The characters in the controversy are: a) Mideo Cruz- the artist who made the artwork called Politeismo

exhibited in the main gallery of Cultural Center of the Philippines in time with the mations celebration of Dr. Jose Rizals 150th birthday. He was mentioned in the article because his artwork gathered a lot of reactions from different critiques because of some moral issues as raised by the Catholic Church and its believers. b) Critiques (Catholic Church--- Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales. Auxilliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Rep. Imelda Marcos, Cong, Bagatsing, Senators Sotto, Enrile and Estrada, etc.) they are mentioned in the article because they were the one who are against the artwork made by Mideo Cruz, telling everyone that Mideos art was blasphemous and malicious. c) Other artist- we may call them the supporters of Politeismo. They are mentioned in the article because they defended the artwork saying that it is the artists way of expressing himsel f and he has the right to make any art because we all have the freedom of expression. d) The Filipinos- they are the reason why Mideo Cruz made his artwork Politeismo. Politeismo is actually a 3-wall canvass installation entirely covered with various images and papers. The images of Mary, Joseph and Jesus are one of the pictures in the installation. The controversy is about the pictures of Jesus Christ and Mary alongside of condoms, plastic piggy banks enclosed in a glass case where statues of saints are usually placed, crucifixes and rosaries hanged side by side with wooden phalluses. The critiques viewed it s an immoral art, the reason why this artwork earned a lot of bad impressions. Personally, I think the controversy is about both the art of Mideo and the reactions of his critiques. The role of art in society is to reflect the beautiful, or to express what is pleasing to the eyes. Sometimes, arts role is to reveal the gnawing and painful realities of life, which causes its viewers to change their own perspective in life.

 Roles of characters: a) Critiques- they judged the work as immoral, sick and lacks decency. According to them, the artwork of Mideo is offensive to our ethical standards and hideous to our moral norms. They viewed the art s a complete betrayal of what is right from what is wrong. b) Supporters- they viewed the artwork as Mideos way of expressing himself. They are pointing out that everyone has a freedom of expression, the reason why they are disappointed that Mideos artwork has earned a bad reputation to other people. Mideo Cruz was not successful in communicating his message through Politeismo. I personally agree that every one of us has the right to express ourselves freely but this freedom of expression has a corresponding responsibility. Mideo Cruz has the free will to do art the way he wants to as long as he also considers the norms and traditions of his viewers. Freedom of expression has a limit because that freedom has a related duty to respect the things that other people believes or stands for, as well as their opinions and cultures. Should Mideo Cruzs artwork have been a bit easier regarding its features, I think there would be no problem at all.