Some Kinda Funny

Sorry, it's been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. I've been quite hectic tho penniless these days. I had to rush some work for my DVD "raket" or else I'll be a beggar next week. I am not exaggerating. For the first time in three years, I withdrew all the money in my two ATM accounts and nothing's left in them. Nothing! Right now, all I could wish for is another soap writing offer. I'll just eat my pride for money. Hehehe :) But I don't wanna depress you (it's enough that I am).

So what am I going to tell you ba? Uhm, okay I'll just tell you about what happened last Thursday. As you know, I'm going back to school right? Last Thursday was the first day of my lone class for the semester. As always, I woke up late (what's new?) so I had to run (literally) to catch the Ikot jeepney. Good thing I live inside the campus and I study in UP where you can wear a pajama in school for all they care (not that I wore one). I was actually both nervous and excited. Nervous in a way that I'll be studying in a Film institute and I'm aware that the academe can be elitist sometimes. Excited also on the prospect of studying Film, something I'd like to think I'm passionate about. Anyway, to my relief, the class hasn't started yet when I arrived. I forgot the tradition that teachers always come late during first day of school. I looked around and found an empty seat and since I didn't know anybody, I just kept quiet and observed. My classmates surely looked young (17-18 years old is the average age) but I blended well. I donned my best 17 year old impersonation by wearing an AM Blvd shirt, my signature Chucks and my childlike attitude (Hahahaha! :) Feeling!). I'm an observant person so I noticed right away a group of giggling females who all decided they'll wear pink for the day (how juvenile!:). The leader of the clique was telling her friends about how she and her boyfriend couldn't relate with each other because the boyfriend apparently doesn't appreciate Britney Spears. Heh! (I relate with the boyfriend.) The other studes meanwhile have the filmmaker-wannabe 'tude. Geeky and snobbish.

Then Ma'am Gigi Alfonso arrived and we all kept quiet. I should have known my being almost late was a bad foreshadowing when Ma'am Gigi's first question to the class was "Has anyone of you seen My First Romance?" Oh. my. God! :) I tried to be nonchalant about it and was one of the three who raised hands. The others were giving the "Of course not!" facial expression. Ma'am Gigi then asked, "What can you say about the movie?" The other guy who saw it (a Statistics major) said something like it's kilig but it's like a very long commercial, and there were loopholes in the story. (He didn't use the word loophole, of course.) The other girl (member of the Pink clique) was bitchy. She said she really had no plans of watching the movie. She was just dragged by her cousin (yeah right!:) ) and she didn't like it, period. I have no idea why Ma'am Gigi didn't proceed to ask me coz she then told the class, "But it was Rated B so there must be something good with it. You know what Rated B means?" They didn't know. What can you expect? After Ma'am Gigi's explanation, the bitchy girl then added a good thing or two about the movie. I was really trying my darndest not to laugh. Then, Ma'am Gigi asked the whole class to intro ourselves. Man, I feel so old! Almost all of them are in their first year. When my turn came, I just said I'm a returning student. I thought I was free but Ma'am Gigi asked me what it means. So I had no choice but to say I'm a Masters student. (And I swear I heard one of the pink girls saying "Ah. Matanda na pala siya!") I just smiled thinking that if I had not said it, they wouldn't have noticed. My impression worked! :)

I thought that was already the end but Ma'am Gigi then told the class that since Film 100 is about film literacy, she would require us to watch many movies, even the Shoemart (read: mainstream) films. She then asked us to name the last Filipino movie we saw and what we can say about it. What the fuck! :) (Sorry for cursing, kids!) The class in general was bitchy about Pinoy movies. If I had taken this class 7 years earlier, I would have been one of the them but I know better now. One comment plainly disgusted me. A FILM MAJOR said that she has not seen ANY Filipino movies. I was ready to clap when Ma'am Gigi sarcastically asked her "And you call yourself a Film student?", but I controlled myself. Of course, the student didn't hint any sarcasm in Ma'am Gigi's voice.:)

Then my turn came. The class already knowing that I'm a Master's student focused their attention on me. With poise and calmness, I said, "The last Filipino movies I saw were Liberated and My First Romance. With My First Romance, I had no choice coz I co-wrote the movie..." INSERT PSYCHO THEME HERE. Silence. I tried so hard not to laugh but I couldn't. Nervous laughter followed. Ma'am Gigi laughed and said, "See! That's the reason why we should be careful about we say!" After I assured them that everything's okay, I continued with my comments on Liberated ("...inconsistent and uneven although there's an attempt to be artsy fartsy.") The Statistics guy blushingly apologized to me (even guiltily followed me after the class) although I told him that I agree with his comments. The Pink girl did not look at me in the eye for the rest of the class. LOL!:D

Ma'am Gigi proceeded to lecture us that just because most Filipino movies are mainstream fare it doesn't mean that we should not appreciate them. The masses obviously love these movies so there must be something in them that say something about ourselves and our culture. Besides, just because it's a Western film, it doesn't mean it's a good film. For every 10 art movies that they come up with, there are also 100 crap movies that come along. This holds true to any film industry in the world. I agree.

I had fun, by the way.