our
mesmerization with the songs and dances of musicals, that paint a paradise of idyllic
relationships and contradictions into happy endings, be turned into an intelligent fascination
with musicals in a present insight into contemporary Philippine society.
Finally, one such musical as Pekabakaba Ka Ba?, allegorized the systematic take-over of the
country by Japanese interests, and take pot-shots at various film producers and institutions.
Mabuti ang May Sariling Isip at Gulugod
It was all about Filipino directors and writers should seek to form critical Filipino minds, through
movies that discuss social or personal problems from a bigger social perspective. They should
also endeavor to fortify the Filipino's will, so that he may not only see the possibility but the
urgency in participating in social change.

Gaganda Pa ang Daigdig

First, what are we to do with the romantic vision which insists that the world is still beautiful
because all problems can be solved at the flick of a finger? Our films and plays should eschew
the idealization of characters, situations, and problems that lies at the heart of traditional
romanticism.
Then if reality is ugly, it should not be prettified, through the use of deus ex machina and the
thousand and one literary tricks that romantic writers keep in their bag of literary tricks to
ensure a "hope-inducing ending".
Finally, the new drama and film should elicit a desire for social change. It should be opposed to
the kind of false hope foisted on the audience by traditional romanticism. A good example of
the expression of this new romantic\rhope is the last scene of Hubad na Bayani (a film about a
peasant uprising like those in the 1930s).