FOUR VALUES IN

FILIPINO DRAMA
AND FILM
Nicanor Tiongson

Symbols of Social Stratification in

the Philippines
Light coloring is correlated with
intelligence and a light-skinned
attractive person will receive
advancement before his or her
colleagues.
Family position and patron-client
associations are useful in achieving
success.

 Money to buy consumer goods is an

indicator of power.
Owning a vehicle is a clear statement
of a high social level.
Women above the poverty level have
extensive wardrobes.
Sending one's children to the best
schools is the most important
indicator of social position.

Aesthetics
is a branch of philosophy dealing with the
nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with
the creation and appreciation of beauty.
sometimes called judgments of sentiment
and taste.
defined as "critical reflection on art,
culture and nature.
studies new ways of seeing and of
perceiving the world.

White is Beautiful
During the Spanish times:

To be a prince or a princess in a
komedya, one had to look the part.
One had to have sharp nose, big
eyes, small mouth, and most of all,
white skin.
He or she had to have magandang
tindig, which is to be tall like a
man.

During the American regime:

Bodabil not only singled out Filipinos

who can do imitations but
necessarily favored the Caucasianlooking either as the closer imitations
of the originals or as leading mans
types, above the ethnic-looking
who, in spite of their superior talent,
were relegated to slapstick
comedians and roles of maids or
minor friends.

Shows are the Best

Forms of Entertainment before:

Komedya
Sinakulo
Zarzuela
Dramas
Bodabil
Stage show

Hurrah for the Undergo

In the Spanish times the two principal
forms of literature and their dramatic
counterparts set up two types of heroes
for the indios edification and emulation.
The pasyon and its dramatic
counterpart, the sinakulo.
The awits and koridos and their
dramatic counterparts, the komedya
and the moro-moro.

 During the American regime, usually

has for heroines are, blushing rural
maids, utusans, labanderas, tinderas
of sampaguita or kakanin who are
hounded by various relentless furies,
represented by adject poverty by rich
donyas, evil madastras, malicious
mother-in-law, and ugly but well
dressed step-sisters.

All is Right in the World

In Spanish times, the colonial dramas
always ended with the affirmation
that all evil are punished and all good
are rewarded.

 In American times, the maudlin

heroines and shy heroes of the
dramas and zarzuelas were showered
with happy endings usually in the
form of marriage to a rich mans son
or daughter and were besieged by
teary repentance of donyas,
madrastas and sisters-in-law.