“Filipino Teenagers’ Perceptions Toward the Cultural Beliefs as Reflected in Movies of

Thailand and Philippines”

Introduction

Culture is very important to our everyday life. It influences how people interact with each

other. It affects the decision-making, behavior, thinking patterns, values and beliefs of the people

in a country. The history of a country can be defined by its culture. Culture stems from our history

making it. Knowing the one’s culture is knowing oneself. What we have in common is what binds

us together, and our culture is one of these that improve if not initiate human relations.

The integration of one’s culture to arts is widely practiced by artists all around the globe.

Visual art is probably the most influential of them all. Assimilation of cultural beliefs is a common

practice of artists to promulgate knowledge and awareness to the masses. Cinema has been a

powerful vehicle for cultural propaganda as would other reasons there are. Movie is an example

of a medium to circulate information. This fashion of feeding information can easily influence

most of its viewers in just a short time of watching. In these movies, the culture of a country or a

place would be obvious just watching how the actors and the setting interacts. Movies that display

a daily occurrence in a place would be a source of information on how their culture works in the

characters’ everyday lives.

This study proliferates the people who understand cultural beliefs of one’s country. The

focus of this study revolves around the two chosen movies of the two countries to be subjected to

scrutiny of research. The chosen movies form the Philippines and Thailand are Pagpag (2013) and

Pee Mak (2013) respectively. The study will contain only these two movies as for the subjects.
These two movies were picked because the contents depict blatant display of different beliefs of

their respective country. The researches picked these two movies for the reason that they were of

the same genre and that they showed part of the cultural beliefs of their country.

Background of the Study

Movies’ impact on its viewers has been constituted in every day lives of its viewers. Each

movie shows either the reality or a fictitious setting. This study only focuses only on the reality of

the two chosen movies that portray their country’s culture. This type of study requires the use of

qualitative methods instead of quantitative. There are different qualitative methods that were

available to researchers to tackle their study, but they will use only one of these. The researchers

have chosen to do the Ethnography method. In this kind of qualitative research, the researchers let

themselves experience their subject-matter first-hand. In this, you immerse yourself in the target

participants’ environment to understand the goals, cultures, challenges, motivations, and themes

that emerge. They need not to do an interview in this type of qualitative research for they

themselves would be able to acquire the required knowledge of their topic by experiencing the

environment and sometimes become a “participant observer”.

Statement of the Problem;

1. How are the selected Thai and Filipino movie analyzed/assessed in terms of:

1.1. Plot

1.2. Setting

1.3. Theme
 2. What are the perceived Philippine and Thailand cultural beliefs of the teenagers

reflected in the referred movies?

1.1. Social

1.2. Family

1.3. Religion

Significance of the Study

This study aims to identify the cultural beliefs of the two countries selected by the

researchers namely: Thailand and Philippines. It also aims to familiarize teenagers’ on how culture

is integrated to visual arts (e.g. movies and to be able to distinguish the implications of the shown

cultural beliefs to teenagers. This research is important for teenagers so that they will have

knowledge and awareness of what the movies are all about and what cultural beliefs they would

encounter when watching these movies. It is also imperative for other researchers who would have

the interest to further this study. The researchers themselves fall under the teenager category and

are well-suited for this study.

Objective of the Study

This study aims to identify the Philippine and Thailand cultural beliefs of the teenagers

reflected in the referred movies by means of social, family and religion. It also aims to know how

the selected Thai and Filipino movie analyzed/assessed in terms of its plot, setting, and theme.
Methodology and Procedures

This study will use the qualitative method in gathering the necessary data in analyzing the

chosen movies. Specifically, the researchers used the ethnography method under the qualitative

research design. This method will give the researchers a deeper understanding and more extensive

observation as they will have the convenience of engaging with the subject personally. Unlike

gathering interviews and reviews about the movie, first-hand involvement is probably the best

considering that apprehension of the subject would greatly depend on the how much interaction

was done. The needed respondents for this study are the teenagers, this would make the researchers

qualified and eligible to this.

The movie first to be watched will be the Pagpag (2013) originated from the Philippines

and next will be the Pee Mak (2013) from the Thailand. This sequence of watching will give the

researchers more idea and a better judgement on identifying the underlaid hints or cultural

innuendos that were reproduced in the movies.

The researches watched the 2 movies themselves and became the participants of this study.

They then gave their own insights, impression, and judgement regarding the two movies. This

method will substitute to interviews and reviews from other respondents as the researches will fill

their role of giving critiques, opinions, insights, and comments about the chosen movies. The

researchers will, after watching the 2 films, provide the needed data for the study. A discussion

about their personal arrived conclusion be gathered would and upon extensive deliberation, a

summary of their findings would be the data to be used in this study.

A study was conducted and said that the one reason why watching English-spoken films

with subtitle trends is the assumption that perceptual learning of the sounds of a foreign language,

English, will improve perception skills in non-English speakers. Yet, solid proof for this is scarce.

To test the potential learning effects derived from watching subtitled media, a group of

intermediate Spanish students of English as a foreign language watched a 1h-long episode of a TV

drama in its original English version, with English, Spanish or no subtitles overlaid. Before and

after the viewing, participants took a listening and vocabulary test to evaluate their speech

perception and vocabulary acquisition in English, plus a final plot comprehension test. The results

of the listening skills tests revealed that after watching the English subtitled version, participants

improved these skills significantly more than after watching the Spanish subtitled or no-subtitles

versions. The vocabulary test showed no reliable differences between subtitled conditions. Finally,

as one could expect, plot comprehension was best under native, Spanish subtitles. These learning

effects with just one-hour exposure might have major implications with longer exposure times.

(Soto-Faraco and Birulés-Muntané, 2016)

Based on Pakditawan, the story of Mae Nak is well-known in Thailand. Its latest film

adaptation is Pee Mak Phra Khanong (2013), which became the highest grossing Thai film of all

time, earning over B1 billion worldwide. The gothic tale of Mae Nak has been filmed several times

over the past few decades and every movie were a box-office hit, cementing Mae Nak’s place in

Thai popular culture. It is unknown whether Mae Nak really existed or if her story is purely myth,

as there is no conclusive historical evidence of her existence. (Pakditawan, 2016)

“pagpag” (the shaking off of dirt). In the context of a wake, it means going elsewhere after

attending the wake before heading home to shake off the spirit of the deceased lest it follows you

home. Superstitions surrounding wakes are among the most widely practiced by Filipinos still

today. Another is that the family of the deceased should not drop off visitors at the door upon

saying goodbye as it symbolizes dropping them off at their own deaths. And, as for serving food

at wakes (be it heavy meals or light snacks) at Filipino wakes is customary, visitors should not

make the mistake of taking any home with them (be it a small piece of candy), as it signifies

inviting misfortune into your home. (Escalona, 2018)

Galvez stated thirty superstitions Filipinos belief during funerals. First, when the wake is

held in a household, cover all the mirrors with cloth. They said that the dead tries to show

themselves in mirrors, so they must be covered with a cloth. You must also avoid looking at your

reflection in mirrors, too. Second, family members aren’t allowed to take a bath or comb their hair

in the house where the wake is being held. But they can do it in another house. Third, avoid

sweeping the floors during a wake. This applies most specially to family members. Apparently,

cleaning means you’re trying to banish the spirit of the dead from the household. Forth, do not go

straight at home right after attending a wake. If you do, the dead will follow you home. Instead,

drop by someplace else. Be it somebody else’s home, the neighborhood’s sari-sari store or the

mall, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you do not directly go home. Fifth, do not bring

home the food served in a wake. It’s customary for Filipinos to give takeout food to visitors, but

it’s not practiced during a wake. They said you’ll bring bad luck if you take home the food with

you. Another reason provided is, so the dead won’t be hungry in the afterlife. Sixth, avoid any
tears from falling on the casket. The spirit of the dead will have a difficult time transitioning to the

afterlife if tears fall on the casket. Seventh, pregnant women are discouraged to attend a wake or

to look at the dead. Doing so can serve as bad luck for the baby. Eighth, when the person who died

is old, it’s good luck to eat the food served. Many believe that you will gain the person’s luck of

living into old age just by eating the food served in a wake. Ninth, pinch anyone who sneezed

during the wake. Sneezing supposedly invites the dead to visit you. To avoid that, ask someone to

pinch you. Tenth, you must enclose cash on the hands of the dead during the wake, then take back

the money before the funeral. The money serves as the dead’s “pamasahe” on his way to the

afterlife. It’s also said that anyone who uses the money or includes it in the capital to start a

business will find success. Not spending the money can also bring luck to those who keep it.

(Galvez, 2014)

According to an article, Pagpag: Siyam Na Buhay jumps off from the myriads of

superstitions (pamahiin) that Filipinos have when visiting a wake or funeral. In our culture, there’s

a long list of do’s and don’ts when dealing with death and this movie focuses on that. In particular,

it zooms in on the customary need to “pagpag” after attending a wake. This means that visitors

should not directly go to their homes after visiting a wake (lamay) and instead do a pitsop first at

any other place (hang-out somewhere else), so as to avoid having any bad spirits follow you home.

(Astorga, 2014)

A movie review from Joseph Garcia, the plot of Pagpag: Siyam Na Buhay hits some

glitches with some unlikely scenarios, such as a funeral business being managed by a teenager and
her drunken uncle. Magdayao’s story arc as a murderous widow eager to resurrect her husband

works because it doesn’t hold back and goes all out on its gore and insanity. The movie educates

the viewer about some funeral superstitions and basic good manners, such as not taking home food

from wakes, and the characters’ deaths are connected to the funeral superstitions that they have

broken: for example, a guy who brings home a sandwich from a funeral gets sandwiched between

two trucks, and a girl whose tears drop onto the coffin’s glass cover gets her eyes gouged out by

the vengeful corpse, who then drowns her in a pool. A man who sweeps during a funeral gets

impaled with a broom. The way the characters’ deaths were planned, however delightfully gory,

removes the sense of true horror from the film, and lets the gore slide into a funny guessing game.

(Garcia, 2014)

According to a book, a movies shape cultural attitudes and customs, as audiences adopt the

attitudes and styles of the characters they watch on screen. Filmmakers may use their movies to

influence cultural attitudes toward certain social issues. Just as movies reflect the anxieties, beliefs,

and values of the cultures that produce them, they also help to shape and solidify a culture’s beliefs.

Sometimes the influence is trivial, as in the case of fashion trends or figures of speech. However,

sometimes the impact can be profound, leading to social or political reform, or the shaping of

ideologies. (Mass Communication, Media and Culture, 2012, Sec. 8.2)