January 9th, 2009
Could Have Been Milyonaryong Skwater
What I was thinking while watching Slumdog Millionaire–how come I haven’t seen anything this gorgeous from local producers when it’s our story? Our people live in the same slums that rival the notoriety of Slumdog’s Mumbai. We have the same call centers with better accents. We make our best guesses with the contestants of GAME K N B? everyday. We bawl at the most tragic and mushiest stories in Maalaala Mo Kaya every Friday. We have our sing and dance carnivals on TV every Sunday. How come we’re so good at imitations, but we scrimp on quality when making our own movies?
Much earlier than Slumdog, we already had Rufa Mae Quinto and Bong Revilla, Jr. in a movie inspired by Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? but people have forgotten it. We may have a different mode of filmmaking, but I don’t think that’s an oblivious style. Maybe we just have to do it better.
Maybe it’s time to give up our gorgeous love teams who can’t act. Maybe it’s time to prioritize production design over product placements. Maybe it’s time to realize that beautiful movies sell themselves. Hollywood has taken our stories; why can’t we tell them ourselves about our heedless MMDA officers confiscating the goods of our sidewalk vendors, our noon game shows being rigged right before our eyes, our call centers fucking up our sleeping habits. Why can’t we save our own slum bitches?
Originally Published in HYPERGRAPHIC.
March 29th, 2009 6:27 am
[...] you gonna do if you win a million. Big problem, no? I know, I know, I’ve said it before that Slumdog Millionaire isn’t the best movie, but if you can watch it for free with a VIP pass on a special screening this April 6, I say why [...]
May 20th, 2009 12:46 pm
[...] had this millionaire fever before, and it has given birth to Bb. joyce Bernal’s Mahal Kita, Final Answer a few years ago. But back then, it was typecastedly hosted by Best “Poker Face” Actor [...]