(2001) باران

 Iran, although considered a US enemy and on the receiving end of US sanctions, is known for its film exports. It has been compared to China for producing films with social realist and/or neorealist touches. I have watched one when, surprisingly, UP hosted Iranian Film Festival, even though UP is largely very American despite denials from its students who come from elite families. Back then I was more into commercial films and just watched out of curiosity so one can definitely say that I didn't have a real appreciation of cinema as an art. I only remember the bleak atmosphere throughout the film and feeling depressed as I walked out of UPFI. Or maybe it was because of my lack of knowledge of West Asia and its affairs. Like, I know many people who don't appreciate Chinese films because they cannot understand the nuances, the puns, the language plays, and how everything fits into the whole film work. I think it was something like that for me with regards to West Asian cultural products.

So yesterday was my grandmother's birthday, coinciding with Mid-Autumn Festival. I initially planned to work on my thesis which I haven't touched for a month, momentum just died, or rather I am not feeling super excited to write the next few parts which have been playing in my head for months already. After migrating my draft to MS Word 365 which I got for free thanks to UP, I just fixed layout and didn't add anything substantial to the whole body of text. Imagine that, I even dug out my reference books. But you know, as has become customary, I would search for new stuff on YT and decided I wanted to watch a non-English or non-Chinese film.

Rain caught my eye, and it does not disappoint. It tells the story of a young Iranian named Lateef who is a troublemaker at a construction site where his only job is to prepare food and tea for the workers. Most of the workers are Afghans and are employed by Memar the site manager out of sympathy for these refugees. In truth, Afghans are not allowed to work in construction sites and a quick Google search will tell you that Afghan refugees entered Iran and Pakistan to escape their chaotic homeland which is left desolate starting from the 1979 Soviet invasion up to the present mainly due to the 2001 US invasion which also gave rise to many terrorist groups in the country. Now these Afghan workers must hide whenever inspectors visit the site or else they will be caught and Memar will be fined. We cannot exactly say that Memar exploits the refugees as these refugees also need to survive and in this world many people actually want honest work to survive. It is when there are no opportunities that desperate people turn to unlawful activities. Memar is actually in a difficult position of ensuring that he seemingly complies with the law and balancing that with providing a source of livelihood for the Afghans. I think this is the beautiful part in many Asian cultures, we have an innate sense of humanity and justice, unlike the western people (especially Americans) who are mostly soulless people who prefer laws to prevail without seeing the world's multifarious shades of gray.

Persian flatbread... looks yummy especially with spice-laden sauce.

Lateef's life is changed when the newcomer Rahmat is deemed physically unfit for the hard manual labor and they are made to exchange roles. Rahmat is the son of Najaf who earlier falls from the building and gets a tremendous injury. Lateef makes life hard for Rahmat until one day he discovers that Rahmat is actually a girl. Since then, his treatment of Rahmat changes and he keeps silent over his discovery. One day, Rahmat is chased down by inspectors and Lateef fights with the inspectors telling Rahmat to run. Rahmat loses her job at the construction site and shifts to working at a dam where other young girls (probably Afghanis also) transfer boulders to the river bank. We see Rahmat's hardships through Lateef's eyes who in turn becomes a changed man. He borrows money from Memar to give to Soltan who in turn is to give to Najar. In this particular scene, we can see that Lateef must really have felt Rahmat's hard life when he tears up and turns emotional while talking to Memar. But Soltan escapes to Afghanistan himself as relayed by his messenger to Lateef. The messenger says that Soltan has had a hard life and he needs the money and leaves a note to Lateef saying he will pay him back. Lateef tries to borrow money from Memar again but his request is denied. He sells his Iranian ID for a sum and gives to Najar, learning that the family will leave for Afghanistan the next day. 

Shoe fixer to Lateef: From the hot fire of being apart comes the flame that burns the heart.

Lateef sees Rahmat off, whose real name is Baran (Rain). As Baran heads to the truck, her shoe slips in the mud and Lateef picks it up and puts her foot in it, a very telling gesture of courtship. Lateef smiles as the rain starts to pour filling the footprint with rainwater. And this is how we understand Baran's role in Lateef's life, her existence fills the void in his life and changes him. And it is also a good symbolism, a mark indeed that she left on him forever.

Rainwater fills Baran's deep footprint

Wild Child (2008)

After watching some serious stuff non-stop, my brain is screaming for some time out and what fun way to relax than to watch a sill movie. At first I wanted to watch some good old 50s film but unfortunately am not able to successfully find a full version on YT. It recommended Wild Child instead and I took the bait. The film's got no subtitles so it's a struggle to understand what they're saying. I'm not so accustomed to British English after all, even after all the Harry Potter stuff.

Emma Roberts stars in this film about Poppy who ruins her dad's girlfriend's stuff by inviting her friends to take whatever they can of the woman's things when they got delivered to their big house. She is sent to Abbey Mount school where her misbehavior and rudeness annoy her roommates. (In hindsight, I've never met a decent American in my life and especially young American  women--- they're bitches who think like they are above everyone else. Poppy is pretty much like this.) When Katie, one of the roommates, learn of her mother's passing years ago in a car crash, she sympathizes with Poppy and eventually the other roommates become accepting of her. The girls decide to help her get expelled so she can go back to her life in the US.

Poppy: You think I'm an asshole.

Katie: No. But you behave like an asshole. There's a difference.

Now Abbey Mount has to have a dashing boy in the person of Freddie, son of the headmistress, whom the girls in the school crush on but who is not allowed to "fraternize" with girls. And there should be a rival in the person of Harriet who obsesses over Freddie but the latter does not return the affection as he does to Poppy especially during a party and when the two go out on a date after that. At first, Poppy plans to use Freddie as her ticket to freedom but has come to really like him eventually. When Poppy's roommates get hold of an email saying the people at school are losers, she is isolated once again. Freddie also receives a copy of an email revealing that he is just part of a plan. While emoing alone and toying with her lighter, Poppy accidentally sets fire to the curtain but puts it out before she runs away. Later on, she sees from her window that the place catches fire and alerts everyone to get out of the building. One of her roommates Jennifer is not present on roll call and Poppy rushes to the refrigeration room as she has seen the girl sneak in there one night to eat ice cream. She helps save her friend and later confesses to the crime although she insists that it is an accident.

The roommates discover that the one who sent the email is none other than Harriet and during Poppy's hearing, Harriet accuses her of the crime by providing details nobody actually knows about which implicates her instead. Harriet is found guilty and is expelled from school. In the end, Poppy and her Abbey Mount friends, plus Freddie, are seen relaxing in her house's pool in California.

So may one key takeaway from this movie is to learn how to be fashionable and trendy because manners and simply being a good person is not enough to win people's hearts. Maybe I am just being old-fashioned that way, preferring to build my inner strength mostly skills, instead of spending time to appear cool and beautiful outside. I mean, I know I am already pretty just the way I am and many people say the same. It's just that people also lament about how I don't dress up often and that maybe I should learn how to put on makeup regularly. Maybe then maybe real men will enter my life. haha (Except that after that brief encounter with Q I think I will just die an old maid, seeing this world has a serious shortage of good men. I'd rather keep my peace.)

28岁未成年 [Suddenly 17] (2016)

 So I guess I hit jackpot again after watching some crappy Chinese movies. 28岁未成年 does not have that typical Mainland China feel. It feels very modern, very trendy, and for a film about creativity, creative. The story is about a 28 year old woman who lives with her partner. She does everything for 茅亮 and he seems to have been taking her for granted, prioritizing work over 涼夏. While it is not 100% shown in the movie, it is hinted that there is something going on between him and his secretary. 涼夏 sees a commercial about chocolates and orders online.

涼夏 attends her best friend's wedding and she is given the bouquet of flowers intentionally to get her boyfriend to also propose to her. 茅亮 is surprised as he is put on the spot and right then and there announces that he is breaking up with her. 涼夏 runs away and drives off, the box of chocolates in her car and so she eats one piece. After some time, she turns into a different person. She realizes that when she eats the chocolates she goes back to her 17 year old self. 

涼夏's 17 year old self once takes the train and while in there sees a beautiful boy who attracts her attention that she draws him in her notebook using makeup. But suddenly the effect of the chocolate wears off and the present 涼夏 takes over again, leaving quickly because of her appearance. (17 year old her prefers short hair so she wears a wig, wears sexy outfit and tights, pretty much like goth girl style.) She accidentally leaves behind her notebook and it is picked up by the beautiful boy who posts about it on the internet with the intention of meeting the mysterious creative girl who drew him. This post becomes viral and attracts the attention of 茅亮's client. 茅亮 discovers that the artist is none other than his own girlfriend so he requests her to create designs for him. Desperate to bring back her boyfriend's love and attention, 涼夏 decides to bring back her 17 year old self to create the designs as the present she no longer practices her craft. The problem is that 17 year old her is not interested in going back because she wants to be with the cute boy after meeting up with him. She is eventually rejected because the boy wants to have sex with her and she is not yet ready. 

Eventually the two 涼夏 reconcile with each other and help each other achieve what the other desires. 涼夏 gains back her confidence when she suddenly becomes popular thanks to her 17 year old self's help. The 17 year old on the other hand, is so heartbroken that after chasing the cute boy before he travels off, she falls down and faints, and relinquishes control over 28 year old her. For the ending, 茅亮 is shown running naked in the streets and proposing to 涼夏, somewhat similar to what he did a decade ago to make 涼夏 agree to become his girlfriend.

This is a refreshing Chinese movie that talks about trendy and modern Chinese people's dreams and aspirations. We see here tall buildings, beautiful cars, party people, and gadgets. We also see the creativity that China somehow lacks in comparison to other advanced countries. It seems to offer an allegorical message to go back in time and find inspiration in China's very rich cultural traditions. Compared to PH, of course China has gone a long long way in just a short period of time whereas, hello PH, we've had the first LRT in Southeast Asia and now look how far we have fallen behind our neighbors. It's so heartbreaking.

And I discovered that 28岁未成年 actually has a TV series. Hmmmm.

大鱼海棠 [Big Fish and Begonia] (2016)

《北冥有鱼，其名为鲲，鲲之大不知其几千里也 。》

Above is the opening line in this Chinese animated film that reeks of Studio Ghibli influences, most in particular my favorite SG movie Spirited Away. The first time I knew of this is through a song 《大鱼》performed by 周深 and 郭沁, both having such fine delicate voice quality, the kind that refreshes the soul. It is a coming-of-age story about a girl named Chun who follows the typical hero (or maybe we should create a new trope which is the heroine) journey which changes her life forever.

Chun is friends with Qiu and early on one can already sense that even these two have entangled fates, because well, homophones for 春秋 (Spring and Autumn). Both are part of a community of magical beings. For instance, Chun has powers to grow vines and trees pretty much like Kurama of Yuyu Hakusho and Ueki of Law of Ueki. Qiu has the power to control wind, like Airbender Aang and Fuu of Recca no Honoo. LOL I just can't help but compare. There is also a fire user who reminds me of 哪吒, for whom I have grown a big obsession because of his role in 《封神榜》. 

Chun participates in a ritual wherein youngsters visit the human world in the form of red dolphins for seven days. After that, they will come back to their community. Chun's mother is worried because previously a girl was not able to return and so she reminds Chun never to interact with human beings. Chun spends most days happily swimming with other red dolphins in the sea. One night she is caught by a net from a big ship and calls our for help to which a boy responds who set her free. The boy drowns in the process leaving his little sister crying in the storm. Chun becomes guilty and seeks of a way to restore the boy back to life. She visits the SoulKeeper and makes a pact with him that in exchange for the boy's soul, she will lose half of her life. She is given the responsibility to care for the fish, which reminds me of the animated movie 《哪吒之魔童降世》wherein the spirit ball is given to a master to cultivate and this spirit ball becomes the young fire warrior 哪吒. Qiu suggests the name Kun for the fish in reference to the big fish in Chinese mythology, and quoting 《北冥有鱼，其名为鲲，鲲之大不知其几千里也 。》For a while, Chun is happy with Kun until things get out of hand and a calamity is starting to be felt in the community which according to old folks, is caused by a violation of sorts to the natural order of things. Qiu helps Chun in every way possible even though at the start he also almost caused harm to Kun, but seeing Chun's determined efforts to bring Kun back to life in the human world, he helps him and sacrifices himself as well in the end, giving his own life in order that Chun will not die when she releases Kun in the human world. Qiu is also responsible for opening the portal to the human world so that the two can escape. In the destructive flood and chaos that ensue, the Mouse Keeper takes advantage of the open portal to go to the human world. Meanwhile, seeing her community in distress, Chun sacrifices her own life and merges herself with her grandfather who has now become a begonia tree "after death" to help the people to safety. After the chaos, Chun sets Kun free and at this moment, Qiu casts a spell given to him by the SoulKeeper so that he will burn away and in return, Chun will not die. He grabs Chun and they both jump off the cliff telling his friend that they will meet again (Spirited Away feels again). In the end, Kun is transformed back to his original form. He is seen washed ashore together with Chun. Qiu on the other hand, is revived to become the SoulKeeper's successor.

《上古有大椿者，以八千岁为春，八千岁为秋。》

Above confirms the relationship between Chun and Qiu, that they indeed have entangled fates.Why do I have the feeling that there will be a part 2 of this movie? 

In 1:00:30, Qiu tells a barman that he wants to forget something but can't seem to be successful in doing so. The barman tells him, it's no use to try to forget because to really forget something, one does not need to put in effort. 

Qiu: It's painful

Barman: Sometimes to feel pain is a good thing.

Qiu: Is there something I can take to ease the pain?

Barman: I have this what humans call 孟婆汤 which can make you forget all your painful and beautiful memories.

Qiu instead asks for a jar of wine.

Note: The 孟婆汤 in Chinese mythology allows one to forget everything when drunk. It can very well be the inspiration for Andy Lau's 忘情水. 

This is one animated film I will most probably watch over and over again. I wish China makes more animated movies of this kind. I've seen a few China-made animated films and so far everything has surprised me and exceeded my expectations, like the 2017 小门神 and last year's 哪吒之魔童降世. I am also looking forward to watching 白蛇缘起 next. Honestly, I want China to really develop an excellent animation industry because of the very very good materials that Chinese culture has. The four classics have been made into different film and TV series versions. And we're not yet talking about the ultra cool 封神榜 and 蒲松龄's 聊斋志异. As a huge fan of fantasy and having known some of these Chinese tales as a child, I have always relied on Japanese anime to adapt them and turn them into visual spectacles. Now is the time that finally China takes its soft power seriously and is paying attention to its creative industries which it should have done a long time ago. Western fantasy seems super boring compared to Eastern stuff, I must say. Just that to be honest there are a lot of crappy Chinese films and you really really have to sift through a lot of material to find gems.

中国加油！

藏獒多吉 [Tibetan Dog] (2011)

On Q's birthday, I was on leave. I filed this beforehand with the thought that we might be spending time together but then things ended in July, a week after our last meetup. Instead of cancelling my leave, I used the time to read on stuff and to watch a movie and 藏獒多吉 happened to catch my attention. I love big dogs and I think they are so much more huggable than toy dogs. If ever I would love to have a big furry one like chow-chow, Alaskan malamute, Siberian husky, and now a Tibetan mastiff. Super cute! Except I will need to sacrifice because these huge dogs carry with them huge appetites as well. 

The movie opens with a boy whose mother just died and so he is fetched to join his father in Tibet where he finds himself unaccustomed to the pastoral life. He takes on the duty of herding sheep and one day encounters danger when bears appeared but a golden Tibetan Mastiff saves him. The golden dog is challenged by another mastiff and they dueled until they fell off the cliff, but were both nursed back to health. The boy grows close to the golden dog.

Somewhere, another group of men encounters a wild monster, probably a yeti. The leader's brother is killed and the last thing the group sees is Toji the golden Tibetan Mastiff. They assumed that he is the one who did the killings. In parallel, the boy's father has also been investigating the unusual killings going on. Toji is held captive until proven innocent and fearful that the dog will be executed, the boy and his friend released him to escape. Eventually the yeti appears and kills off the other group's leader. The yeti and Toji engage in a fight and even Toji's friend, the challenger mastiff helped in the fight. When the boy's life was in danger, Toji rushed to him and saved him, himself falling in the process resulting in his death. Later on it is learned that Toji has left behind a cute golden puppy which now accompanies the boy wherever he goes.

This is a must-watch for children or even adults who love dogs. Not only does it show the friendship between humans and animals, it also shows how intelligent dogs can be. I shared this movie to Q after wishing him a happy birthday. He just said he'll watch but I doubt it, and I don't want to care. I stopped believing in a person whose integrity and sincerity is questionable in order to appear civil and polite. I believe that people can be polite while still being true and authentic. But then in many many ways, animals are way better than humans. It's true what they say about how caring for animals is more worth it than caring for humans who will one day just hurt you.

紫禁城里的小食光 [Royal Kitchen in Qing Dynasty] (2020)

I once again let YT recommendations choose what to watch and this week as soon as I opened my YT app, 紫禁城里的小食光 is the first video I saw and since I like food-themed shows, I watched it and the opening scene of chefs cooking fish made me decide to watch until the end although honestly the movie's story is a big bore although the food featured throughout seemed delicious.

The movie tells the story of  a royal chef 张东官who through flashbacks we learn used to be a commoner who strove hard to get in the  royal kitchens just so he could see his former sweetheart who became a princess. The princess 景娴格格 luckily is married to a general 长叙 who agrees to their arrangement of being husband-and-wife in name only. The princess meets her former lover again and is baffled why the latter is always evading her. Now there is another princess 婉贞格格 who is very naive and who likes to eat. She has a huge crush on a prince and wants to slim down. In order to please her, she is fooled into thinking that the more she eats the more she loses weight. 景娴格格 discovers the trickery and 婉贞格格 is tricked into doing many activities like kite-flying and tug-of-war so she can indeed lose weight. After some time, she slims down but discovers through an army trainer who is her friend and who likes her that the prince she likes likes her only for her status and will use her to gain power. She eventually realizes that the army trainer is the one who cares for her sincerely and when she is with him she can be herself.

The movie covers other storylines as well such as how a maid named 敏慧 is implicated in a crime about stealing the empress' treasures. Later on it is revealed that the empress is always short of money and the maid is used as a pawn to be able to smuggle the treasure out in exchange for cash. 景娴格格 visits the place she and 东官 used to hang out and learns that 东官 does not want to alter anything in the place. Eventually the two becomes close again until the princess sees her husband who is thought of as having died in battle. 长叙 and 东官 meet and negotiate to complete a mission. It turns out that 长叙 's beloved 紫鹃 is the one killed in battle and not him. She has taken his place when he was heavily injured and unconscious. After that, he told the rest of the army to inform the palace of his death or else he will commit suicide. He wants 东官 to steal the weapon plans kept in the palace to destroy it and not cause any more human destruction in fulfillment of 紫鹃's will. 景娴格格 and 东官 enlist the help of their friends but they are caught. It is revealed why they did such things and the emperor forgives everyone and the two lovers can now be together with the emperor's permission because as he says, this kind of true love is very rare inside the palace.

It's a very simple story actually with not much room for character development and further struggles. It's like everything is resolved because of the generosity and benevolence of the rulers who "understand" why the people act and behave in such way. In reality though, you can never trick a Chinese emperor without being punished heavily or without being put to death since the emperor loses face. Even 还珠格格 and company were thrown into prison and were supposed to be executed had not the princes decided to take them away to safety. And the title itself is very misleading because there is not much food shown in the movie although at the latter part the iced dessert 冰碗莲子羹 is served to the emperor so that the moisture will wet the pages of the book and will be taken away. Through this, 张东官 intercepts the official and obtains the book. It is a case of perfect timing because the emperor needs to read the right book when the dessert is served. The movie could have used much more clever tricks and more mind-boggling stuff for that wow moment as I sometimes encounter in some Chinese drama series. Also, I don't see how the different subplots cohere. It's like some are just fillers which can be developed into another film on its own. The same with 敏慧's case which is very characteristic of the palace's political intrigues.

The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globaization

There was a time after graduating college that I contemplated on taking up foreign service to make better use of my language skills and also because many friends think I am most apt for the job not only because I know many things about people and different cultures aside from their languages as a result of frequent traveling (now ruined by Covid-19 ) and because above all, I handle issues in a very diplomatic way. On the other hand, I know in myself that I know very little about world history and especially about the Balkans, Central Asia, and other not so prominent geographic spaces but which contribute to the unfolding of world history. There were some points in my life that I would buy books on globalization to better understand the concept as a process, a system, and a phenomenon, and supplement it with books on related topics. Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat was very much talked about then and it was this reason that I probably bought every book of his that I could find in Booksale.

Getting TLATOT for only PHP75 is a big bargain!

I started reading this book only last year and finished it last month, but I was reading stuff in between (not to mention doing a mountain of chores and income-generating activities coz a girl's gotta earn her own money and doesn't live off others). I instantly liked Friedman because of his accessible writing style which betrays his playful and witty mind, but then it changed toward the end when it became more apparent that he is a proud American who, although aware of globalization's negative consequences, would rather insist on this US-led system because of the "benefits" that the world will reap from it. As an advocate of free market capitalism, he voices out the importance of competition and the ability to be agile in today's rapidly changing environment. To give him credit, he does raises interesting and some valid points but I still have my reservations.

The book is comprised of 20 chapters, each detailing our journalist's experiences with the globalizing world as he moves around and talks to the rich and powerful shapers of world events, in one way or the other, directly or indirectly since we are all connected more than we realize. So below are some key takeaways/ insights:

1. Globalization is THE new international system, characterized by both clashes and homogenization of civilizations, environmental disasters and rescues, triumphs of liberal free market system and the backlash against it, the durability of nation-states and the rise of enormously powerful non-state actors. And an important thing to remember is the role of CYBERSPACE/INTERNET.

2. The Lexus here is a symbol for modernization, prosperity, privatization of economies; in more concrete terms, the lexus represents material improvements in the form of global markets, financial institutions, computer technologies. Olive trees refer to the abstract things that root us--- sense of belonging, individuality, personal rituals, relationships, sense of confidence and security. 

3. Golden Arches Theory banks on the global popularity of the famous fast food franchise and influenced by liberal IR tradition. It states that no two countries that both have McDonald's have ever fought a war against each other ever since they each got their McDonald's. It's funny how shortly after the first edition was published, NATO bombed Yugoslavia. (Mine is the 2000 edition.) Then again closer to home and considering recent events, we see that GAT is a very weak theory with China being aggressive (or for some scholars, assertive... But maybe its assertiveness is read by outsiders who do not have to contend with direct conflicts with this gluttonous panda) to its southern neighbors with which it shared centuries of relations. I also remember when I was still an employee of a multinational food company around 2014 or 15 and suddenly Russia and Ukraine had a fight over Crimea. I remember that time well because we had a Ukrainian visitor with whom I spoke Russian, realizing later on that Russian and Ukrainian are actually very different. The awkward thing is, at that time, Ukrainian nationalism was seen to be very fierce despite their small size compared to a giant Russia so the visitor would remind me that the two are different languages and indeed they are. I have to add that US played a role in this crisis because as usual it keeps on interfering with others' internal affairs and as usual it succeeded in throwing away then Ukrainian President out of the country. (*rolls eyes)

4. Friedman does acknowledge the ill effects of globalization, the thing he absolutely supports. So in this book he points out the things required to survive and compete and still emerge as successful. His core suggestion is by INTERNET DOCTORING which is essentially helping companies be e-ready. And since we also cannot leave out the nation-states, there is a need that a country has excellent infrastructures, the hardware as Friedman calls it, as well as robust regulations and law enforcement. He emphasizes the role of the Electronic Herd (i.e. technocrats) as primary source of capital. And despite having being the US's ally in this part of the world to contain China, the US has made little to help build this hardware that we need. So now that our President breaks off ties (partially) with US and pivots to China, I sure am more content. Because as Friedman himself says there are freemarket democrats and there are also freemarket kleptocrats and the latter are far more in number in my poor country.

5. Aside from world politics, I also pick up some useful insights for personal development:

- Beat the system at its own game

- The fast eats the slow

- Openness can lead to rapid growth (just look at China since 1979)

- You don't earn a living, you learn a living (page 447 talks about constant upskilling)

- When you are at the top, be generous and benign to keep your position

  The last quotes from Paul Schroeder: "If you look at history, the periods of relative peace are those in which there is a durable, stable and tolerant hegemon who does the adjusting and preserves the minimal necessary norms and rules of the game. And that hegemon always pays a disproportionate share of the collective costs, even foregoes opportunities for conquest or restrains itself in other ways, so as not to build up resentments and to make sure the system stays tolerable for others." (That hegemon is without a question the US. But these days it should also apply to China and China knows it, that's why it is focusing on its soft power's "peaceful rise" alongside hard power, in a move to tap into smart power.)

The Grinning Man

So I guess there is another Youtube Channel that I should follow and that is Bristol Old Vic. I just happened to revisit The Show Must Go On for any new offerings but it seems like they are no longer showing full musicals there. And Youtube recommendations are just so fantastic, they gave me BOV and at that time the dark musical The Grinning Man was on. This tragicomedy brought tears to my eyes. Imagine having experienced cruelty at such a a young age! And to think that cruelty will stay with you forever and will almost define your whole being!

Our show begins with Grinpayne, a puppeteer in a freak show, telling his own story using puppets. Part of the audience is a noble, Lord David. The puppet story shows a young boy who is refused admission to a ship because of his mutilated face, a face that is believed to bring ill luck on the sea. This is during a time when a tyrant king reigns. The child walks alone and encounters a baby girl with her dead mother. He ends up in Ursus' house and there grows up with Dea, the baby girl. 

The tyrant king dies and his daughter Angelica is chosen to be the next sovereign. She is set to just displace his father and continue the tyrannical rule her father started. Her sister Josiana and brother David have an incestuous relationship. So when David shares his experience at the freak show, Josiana and the court fool Barkilphedro join him to go to the freak show and there witness the face of Grinpayne, revealed to be forever in a smile, a smile so frightening because it is a smile made from violence which he got during his childhood, but he remembers almost nothing. The sight strikes something in David and Josiana and both claim to see the whole of humanity in Grinpayne's grinning pain.

So anyway blind Dea and Grinpayne fall in love with each other. However things get extra exciting when Josiana and Grinpayne begin to be intimate with each other and when Angelica saw the latter, she is so moved that she named him a Lord, replacing her own brother David whom she cast out to the streets. Barkilphedro becomes Grinpayne's servant much to his dismay as he has been eyeing the title of Lord for quite some time already. Barkilphedro visits Ursus and tortures him, thus the audience learns the truth of the past. Dea overhears the conversation and realizes that the "medicine" being given to Grinpayne is actually to make him forget his past. It turns out that Barkilphedro is actually the one who mutilated the young Grinpayne so as to save his life. Grinpayne is the son of an executed lord whose family was also to be killed but Grinpayne's mother pleaded with Barkilphedro to spare the child. In order for people to never recognize the young lord, he gave him the permanent scar. Ursus knows about it but is helpless to prevent it as his priority is his wife and infant daughter, the latter turning out to be Dea. 

As Grinpayne and Josiana are about to be married following the burning of the fair and with false news of Dea's death, David appears and challenge Grinpayne to a duel. At that time, Grinpayne collapses in pain for want of medicine and Dea arrives to tell him what the potion actually does. Grinpayne remembers Barkilphedro and is about to kill him when his dead mother appears to him and persuades him not to kill. All past secrets are made known and Grinpayne sails off with Dea away from it all.

The songs in this musical remind me a lot of Weber. There is even a line in one of the songs that says "and you'll love like you've never loved before" which seems to be a play on "and you'll live as you've never lived before" in The Phantom of the Opera. I also like the dark gothic feel  of the whole play, the props and costumes making this story very rich visually. And it appeals to one's sense of humanity in so many ways, like how under a dark reign, you will be very touched to find that there will be people who will still show kindness even though in different forms. What Barkilphedro did to Grinpayne is indeed horrible, but as the past unravels itself, we are led to discover that his intention is to save the boy and also himself lest he be branded as traitor for not following the king's orders. This  coincides with my concept of kindness, that most times it takes a cruel form. I explained that to Q one late afternoon during a jogging date in UP. Sensing that he could be a people-pleaser and someone who will not be honest because the truth might come out ugly, I told him that my concept of "good" is very different from other people's, that for me authenticity, integrity, honesty tops normal conceptions of goodness. In the end I was right that he's just one of the normal guys who prefer to preserve a "good boy" image. I have been right in my assessments and it's a good thing I have become better at detecting red flags so I didn't fall hard for him. That was still a good exercise and I am glad all my feelings are right. As I learned before, gut feel does not lie.

Yaya's 5th Year Death Anniversary

So time indeed flows fast and it's been five years since my yaya passed away. I have yet to finish my thesis proposal and I know I need to work on it soon to finally make my yaya proud. It's not so much the degree, but the pride associated with having completed graduate studies. My yaya knew the importance of education and I feel sorry for her because although she obtained honors when she was a student, she never got to college and had to work. She taught me many things but the most important thing she instilled in me is to be independent and to be specific, to strive for financial independence so that I can do whatever I want to do with life without being a parasite to anyone.

When I was in Spain, I have learned to let go of many things. This lockdown I can very well imagine how she must have felt living with toxic people for many days on end for many many years. I know now because just the first week of the lockdown last March, I wanted so bad to go back to living on my own. I really hate stupid people meddling in other people's affairs when their own lives are so messed up. So I am happy for my yaya now that she is in a pace where there is no suffering nor toxic people. Today I cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, I made vegetarian fried rice composed of beans, carrots, tomatoes, and turmeric. For lunch, it's fish stew with tomatoes and chili. There was some rice left from breakfast so I paired it up with the fish resulting in a very colorful meal. For dinner, I made chicken lumpia shanghai. I love healthy food so I put in only a small amount of chicken and threw in carrots and onions as main filling. The critical part is frying it which is a success. I now know how to fry things up in such a way that they stay crunchy later for dinner. My yaya will definitely be super proud of me.

Fish stew with tomatoes over vege fried rice: I always tell my mom I must be half-Mexican half-Indian in my previous life.

Crunchy spring rolls without much guilt because there's more vegetables inside than meat. And I used chicken instead of pork.

I wish Q and I became close when my yaya was still with us. She will be very happy to see me with a gentle man who is very talented and despite that, very humble.

D.H. Lawrence: The Savage Pilgrimage

I first heard of D.H. Lawrence in highschool when we were tasked to be familiar with important Western literary works for our English classes. Lawrence was one of the unforgettable names included because based on our textbooks, he wrote controversial novels which ran counter to the conservative air of his time. Some of the titles that never left my mind are Lady Chatterly's Lover, Sons and Lovers, and Women in Love. In fact, Carswell even notes the criticisms heaped on the last novel mentioned, that it was deemed "a book the police should ban", a "loathsome study of sex depravity--- misleading youth to unspeakable disaster", an "obscene study", a "neurotic production", a "shameless study of sex depravity which in direct proportion to the skill of its literary execution becomes unmentionably vile". I have never read any of his works but there must be something that made me buy Catherine Carswell's biography of this English writer. 2011 was the year I was about to finish my post-graduate studies and I must have been looking forward to a return to fiction then, but for some reason or the other, my life has always been filled with adventures of many kinds thus I keep putting reading off. 

These days, as I have mentioned in my previous posts, I have been trying to free as much space as I can by finally reading my books. I start with fiction because they are easier to give away than non-fiction. And because I have more time now compared to the time before lockdown, I am finally able to write about these books I will be giving away. 

Or maybe I was only attracted to this PHP 10 treat...

The Savage Pilgrimage is about D.H. Lawrence as Carswell knew him. Carswell is a literary critic who highly esteem Lawrence and the two are very close to the point that Carswell defends her writer friend from John Middleton Murry's attacks. While reading this book, I cannot help but think that maybe Carswell fancies Lawrence for herself. But as she mentions in many passages, Lawrence is a believer of marriage and Carswell, also married, must have kept her feelings to herself. From Carswell we learn that Lawrence likes to get busy, that his civility and politeness is such a virtue that even that most displeasing person would never feel that Lawrence is displeased with him or her. He also likes farming and gardening, travels a lot, and finds America hollow. In between writing about Lawrence's writings, Carswell introduces many literary men and women like Katherine Mansfield who is married to Murry, and Aldous Huxley. Unfortunately Huxley is not mentioned much.

Anyway, I think I am the worst person to write a review of this book. I cannot even relate to much of Carswell's writings because I have never read Lawrence. But I am quite glad he also wrote poems and short stories which I might be able to access online. Still, something in me is very curious as to his controversial novels. Well, when censors tell you not to read something, the more it becomes tempting and seductive. Maybe I will just end up reading summaries like what Q does, which I think is also a fine way of educating one's self but the downside is that you don't get to appreciate how well a writer strings words to tell his/her story. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I was supposed to watch only one play this weekend but I found an outdoors play by Rice University floating on Youtube and curious of how the do it outdoors, I ended up enjoying this play. I especially love that they used the surrounding trees as part of the forest setting. Since childhood, this is the only Shakespearean work that I have always wanted to see because of its promise of fantasy and magic.  Moreover, the moon is an important yet silent element in the play and Shakespeare borrows much from classical mythology. But then for the longest time I was under the impression that I might not be able to understand The Bard's language. Moreover, how apt that I watched exactly on Midsummer's Eve or the summer solstice, that night given to bacchanals.

Honestly I wasn't expecting much but I must say I am supremely awed at the production. I love the design of the settings and the costumes. I can only imagine being actually there and viewing the piece live. AMND tells multiple stories but over-all lunacy may very well be the dominant theme. In this comedy we meet interestingly crazy characters who act foolishly because of love, whether borne of magic or naturally arising from their bosoms. Like Ariel in The Tempest, the sprite Puck who serves the Fairy King Oberon plays with mortals and even the Fairy Queen Titania's heart. He is easily a lovable character for his mischief which gave us this funny narrative of mistaken identities and foolish love. We see the changing objects of affection of our two teenagers Lysander and Demetrius because of him. This might just be the very inspiration of K-Drama's love polygons. [I'm no fan of K-Drama but have watched some episodes of a few series so I am not altogether clueless.]

Titania: "What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?" [I died laughing.]

Aside from Puck, I find Bottom also of interest because of the funny role he plays which is intended as comic relief. In all of The Bard's plays so far, I find the funny characters the most interesting. Although not in the main spotlight, they wittily critique and/or provide no-nonsense insights on what is happening around them. Like Macbeth's Porter, Bottom's character is a surefire way to elicit laughter from the audience. For one, he is part of the bumbling team of craftsmen in the forest who are preparing to perform Pyramus and Thisbe for Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding. Secondly, he becomes the object of affection of the Fairy Queen herself after she is victimized by Puck with Oberon's love potion and even though Bottom's head is turned into a donkey by Puck.

[Shakespeare's Globe happens to also have AMND until June 28. The scene I was excited the most is when Titania falls in love with Bottom. Fortunately, this clip is available. Unfortunately, it does not show the next funny moments wherein Bottom couldn't believe Fairy Queen's proposal and he lowers his body in abjectly demure fashion which is both cute and funny. He then proceeds to reject the queen's advances in utter disbelief of what is going on.]

As in other pieces I have watched so far, the women in Shakespeare's plays are either the immoral controller (Macbeth, King John, Coriolanus) or in most cases, the controlled. Here we see the mortal women suffering because of fickle nature of men, although as audience we are privy to the fact that this is only due to supernatural elements intervening in the love polygon. We also see even a powerful fairy queen's feeling being toyed with by her own lover Oberon as punishment for her resistance to his wish of being given the Indian changeling as his page. But we see in Hermia as someone who will defy her father and her country's rules to be with her beloved Lysander. When Lysander is given the love potion meant for Demetrius and falls for Helena, Hermia fights for her love and will literally fight Helena.

As for Helena, well, she seems to be the exact opposite of her friend Hermia. Throughout the play, she wallows in self-pity that even when Lysander and the now-drugged Demetrius fight each other over her, she does not believe them and accuse them of mocking her. She also seems to subscribe to the idea that women are to be passive, although it is curious that she is willing to chase after Demetrius. Helena to her ex-lover Demetrius: "Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field. You do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex. We cannot fight for love as men may do. We should be wooed and were not made to woo." 

In the end, Lysander is given an antidote to render the potion ineffective and he marries Hermia whereas Demetrius remains under the spell of the love potion and marries Helena. I might be too hasty in judging Shakespeare as misogynistic but in this play he seems to favor strong-willed, courageous girls who are not afraid to go after and fight for what she wants; the Bard gives her a good ending she deserves, one that is real and in the absence of external forces.

The Madness of George III

And so once again I find myself engaging in a work about madness. One month has not even passed since Riven Rock, and now I deal with another elite, the King of UK and Ireland no less, George III (played by Mark Gatiss) who is famous in history for his madness, for losing the American colonies., and for the longest reigning male British monarch. And his wife Queen Charlotte is one mighty woman who bore him 15 children! Now that is almost enough to build a small orchestra! His doctors back then diagnose him with porphyria because of his blue urine, but there seems to be a growing consensus that his madness is a result of the repression of his spontaneous nature while he was being groomed to be king. (Read about the misdiagnosis HERE.)

As pointed by Nottingham Playhouse Artistic Director Adam Penford, "Monarchy by its very nature is theatrical. The royals are giving a performance, it's all the trappings of a theatre, music, costumes, props, staging." (I really took the effort to learn more about the play because I enjoyed it immensely, even more than I had Frankenstein.)

Like in Riven Rock, the king is attended to by many doctors, each with his own specialization, but on modern standards, may be deemed as quacks for the kind of medication they offer which give more of a torturous than a healing effect. At this moment I feel pity for the king whom the world (during his time, the British empire still stands although suffering many blows) looks up to but we the audience become privy to his tormented state as portrayed in this masterpiece by the very talented Alan Bennett. (Ironically, despite his sufferings, history says that he is pro-slavery although his Prime Minister is against it.) As his madness continues, power struggles rise in the government, with the king's son, the Prince of Wales, coming back ready to act as regent. He is backed by those who see opportunity in the situation, on pretext of concern for real and effective government. This poses a threat to Prime Minister Pitt who fears being replaced.

As Prime Minister Pitt laments all the efforts he has done to eliminate waste and save money for the government, news of the king's return to health reaches him. The king is shown together with his queen his usual self. He questions about state affairs and even affairs of other European states, but mostly France. Shortly after he approaches Elizabeth and asks if something has happened between them while he was sick in mind and she answers in the negative to which the king feels a bit of regret. He then shares the bed with his queen and the two are cute in that they again call each other Mr. King and Mrs. King.

The King's pages are sacked, even though they are devoted to him in time of his sickness. Fitzroy enters and is addressed as Captain but he answers "Colonel Fitzroy. You didn't know that? It seems unfair, I agree. But a word of advice, to be kind does not commend you to kings. They see it, as they see any flow of feeling, as a liberty. A blind eye will serve you better. And you will travel further." (Handel's The King Shall Rejoice plays and as final line, George III declares, "The King is himself again.")

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Memorably witty lines:

King George III in his bed clothes: What is this? The King unattended. Up with you, Papendiek.

Fitzroy: What's the matter, sir?

King George: The matter, sir, is that it is morning. That is the matter. Morning is the matter. Not being attended to is the matter. And don't mutter. Or mutter will be the matter.

Court man: Will Your Majesty not sit down?

King George III: The King never sits when seeing his ministers. Sits, no. Shits, though, yes.

Court man: In your present frame of mind...

King George III: What do you know of my mind? Or its frame? (Grabs a framed mirror) Something is shaking the frame, shaking my mind out of its frame. (chuckles) I am not going out of my mind. My mind is going out of me.

When George III is being bound for medication: I was the verb, the noun and the verb. Verb rules, subject the King. I am not the subject now. Now I am the object, the King governed, the ruler ruled. I am the subordinate clause, the insubordinate George.

George III restrained: I am the King of England!

Court man: No, sir. You are the patient. (Handel's Zadok the Priest plays)

Coriolanus and Hamlet

I think I was around eight years old when I first heard about Hamlet. At that time, I had so many funny conceptions of words, like when I heard my brother asking for a thesaurus, I was wondering why he wanted a specific dinosaur and having Charlie Brown's Encyclopedia volume 3 as my favorite, I also wondered how come the Thesaurus was not included in the book. Around that time, as I was fond of reading my elder siblings' school books (mine are boring), I chanced upon Hamlet and in my mind, Hamlet is somewhat like a small version of Peppa Pig, a brave and courageous leader whose story I never would know until today.

Last week, I watched National Theatre's Coriolanus which had Tom Hiddleston of Marvel's Loki fame playing the Roman general whose tragic life invites both contempt and sympathy depending on perhaps the background of the reader/ audience. I greatly sympathize with his character, a victim of cunning but incompetent politicians who hold power to sway the people to to choose Barrabas over Jesus. Of course, Coriolanus is not your perfect main character, being himself clothed with pride, although I would say he possesses merit by single-handedly dealt with the Volscians of Corioli. When he gains power he withholds grain from those without military service, and we as reader/ audience can understand fully well where he is coming from. During the siege of Corioli, he is abandoned by cowards. And indeed it is always a timeless story of how competent people's virtues are overshadowed by what is to the average person "hubris" but for the competent one, fairness and justice. To say that the play was executed marvelously is an understatement. We see with our own eyes how the fit Tom Hiddleston perfectly plays the role of the proud general. The ending was a real WOW with him chained upside down as Aufidius kills him. What really stands out in this Shakespearean play is how powerful women, or in particular the mother, can be in influencing even the most skilled warrior that she makes her son quit the plan to ransack the city that exiled him. (We also remember how Macbeth himself was persuaded by his wife to carry out the king's murder...) 

This weekend, my first choice is Stratford Festival's Hamlet. It seems that by the end of this year I will have gained much familiarity with The Bard's works. This is the fifth Shakespearean work I engage in and its theme of betrayals and usurpation. Here we deal with the son of a king who seeks revenge. Hamlet's father as ghost in the play reveals to his son that he is killed by his own brother Claudius who now reigns as king. Claudius even marries Queen Gertrude shortly after, leading to Hamlet's anger at the indecency. In Hamlet, we find The Bard's versatility for his ability to weave comic scenarios in an over-all morbid and tragic story as when Hamlet, pretending to be mad, playfully mocks Polonius. 

For all the lengthy soliloquies and dialogues, there are many questions that are sure to arise in the minds of careful readers/ audience. For instance, how come Gertrude agreed to marry her brother-in-law? Why did Ophelia become mad? Now if we are to believe the Ghost (Hamlet's father) we can see that Gertrude is a lustful woman but who probably is unaware that the brother killed her husband. I remember something Q told me though, that a decade ago, his close friend (also my classmate) liked me and so as respect for their friendship that means he could not like me. I have heard of the same thing from my male friends and the Bro Code dictates that a friend's ex may not be your lover or something like that. What more siblings. And especially a brother who kills his own brother. To give Gertrude the benefit of the doubt, she does not seem to have any idea about her husband's killer. But then with Claudius claiming her for his wife speaks a lot about his nature. Which leads us to our second question. When Ophelia suddenly appears as a madwoman, she is sweet even to Gertrude but is seemingly cold to Claudius. Her lines are wrapped in ambiguity but it is not hard to extrapolate that she is a victim of sexual assault, most likely by Claudius himself. In a later scene when she gives out flowers to people around her, she gives the rue to Claudius: "There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me. We may call it “herb of grace” o' Sundays.—Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference." This insinuates that she knows of his crimes, most probably because she herself is a victim. 

I wish Q and I can watch something together. He's a very witty man and I would love to hear his thoughts on literary works. We both have short attention span but I think his condition is worse. (In retrospect, I think maybe that's the reason why he declined my invite to attend the Indian Film festival last year...) I at least was able to watch (although admittedly I fell asleep for some 15-20 minutes or so) Lav Diaz's five-hour film Norte Hangganan ng Kasaysayan and his nine-hour Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis thanks to UPFI, which I miss terribly. I hope UPFI also puts up a Youtube channel where they make Filipino films available for everyone.

The Robber Bride

Margaret Atwood is well-known for her dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale which I read while in college but was super bored with it that now I do not remember much about the story except that it's about women who are forced into social engineering under a dictatorship. I must thank my friends at the literature forum I joined in college. Finding like-minded friends was very difficult so I turned to online forums to seek out people who love to read and who discuss literature in a very intelligent manner. It was thanks to some people I've become close to there that I started to read up on dystopia.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that in 2009 I would not have a second thought about buying The Robber Bride, and at only PHP35 it was a very cheap bargain. And like Riven Rock, this fiction will happily land in someone's lap and I hope whoever it is will ponder about this book many times just as I did.

My copy had this card with impressionist painting...

And inside is a note... the card is most likely from Canada because Pierre Belvedere is in that country as per a quick Google search

The Robber Bride tells the story of three friends with very different personalities and interests but who come together because of a common frenemy named Zenia, a woman who for them is the very personification of pure evil. Tony, Charis/Karen, and Roz knew each other from college but were not close at that time until Zenia entered each of their lives to ruin each woman's relationship with their men. War nerd and palindrome addict Tony married her best friend West who was so manipulated by Zenia but when the evil woman reappeared in their lives later on, West left Tony for Zenia. Tony was aloof and West and Zenia became her most intimate friends in college so Tony shared her personal stories like how her mother left her and her father one day. She also wrote a history paper for Zenia, feeling sorry for her many struggles in life. In the end during the confrontation after discovering Zenia faked her death, Zenia tried to blackmail her again by threatening to expose Tony's academic dishonesty and undermine the latter's teaching credibility, but Tony just walked away.

Of the three friends, I feel the most sorry for Charis/Karen. Her mother seemed to have some sort of mental illness thus Karen grew up a battered child. She eventually came to live with her grandmother and later on with her aunt and her husband who sexually abused her. The uncle also robbed her of her inheritance, a small amount she got after her grandmother's death, but she was able to recuperate it in the end and filed a case against her uncle. Charis, which Karen has come to be known, was a new age spiritualist whose superior empathy made her a perfect target for Zenia who came to live with her and her partner Billy and eventually succeeded in seducing Billy to go away with her. Zenia faked having a grave illness and Charis took extra care of her, which was very very sweet, yet the ungrateful Zenia really had to make a fool out of her. During the confrontation, Zenia told Charis that it was Billy who killed her two chickens that day they decided to leave Charis.

Roz came from a humble background. Her mother leased space to boarders in their house and was a very hardworking woman. Her father was first introduced as a special agent during the war but eventually Roz learned from her dad's friends that these men were actually looters and part of an underground group. Roz eventually had an affluent life thanks to her father's illicit activities. She married a lawyer named Mitch whom Zenia seduced and the two ran away together. Zenia then took cheques signed by Mitch and disappeared, leaving Mitch hunting for her until he met his death in the yacht. During the confrontation, Zenia threatened to expose Roz's son Larry as being a drug pusher and asked for a sum of money. Roz almost gave in to protect her son but she consulted with her friends and was spared being fooled again. 

So after each confrontation, the three decided to go back to the hotel but learned that Zenia died. She was seen to be floating in the fountain, most likely having fallen from her room above.

Atwood's writing style is boring, but her story is very interesting. I lost count of the number of times I cursed in my mind because she wrote so many descriptions of the settings and there is very little action in the stories. I had to be extra patient until I get to the point where Tony and Zenia began sharing stories and that was when things got very interesting. Zenia's life holds the most interest and even at the end the reader is left wondering what is Zenia's real life story, is there any grain of truth in what she tells the three friends, that she just saved them all from terrible men. Well to give her credit, I personally think that if a man is weak enough to be seduced by another woman and betray his supposed "love", then a woman is better off without him. However, Zenia seems to be a very powerful manipulative woman who can wreak havoc on even the sweetest person's life and this fact is enough to prove that she is pure evil personified.

If there is one character I would have loved to be given more role, it is Boyce. So it's no secret that I have been following Stratford Festival and I was surprised to find in their videos that Atwood is actually a fan of Shakespeare. (Okay, I know I shouldn't be surprised because as I recently discovered, The Bard's claim to fame is very legitimate, no questions asked. But maybe I just find it super awesome that the books I read and the plays I watch recently all are connected in one way or the other. Like, Caille Millner's The Golden Road, T. C. Boyle's Riven Rock, and now Atwood's The Robber Bride... the one thing in common is they show immigrants' determination and will in making their dreams come true in North America.) So anyway, back to Boyce. I find him a funny guy, someone I'd like to converse with because of his witty lines and he quotes great poets like Shakespeare, Blake, and even Stevie Smith. While Roz was learning about Larry being gay, there is a funny moment wherein Boyce quoted Smith and Larry told him to shut up. 

I just wished I read this way back in 2009 so I would know how to handle manipulative and evil people. But oh well, I was able to overcome those terrible moments and it's never too late to learn something about human nature. Then again, had I read this at a younger age, I would have saved myself from many heartaches.  

 

A Doll's House (Movie)

After watching some of Shakespeare's plays, I realize maybe I am doing myself a great disservice by trying to ignore Western cultural products. Last night I watched Love's Labour's Lost and I honestly found it challenging because of old puns and Latin stuff thrown in. I didn't know the Bard is such a wordsmith and I finally understand why his works are listed in the canon. I usually ignore famous works because people already pay them too much attention and so I focus on discovering stuff which for me are treasures known only to a few. One of my biggest projects this year is trying out new restaurants every other week after a very nice solo lunch at Fat Russel on V-Day, which I have yet to write about as I try to capture as much as I can on what happens or what occupies or preoccupies me during this lockdown.

Torvald Helmer: What do I call those little birds who squander all their money away?

Nora Helmer: Spend-swifts.

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Dr. Rank: I don't understand why people like that so often end up in a good position, while so  many honest and healthy men are just left out in the cold.

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Nils Krogstad: The law is not interested in motives.

Nora Helmer: Then the law is useless.

 (This echoes my belief that law, since it is man-made, may not be always moral. Believe me, just as when I was planning for my future as my highschool days are drawing to a close, I have considered studying law after getting a degree in Philosophy, but eventually changed my mind and put EL as my first choice instead. The reason is connected to my goal of traveling the world and getting to know cultures and listening to people's stories. Q and I usually talk about languages as he admires me for being a multilingual. I tell him I used to think that it's normal for people to quickly learn languages but eventually discovered that it's not easy for most people, as a very close highschool friend pointed out to me that I have a gift for languages. Nowadays, I ponder about what if I took up law instead of archaeology right after college? Oh, but I didn't have the financial capability then...)
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Nora: I have to stand on my own two feet if I'm ever to know myself and the things that are gong on around me. That's why I can't stay in your house any longer.

Torvald: (...) I forbid you to.

Nora: (...)

Torvald: You can't abandon your home, your husband, and your children. Have you thought what people will say?

Nora: I can't worry about that. All I know is it's something I have to do.

Torvald: It's outrageous. It's going back on your most sacred duties.

Nora: And what, in your opinion, are my most sacred duties?

Torvald: (...) I mean your duties to your husband and your children.

Nora: I have other duties which are just as sacred. (...) My duties to myself.

Torvald: Before anything else, you are a mother and a wife.

Nora: I don't believe that anymore. I believe that before anything else, I am a human being, just as much of one as you are. (...) What most people say and what's in the books just doesn't satisfy me anymore. I want to find things out for myself and make my own decisions.

Torvald: You don't seem to understand your position in your own house. There's an infallible guide in this sort of situation. It's your religion, what about that? (...) If you refuse to be guided by your religion, at least let me appeal to your conscience. I suppose you have some sort of a moral code, or perhaps you don't.

Nora: I don't know (...) The only thing I do know is tat my opinions about these things are quite different from yours. (...) I don't know which one of us is right, society or me.

(...)

Torvald: No man would sacrifice his honor even for love.

Nora: Millions of women have.

(This is the very heart of the story and I am happy that Nora finally comes to her senses after being hit by her husband after the latter learned of the debt made by Nora to fund her husband's health expenses. The husband is an asshole who is more concerned of appearances than having a loving relationship with his wife.)

The Tempest

This weekend the free video on Stratford Festival's Youtube channel is The Tempest. I have started to follow this channel for its wonderful offerings of The Bard's plays. Alongside SF, I also follow The National Theatre, after being awed by its performance of Frankenstein. NT's free video this weekend is A Streetcar Named Desire, which I have often heard of, but at present, I would want to immerse myself in the classics. I have already found wonderful gems in Youtube, confining myself not only to England's Shakespeare, but also to other Western European countries whose history boasts of excellent theater pieces, notably Spain and France.

The Tempest features a powerful mage named Prospero who rules an island and lives together with her teenage daughter Miranda, the spirit Ariel, and an adopted monster Caliban whose mother Sycorax is killed by Prospero. In SF's version, Propero is a woman, by the way. Her backstory, told in between dialogues, is that she was the duchess of Milan but her brother Antonio usurped the dukedom and she is cast out to the sea together with her daughter twelve years before the current play timeline. It is only fortunate that Gonzalo packed among her things a book that bestowed upon her the magic she will find useful in ruling the island and in controlling an airy spirit and a monster. At the beginning of the play, she creates a tempest causing a shipwreck. On board the ship are King of Naples Alonso, his son Ferdinand and his brother Sebastian, Prospero's brother Antonio, the goood councilor Gonzalo, a jester Trinculo, a drunken butler Stephano, among others. Three groups are formed from this company, as willed by Prospero: Ferdinand is to meet Miranda, Trinculo and Stephano will eventually meet Caliban in a ridiculously comedic fashion, and the rest are to be with each other in a test of loyalty as Sebastian when everyone is put to sleep by Ariel save for him and Antonio who plot to kill King Alonso so Sebastian can become king. The murder plan is thwarted when Ariel intervenes and causes Gonzalo and King Alonso to wake up.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand and Miranda fall in love with each other and Ferdinand passes Propero's test. they are advised not to have sex prior to their official marriage lest the relationship turn sour and the marriage be cursed. A masque is organized by Prospero and the goddesses Juno, Ceres, and Iris grace the event. Propero suddenly remembers the plot against her life, a coup planned by Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo so they can rule the island after killing the mage. In his first time to taste wine which is given to him by Stephano, he offers to lick the latter's feet and boots, treating Stephano as his lord. This reminds me of how Hernan Cortes was welcomed by the Mayans and treated as a god, unknowingly bringing their own destruction. Propero lays a trap for the three conspirators and true enough as soon as Stephano and Trinculo see the line of beautiful clothes, they put them the clothes on, delaying their mission as Caliban helplessly reminds them that they should act swiftly. The three are chased away by hounds.

Propero reveals herself to group three and reclaims her dukedom. She forgives her brother and blackmails Antonio and Sebastian for plotting against the king's life. King Alonso and Ferdinand are only too happy to find the other alive and well, when each though the other dead. Stephano and Trinculo are sent away. Everbody leaves the island save for Caliban, and Ariel is set free. Naples and Milan are united with the marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda.

Riven Rock

On the second month of ECQ, I am seeing its positive side as I am able to accomplish much this May. I was able to clean our bedrooom, rearrange stuff to make room for my other stuff which I would be getting later on, and which I just did last week. I am thankful to my sister for going with me to get my things and thank God the parents agreed for me to use the car. Aside from these, I am finally back to being a bookworm and have finished tonight my second non-acads related book: T. C. Boyle's Riven Rock.

I bought this book a decade ago from Booksale, and I can't believe I got a masterpiece for only PHP35!

Riven Rock is a a novel set around the early 1900s about a power couple. Stanley Robert McCormick is an heir to the McCormick fortune built from the patriarch Cyrus' reaper company. His wife Katherine Dexter- McCormick is MIT's first woman graduate from the sciences program, and herself coming from a prominent family. What started as a sweet romantic affair becomes chaotically depressing as Stanley's mental illness manifests gradually leading to his incarceration in his family's estate named Riven Rock. While occupying himself with the estate for his sister Mary Virginia who was the first one to be confined in the property due to her mental illness, Stanley saw a slab of sandstone that was split in two, and thus gave the place its name. In 1912, he himself will be confined in the same place where he would meet his death.

"It was he very stuff of the earth's bones, solid rock, impenetrable, impermeable, the symbol of everything that endures, and here it was split in two, riven like a yard of cheap cloth, and by a thing so small and insidious as an acorn..." (p. 124)

Stanley is joined by his personal nurse Eddie O'Kane, among others, whose own story is interwoven with those of the McCormick couple. I cannot help but compare the two men. Shy, awkward, mild-mannered Stanley who is diagnosed  with dementia praecox (read: sex maniac) is slowly regarded to be a danger to society after he exhibited violent behaviors. In one outing, he almost drowned a fisherman. He took a German teacher against the latter's will to Katherine's house when he is advised to study the German language to calm his nerves. He displays rude behavior when he calls his kindhearted, soft-spoken mother-in-law "a stupid old woman" inside her own home. He tries to hurt Katherine because of his paranoia that his wife is cheating on him with Butler Ames, a former suitor, when Katherine is busy with her plans in the academe. Prior to his diagnosis, Stanley is shown to be critical of capitalism, himself converting a portion of his business to a socialist venture. He is proud of such achievement and Katherine becomes attracted to him because of that.

On the other hand, O'Kane is a womanizer. For certain he is a competent man in his profession, and I can say that in his presence Stanley can be controlled for he is treated not as an employee but as a friend and confidant. I despise his character though for treating women as mere sex objects. He marries Rosaleen when she becomes pregnant with his child. And while in Riven Rock away from his wife, he seduces Giovanella who later on bears his son but is married to an old shoemaker because O'Kane is revealed to be an adulterer and therefore they cannot marry. The shoemaker dies eventually during the Spanish Flu pandemic, and later on Giovanella marries O'Kane when things become more peaceful between them. And I have to add that O'Kane physically hurt these two women, and yet he is considered to be a normal person. Maybe this is one theme of the book, of how society's standards weigh and how this distorts our views of what is right and just.

I am also amused at how Katherine will do anything to get Stanley back, even hiring psychiatrists who are obvious quacks. Then again, the field of psychiatry is just at a developing stage at the onset of the 20th century so I refrain from making further comments on Katherine's decisions. But I will definitely point out how these doctors hold Stanley hostage so they can get money and in the case of Dr. Hamilton, decent funding and resources for his study of ape sexuality and who, in Freudian fashion, theorizes that sex is the root and cause of human activity. And this whole ape study thing mirrors exactly our main character who himself is seen to be dangerous to women as demonstrated in the first few chapters while he and company are traveling on a train and suddenly Stanley attacks a young woman intent on sexually violating her.

Katherine's disappointment in men

Katherine herself is a formidable character who possesses quite an intellect reserved for educated women such as she during that time. She has her own share of injustices, being quite talented at chess that boys are beaten and eventually the group was disbanded when her male teacher "discovered an obscure prohibition against board games". How very apt and witty of Boyle to incorporate chess in this story of male incarceration and feminine energy that continues to fight for rights and love. Boyle writes: "(...) never mind that the queen was the power behind the throne and the king a poor-crippled one-hop-at-a-time beggar hardly more fit or able than a pawn, he was the object of the game and they all knew it." (p. 72)

And I have to really say how uncannily timely it is that at this time of Covid-19 pandemic, I am consuming this story as I did with Tom Robbins' Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and its globe-trotting main character Switters, while I was on a very long vacation in Spain. With Riven Rock, I feel so much claustrophobia just imagining being locked up for the rest of your life, even though you have people who attend to your needs. Money cannot buy freedom. And yet, here we are still under lockdown with the same feeling that money cannot buy health. And did I say that the Spanish flu also featured in the novel? So just imagine how I am taken aback by all these coincidences when all I wanted was to just read a book to make good use of time. Or maybe it's the priestess in me working...

To end this post, I will have to say that while I was around 50 pages shy of finishing Riven Rock, I looked up T.C. Boyle in the Internet to answer one simple question: is he a misogynist? (I got that idea because he is one heck of a writer who really makes characters come alive and I am thinking maybe he is like O'Kane.) Only I am surprised to find that he looks like a balding Ironman, witty and charming, and is a really really cool guy, based on the interviews I have watched on Youtube. I even told Q about this book last night when he chatted me up and I asked his views on locking up mentally ill people who may become a menace to society. Always the liberal, he avoids a clear yes/no answer and even suggests that those who cannot control their urges "should be given proper care and support so that they might one day survive in the real world."  Did I say that the novel also reeks of privilege and that while reading I cannot help but think what could have been the story development if we have a poor couple instead of a power couple?