490 WORDS / 4 MIN READ / ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 1, 2015 (EDITED)
Ever since the month of May was designated Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has followed its usual practice of scheduling Asian-and-Pacific-Islander-themed programs every May.
In past AAPI months, they showed very little Filipino content, likely because there really wasn’t much available. This year, to my surprise, they had three Pinóy programs, all episodes of a series titled Filipino-American Lives, hosted by Lea Salonga, released by the Center for Asian American Media at caamedia.org. All three programs are quite watchable (can’t really say “excellent” and I explain why below. You may disagree; if so, come back). Here’s my take on one of them. I do the other two in succeeding blogs.
JEEPNEY is a valentine of sorts to that “permanent fixture of Filipino cultural expression,” per Salonga. It’s light and pleasant enough, but again I have two quibbles: (i) How come they never show us a whole complete jeepney in the round? All we see are jeepney bits and pieces: Side panel, then cut; back entrance, cut; front grill, cut; it began to feel like The Six Blind Men and the Jeepney! One blind man puts his hand on the radio antenna and says, “Oh my! The jeepney is long and pointed like a sword!” Another feels the spare tire and says, “Why, the jeepney is round and elastic like a lifesaver!” And a third feels the driver’s coinbox and says, “No, the jeepney is very like a cigarette case!” Why not just take one jeepney, park it somewhere with some room, and in one continuous full-body shot, go 360 degrees around it, THEN show us the closeups and details and the bits and pieces! No steadicam? Improvise! Or use what we used to use— a wheelchair! Or why not a drone? SHOW US WHAT A JEEPNEY LOOKS LIKE, FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE! The solutions are obvious, but first you have to imagine the question.
Which leads to my second quibble, and one I often have when watching Pinóy documentaries: (ii) How come they never ask the obvious question? Example: I saw a film by this young gay Pinóy who was working as a woman in the Japanese clubs. His 11th sibling was conceived in jail during a conjugal visit. FATHER IN JAIL. ELEVEN CHILDREN. NO JOB. NO PARENTING. The obvious question was, why? WHY? W H Y ? Of course the filmmaker never asks this question.
Similarly, in Jeepney, the filmmakers visit Sarao Motors and interview someone I assume is Mr. Sarao, who says they started building jeepneys in 1955, nine years before I rode in my first Toyota Crown. He explains, not without some pride, that today, Sarao still builds jeepneys the same way they did back then. My question is, WHY? WHY NOT TRY TO PROGRESS AND BUILD UP SARAO MOTORS INTO SOMETHING LIKE TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION? Again, no answer. I guess Sarao Motors never imagined the question. Oh well…