My Vision of Angels
by Carol Catacutan

A blind man, Rudy, gets off a jeep using his cane on his way down. The Jeepney driver intentionally drops him off at the middle of the street causing Rudy to struggle to find his way to the sidewalk. When asked by a passenger why the driver did such a mischievous act, the driver replied, "Mayabang e, Bulag na nga e, tignan natin kung mahahanap niya ang bangketa."

Rudy is one of the lead characters in the movie "Angels" a digital film produced by Star Cinema and directed by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil. "Angels" is a true story of Rudy and Angie, a blind husband and wife massage therapists--the challenges they have to face in raising their three children. The story is told from the point-of-view of Jonathan, a ten-year-old boy who has to assume a bigger responsibility of being the son of totally blind parents.

"Angels" is a story told with pure honesty, without pretensions or sugar-coatings. The scene described earlier is one of the most common struggles a blind person has to face every single day--the extreme effort to lead a normal life and the discrimination of the "sighted" public.

As a totally blind person myself, I can empathize with the characters in "Angels" not to mention the fact that Rudy and Angie are my personal friends. I have always admired their faith and their steadfastness in leading a life together despite the reality that both Rudy and Angie are totally blind. I, myself, can't answer the questions, "How can they cook? How can they take care of their kids? How do they know if there's a stranger lurching around their house? How do they manage their finances?" These entire "how's" are answered in the movie "Angels".

When multi-awarded scriptwriter Ricky Lee began developing the screenplay of "Angels", he asked me for some of my experiences as Rudy and Angie's friend at the same time, as a blind scriptwriter. Mr. Lee asked me a very straight question, "Bakit Hindi na lang ikaw ang sumulat ng script?" I told him that I did not have the experience nor the expertise to write a script for film but the truth was, Rudy and Angie are very close to my heart and I do not know how to tell their story. I know their pains when their eldest daughter Cherrilou suffered from a developmental problem and how it hurt them. I shared their joy when Angie learned of her pregnancy with Jonathan after eleven years and how a "normal" son brought new life in their family. I was even supposed to be the Godmother of their youngest daughter, Grace, whom Angie calls the grace of God. Mr. Ricky Lee did an excellent job by telling Rudy and Angie's story as it is.

"Angels" captured the realities in the lives of blind massage therapists. It depicted how physically demanding massage therapy was. It also showed the demands of being a child of blind parents-acting as the guide for the parents when traveling, the obligation to look after the needs of your siblings and to let go of your childhood. It raises the questions if totally blind parents are equipped to be parents, if blind parents can provide for their children, if blind parents can impose discipline on their children and if blind parents can earn the respect of their children.

But "Angels" is not a depressing movie despite the weight of its theme. It showed the nuances of being blind. The age-old question if blind people can see in their dreams, the joys of imagining colors and the sunset, the way blind people joke about blindness and peculiar situations brought about by loss of sight. It gave a fresh approach of seeing things in a different perspective.

"Angels" is not meant to be a soap opera-a classic tear-jerking movie. "Angels" is a moving film because it does not only speak of blindness but of being a family; it does not only tell of struggles and pains but of joys and triumphs; it does not only speak of the lack of sight but the vision to dream. "Angels" is about family, about life and the love that binds parents and children together whether with or without sight.