Bianca Balmores Humaart Humaart Assignment: Tatay Kong Nanay

08/14/12

1. Describe Coring as a main character of the film. First, Coring is a strong individual who knows who he is and he is not afraid of what others will say since he is portrayed as an openly gay parlor owner who enjoys his sexuality by joining gay beauty pageants. After being left by his former lover Dennis for a woman, Dennis requests him to raise his son, Nonoy. Given this situation, Coring is given the obstacle to become a father to Nonoy despite being gay. This shows that Coring is a responsible and value-laden individual because despite his sexuality since he only wants and seeks what is the best for Nonoy. 2. How gay men are represented in the film? The gay characters are represented as naive and very trivial in the film. Given the most emphasis about these characters are the superficialities that they engage in such as joining pageants, dressing up like a woman and putting on makeup. 3. As a viewer, what do you think is the intention of the film? Despite, the stereotypical homosexual who invests his time acting and dressing up like a woman who occasionally hits on men, the character of Coring defies this stereotype and instead portrays a respectable gay man. He does this through balancing his "sexuality" by becoming a homosexual who owns a parlor and at a same time a responsible father towards Nonoy. Based on this observation, the intention of the films is to defy the conventional parenting method by showing that becoming a parent really relies on one's ability to take full responsibility of a child, despite the gender of the parent. In other words, a child does not necessarily need to have a mother and father as parents but a guardian who can balance and manage the obligation of becoming a parent. 4. How did the character of Nonoy use to reconfigured/reintroduced the image of gay men in the Philippines? Nonoys character is an innocent young boy who has Coring as his guardian. He was able to reintroduce the image of gay men in a positive way since he was able to show that a kid can be raised by a homosexual man (Coring). Moreover, he reintroduced a better notion of gay men as independent and responsible which was reflected with Corings character who did his best to raise Nonoy in the most normal way. 5. Do you think that the theme of the film is still relevant today? Why? A dominant theme seen in this film is towards sexuality, specifically figuring out ones sexuality and coming out as gay. I believe that this is very relevant nowadays since more individuals are more liberated to choose the sexuality and lifestyles they prefer yet an obstacle they constantly tackle is coming out to their friends and family and a fear of being rejected by these people. Another important theme portrayed in this film is about parenthood, whether

or not a person can be giving the responsibility of raising a child despite being a homosexual. This is a very controversial topic for the church since they believe that there are only to sex that God allows those being a man and a woman. Despite this, I believe that parenthood does not have a qualifying standard regarding sexuality yet I believe that the only thing that matters is that anyone (may they be straight or gay) can become a parent as long as they have the capacity to teach the child the right values to become a good-hearted person. 6. Give your overall evaluation of the film Despite the stereotypical gay man represented in majority of Filipino movies nowadays, Coring's character depicts a different perspective of a homosexual man, which can be considered as respectable in terms of his values that is shown through his responsibility in raising Nonoy despite the "glamour" of being gay (such as dressing up and putting on makeup). In addition to this, the main objective of this film which is to show that parenting can be done despite the gender of a parent which was specifically depicted in the scene where Coring slaps Nonoy since he placed on lipstick. Despite knowing that he (Coring) is gay and does such an activity, he does not want Nonoy to follow his foot steps in being gay as well. In a more abstract sense, Coring sets values for Nonoy to follow (such as to grow up a straight man) despite being a homosexual himself. This is quite contradictory since a child usually follows his parents foot steps yet here it is seen that Coring did not want Nonoy to follow him to grow up a gay man but wanted Nonoy to realize that being gay was Coring choice therefore he does not need to follow this path. This example can also be associated with teaching a lesson and correcting a mistake made by a child since a parent usually punishes a child when he/she has done something wrong (in this case, a little boy putting make up). Moreover, this movie is an example of a well-produced image of gay men since it goes beyond their superficialities and focuses more on the personality behind the gay persona of Coring. With this said, the movie did not discriminate the gays as being shallow and superficial but it portrayed the gays can be valueladen, responsible and loving. 7. As a student of Humanities, how did the film help you in your understanding of gender? Even before watching this movie, I already understood the difference between sex and gender. The former refers to the physical aspects that distinguish a man and a woman while the latter refers to the socially constructed behavior and characteristics considered as appropriate by a certain society. As I have grown up, I have become exposed to the different outcomes that have been produced by gender, specifically homosexuality, which at its simplest sense means when a persons sexual attraction shifts from a person that has a different sex (heterogeneous) to a person of the same sex. In Corings situation, he is a homosexual who is attracted to men, in other words, he is gay. Personally, ones gender does not affect my treatment towards a person. I believe that gender may be a matter of choice despite the churchs opposing view about gender. After watching this film, I have become enlightened to see a gay man in a more optimistic manner since the movie does not discriminate gays

but helps the audience understand that gays should not be oppressed just because of their decision to be gay since there is so much more to that they offer than being gay. I saw this through Coring who may be a gay parlor owner in the outside but is actually a responsible father to Nonoy.