Paper Heart

Released in August of 2009, Paper Heart was a film produced, written (storyline and music), and starred by Charlyne Yi (Filipina American).  The movie is based on a young lady, Charlyne, who is naive and wants more knowledge behind the meaning of love.  In order to do so, she and her team of two are making a documentary movie of other people throughout U.S. in search of her answer.  As things seems to be normal and according to place, a twist of faith started occurring to Charlyne after she encounters Michael (White American) through her interview and begins producing intimate feelings towards him.  Their relationship slowly began inclining as the days went by.  She continues her interviews with other couples and individuals while trying to gain a better understanding of what love is through the relationship between her and Michael.  Then the day came when Michael confessed his love for her but she could not say "I love you" back to him, but he was willing to wait for the day when she is ready to express her true feelings towards him.  As the movie continues, their relationship seems to be heading into a rough hill because of the lack of personal space and privacy.  Charlyne's team begins to intervene with their relationship and causes a problematic issue with their dates.  

Then one day Michael was "fed up" with the long wait and wanted Charlyne to confess how she felt about him.  To no surprise, she claimed that she was not in love with him and it resulted with their relationship break up.  Charlyne then conjures up anger within herself because she could not exchange the same emotional feelings that Michael has for her.  To wrap it all up, Charlyne decides to fly to Michael's house and have a talk with him, this time without being intervened by her camera crew and ended being with him.  The movie ends with a fictional, paper-made fantasy of the two biking away from the cops.  After a dramatic accident, Charlyne carries Michael (unconsciously hurt) on her shoulder to the closest hospital.

Paper Heart was inspired by Charlyne Yi through the understanding of the word “Love”.  In reaction to the movie, I see many aspect of this movie that pertains to the idea of interracial relationships, colorblindness, invisibility, and sexual hierarchy.  Because Charlyne is being portrayed as a quirky and sweet Filipino girl and Michael as a white guy being part of her documentary subject, it structures the idea of interracial relationship to be a normative image and can possibly steer away from the fear being stirred up through the establishment of the Anti-miscegenation law.  This also brings in the idea of colorblindness because Michael fell in love with Charlyne based on her character and not on her physical appearances.  I believe this can definitely bring in the idea of solidarity amongst racial groups if one was to take the time to get a better understanding of another person through social context.  But at the same time, I notice the invisibility of Filipino or Asian American being portrayed in the movie because she was never acknowledged for whom she was and what she did.  Also, it fascinated me that basically all of the people she interviewed were predominantly white folks.  I do not know if that just happened in coincidence or if it gives a perception that other racial group cannot obtain that same feeling of “love” as white people can or if they did not want to be acknowledged in the movie.   

Then lastly, what I found very fascinating was the difference in hierarchy between Michael and Charlyne.  Although it seems as though they both seem weird and awkward, Michael plays a role as a subject of her project, giving him a degradable image as a white guy.  This gave Charlyne more of a upper hand as a double minority status girl and it gave her even more power after Michael’s confession of his love.  This analysis very much conjures up the issue within the Filipino American during their emigration period to the United States.  The laws that were once applied to the Filipinos have impacted them in many ways that resulted with some heading back home and many deciding to tolerate the issues being raised against them.  But for those who did stay, it allowed them to formulate an activist and political mindset resulting the freedom and justice they are able to obtain today.

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros

Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is a movie produced in the Philippines and was released in 2005.  The story focuses on Max, a homosexual and sensitive12-year-old boy who lives with his father and two brothers.  His role in the house is like a mother caring for her sons and husband: he cooks, cleans the house, and does the laundry.  The gender role Max portrays is of a feminist who likes to put on make up, wear small tight clothes, and decorates his hair with hairpins or a bow; in other words, he is a cross-dresser.  One day, he was molested and harassed by two older boys down an alleyway due to his sexuality and vulnerability at the time.  As things start to get nasty, a policeman name Victor was nice enough to stop the continuation of this abrupt action.  Threatening the older boys that if they continue to hurt or harass Max, Victor was able to save Max and brought him home safely. After being saved by Victor, Max realized that he was beginning to adapt emotional feelings for Victor.  Victor, portrayed as a man old enough to be a big brother, seemed to have only viewed Max as a kid who was responsible, caring, and intelligent.  As time progresses, Max begins to visit Victor on an occasional period.  Then one day, an incident had happened in the city in result of a person’s death.  The suspect was neither seen nor found that night.  That same night, Max saw his older brother (Kuya), cleaning up the blood stain on his shirt, had murdered that person by accident and decided to keep that secret amongst himself and his brother.  Max then decided to burn up the shirt to destroy any type of evidence but was unfortunately seen by Victor.  Victor then later decides to question Max what he was burning that previous night and knew Max had a secret that would ruin his entire family.
Victor was later ambushed and attacked by his two brothers and father as a punishment for trying to ruin his family’s life.  Max, with regret, decided to go to Victor’s place to take tend his wounds and injuries.  It was that day when Max kissed Victor for the first time on his cheeks.  The story then begins showing the friendship’s deterioration between Victor and Max after his father’s death, due to Victor’s superior who felt Max’s father was indebted to him; and therefore, took away his life for the sake of his children.  It was that point in time when Max finally disavows Victor from his life.  The story ends with Max, who seems to be recouped from all that has happened, being taken cared for by his older brothers and going back to school, also being watched by Victor.

In reaction to the movie, it very much brought out the idea of homosexuality in becoming something of the norm and seen everyday.  I can definitely see movies like these allowing homosexuals adapt to every society without the harassment or abused.  This liberating movie has definitely impacted many who have viewed it themselves and has probably received much reaction that was not expected by the general audience.  It has been critiqued as one of the most realistic films that is occurring both in the Philippines and the United States today.  But it also brings a brighter light at the other side of the tunnel: homosexuals will continue to be progressive and not oppressed as they once were in America and Philippine's historical past.  In other words, this film has developed a meaning of pride with the sexual identity of gay.