“Do not judge a book by its cover” must be an apt description of how entertainment scribe Art Tapalla commented on my sixth media studies publication, “SekSinema (Gender Images in Philippine Sex Cinema Enfolding Pandemia)” (2021, BVV Media Productions).
“TH ang libro mo (Your book is Trying Hard),” exclaimed Tapalla one day sans reading it.
I took his impression, hook, line and sinker.
In showbiz lingo and context, though, TH—in contrast with the common goal and aspiration of a dreamer and a doer by trying one’s best to succeed—is a condescending expression which implies exploiting anything kitsch, shallow or puff just to get attention.
“Hindi mo kasi tinalakay ang (Because you didn’t discuss) queer cinema,” stressed Art who, for crying out loud, hasn’t read, not even perused, the book.
In the book, I have a discussion on gay filmmaking, however, limited but anchored just the same on history and socio-political backdrop, particularly on sex assignments, battle of the sexes, gender equality and liberation.
It would take, of course, another time and material to research to come out with gay-themed movies not only from the conservative, oppressive and homophobic standpoint but the veracity and the whole gamut of historical even theological framework as well notwithstanding societal judgment.
As I write, I log on to Letterboxd blog, an online listing of films with sensibilities of LGBTQ — minus the added IA (Intersex, Asexual, Aromantic, Agender) as in LGBTQIA with the acronym’s plus (+) sign—edited by a certain Ian Casocot. It is titled “A Chronological Listing of Filipino Films with LGBTQ Representation.” According to the intro of the menu, it is a compendium of entries that have gay predilection, or simply LGBTQIA+ represented in its presentation and narrative from the pre-war film industry to the gay film movement in the millennium.
But gay cinema I did but didn’t enumerate its entries anymore, their description and critique because I summed them up and theorized that all films, encompassing of all genres, are sex cinema, primarily, albeit superficial, on the dichotomy of male and female or man-to-man/woman-to-woman screen characters. Onscreen, actors not excluding pets and other animals, are assigned gender roles—basically, male and female—with corresponding attributes, like psycho make-up, social traits, physical characteristics etc.
There are mutations, though—sex-drama-action (SDA) attributed to Phillip Salvador as SDA Man or any action star doing drama and bed scenes like Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. and Assunta de Rossi in “Kibalot at Kembot” (2002); sex-comedy in “Law Law Gang” (2011), “Indecent Professor” (1995) etc.; “Banyo Queen” (2001), “Shoot! Shoot! Di Ko Kaya” (2021) etc.); sex-fantasy in “Haplos” (1982), “Virgin Forest” (2022 remake) etc. With the emergence of Vivamax, the live streaming app has been churning out diverse tapestry of hybrid sex and other genres.
What social mores and moral atmosphere Philippine society exude, movies reflect on them… After 400 years of Spanish conquest, the country still has to struggle against puritanism like anti-gay and misogyny attitudes.
In Letterboxd, I wonder why “Ibong Adarna” (1941), a fantastic tentpole, was considered an LGBTQIA+ representation.
Is it because the “ibong Adarna” as colorful as it is, is an androgynous creation, a fanciful, flamboyant mythical bird whose singing cures the malady of the king of the court?
Queer cinema has been around the local film industry for ages which has influences from colonial filmmaking before the turn of the 20th century when the first gay film “The Dickson Experimental Sound Film” or simply titled “The Gay Brothers” was made in 1894.
What social mores and moral atmosphere Philippine society exude, movies reflect on them.
Conservatism, Catholicism and other prudish beliefs make up Philippine social order especially Hispanic influence of patriarchal family setup where machismo and male chauvinism dominate.
After four hundred years of Spanish conquest, the country still has to struggle against puritanism like anti-gay and misogyny attitudes.
Homosexuality in real life during the colonial regimes was taboo while in the Western civilization where Spain rooted its advancement, man-to-man sexual relationship was prevalent particularly the liaison between Alexander the Great and his lovers Hephaestion and Bagoas.
In the Philippines, gays are still portrayed, in real and reel life, as caricatures and jesters—human persons not to be taken seriously as outcasts like “Facifica Falayfay” (1968), “Petrang Kabayo at ang Pilyang Kuting” (1988) etc.
These typical gay characters are Vice Ganda’s aping the scandalous and wacky interpretation although some may argue that the trans-actor is a cut above the rest because of his cerebral media articulation. Let’s see what ABS-CBN Studios and The IdeaFirst Company’s “And the Breadwinner is…” directed by the no-nonsense Jun Lana and a 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival has to offer.
Although there are serious if not contemplative M2M cinema like “Tubog sa Ginto” (1969), “Macho Dancer” (1988), “Sibak (Midnight Dancers” (1994), “Markova” (2000) etc., they are selective of audiences because gays until now aren’t totally accepted by society except for some absurd reasons.
Lesbian acts like “Kapag Tumabang ang Asin” (1976), “Ang Pulubi” (1969) directed by Danny Zialcita and Luis Nepomuceno, respectively, “Manila By Night” which was censored by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and retitled “City After Dark” (1980) directed by Ishmael Bernal had kissing scene between Cherie Gil as lesbian junkie and Rio Locsin as a blind masseuse. and other LGBTQIA+ film projects had gay love which we would find in such classics as Connie Macatuno’s “Rome and Juliet” (2006), Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo’s “Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita” (2013) etc.
In retrospect, there are so many recycled homoerotic scenes with new twists in the local film business especially in the advent of indie spirit moviemaking.
