Tit for Tat
"You are nothing but a second rate, trying hard, copy cat!"
This and other similar dramatic dialogues are standard fare in many Filipino movies - some so unbelievably camp and incredibly hilarious- they are brilliant! (Some that immediately come to mind: "magsisimba ka na may bulak sa ilong! - (FPJ)," "hindi ka na sisikatan ng araw - (FPJ again)," "para kang karinderiang bukas sa lahat ng gustong kumain (Vilma Santos, I think)." Too bad, Filipino scriptwriters seemed to have run out of similarly-inspired cinematic gems.
Fortunately for all of us, this "art form" may have disappeared from recent Filipino movies but they live on primetime television and jump out of the front pages of newspapers. One more proof that in this country, there is a very, very thin line that divides showbiz and politics. Thus, watching the news today has become such an interesting experience - not only because the shenanigans of tinseltown starlets and wannabes (Chikkkkka minute!!!) jostle (and seem to be winning the war) for precious primetime space - but more because our politicians and leaders now make such bold, dramatic statements that would give film scriptwriters a run for their money.
Anyway, I was reading the papers today and came across many of those cinematic "statements" from politicians. A friend and I had a blast translating some of the statements into cinematic dialogues.
"They can run but they cannot hide!" (In cinematic Tagalog "maari kayong tumakbo, pero hindi nyo matatakasan at mapagtataguan ang batas!").
"I hope they go back to the mountains because that is where they belong." ("Bumalik na kayo sa bundok kung saan kayo nanggaling at nararapat!").
"This is the triumph of a militant and just stand for people's rights which could never be trampled" (Katarungan para kay Ka Dencio! Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino and kikilos, kung hindi ngayon, kaylan pa? Ibagsak and pasista-diktaduryang US-Arroyo! Lansagin!- I know, I know, it is not accurate, but doesn't it translate?).
And my recent favorite: "There will be no violence, but they will bleed in the bar of public opinion. They will bleed in the courts of this land." (Cinematic translation: Maaaring walang mangyayaring karahasan pero hindi ibig sabihin na hindi dadanak ang dugo! Pagbabayaran nila ng dugo ang kanilang pang aapi!)
I wonder if that is what it takes nowadays to be noticed - to act like some hero or heroine from a teleserye and mouth dramatic lines designed to tug at the heartstrings of people's lives.
This and other similar dramatic dialogues are standard fare in many Filipino movies - some so unbelievably camp and incredibly hilarious- they are brilliant! (Some that immediately come to mind: "magsisimba ka na may bulak sa ilong! - (FPJ)," "hindi ka na sisikatan ng araw - (FPJ again)," "para kang karinderiang bukas sa lahat ng gustong kumain (Vilma Santos, I think)." Too bad, Filipino scriptwriters seemed to have run out of similarly-inspired cinematic gems.
Fortunately for all of us, this "art form" may have disappeared from recent Filipino movies but they live on primetime television and jump out of the front pages of newspapers. One more proof that in this country, there is a very, very thin line that divides showbiz and politics. Thus, watching the news today has become such an interesting experience - not only because the shenanigans of tinseltown starlets and wannabes (Chikkkkka minute!!!) jostle (and seem to be winning the war) for precious primetime space - but more because our politicians and leaders now make such bold, dramatic statements that would give film scriptwriters a run for their money.
Anyway, I was reading the papers today and came across many of those cinematic "statements" from politicians. A friend and I had a blast translating some of the statements into cinematic dialogues.
"They can run but they cannot hide!" (In cinematic Tagalog "maari kayong tumakbo, pero hindi nyo matatakasan at mapagtataguan ang batas!").
"I hope they go back to the mountains because that is where they belong." ("Bumalik na kayo sa bundok kung saan kayo nanggaling at nararapat!").
"This is the triumph of a militant and just stand for people's rights which could never be trampled" (Katarungan para kay Ka Dencio! Kung hindi tayo kikilos, sino and kikilos, kung hindi ngayon, kaylan pa? Ibagsak and pasista-diktaduryang US-Arroyo! Lansagin!- I know, I know, it is not accurate, but doesn't it translate?).
And my recent favorite: "There will be no violence, but they will bleed in the bar of public opinion. They will bleed in the courts of this land." (Cinematic translation: Maaaring walang mangyayaring karahasan pero hindi ibig sabihin na hindi dadanak ang dugo! Pagbabayaran nila ng dugo ang kanilang pang aapi!)
I wonder if that is what it takes nowadays to be noticed - to act like some hero or heroine from a teleserye and mouth dramatic lines designed to tug at the heartstrings of people's lives.
Comments
So, in connection with this blog of yours, am so sorry am so out of synch with these latest Tagalog one-liners by our respectable politicians (blech!!)
MommyJo
"The whole idea of a society of winners -- a place known above all for its best -- leads with surprising speed to a narrow pyramidal social structure. And then to division and widespread passivity. That in turn leads to false populism and mediocrity; to a world obssessed by bread and circuses, Heroes, and the need for leadership."
John Ralston Saul, in his book On Equilibrium
(boldface added by myself to emphasize the point of my comment)