Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? A Look Into The popularization of Filipino Movies

The clich� question, "Who is the Filipino?" has been asked dozens, hundreds, Thousands. Yet isn't it ironic that for a people who boast of installing Asia's first democracy, Filipinos still have a gray picture if their national identity? This question was also echoed in books, class discussions, and also in the movie Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? a 70s film about a naive character named Kulas, who was caught between the Spanish and the American rule. Kulas' story begins and ends in his hometown Sta. Clara. An ordinary farmer who always gets involved in extraordinary circumstances, Kulas� adventures began with an unexpected meeting with a friar who asked him to seek out his (friar�s) son and bring him to Manila. Along the way, he meets Diding, his love, a Chinese friend, prisoners of war, and other interesting characters, all in the backdrop of Spanish-Filipino-American war. In the end, Kulas is presented as a young man, without home, yet fully convinced of his identity. Film, whether created �for arts sake�, for the producer�s sake, or whoever�s sake is a commodity we buy. And since it is a commodity, it fulfills a purpose for which it was made. The achievement of this purpose relies greatly on the strategies employed to attract the target audience. Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? Does not merely aim to present a historical account of the revolution but to subtly influence viewers to ponder on our national identity or sense of being a Filipino. A recurring element in the film is the reference to one�s region. A line would go, Pilipino ka ba? And the character would answer, Hindi, Intsik ako, or Hindi, nakatira ako sa bundok. The regionalism of the characters in the film is not without basis. Early attempts to fight the Spaniards were conducted by region. Only during the time of Bonifacio and the Katipunan did the Filipinos from different provinces unite to revolt against the Spaniards. No nation can rightly assert its nationhood unless its people value their sense of identity. The discussion on what constitutes the Filipino identity is not new. Historians and other scholars blame our �identity crisis� on our historical and cultural experience. Much has been said about the impact of the Spanish, American, Chinese and other influences in the creation of the Filipino identity. They claim that because of this, Filipinos find it hard to say who they really are. Yet recent studies reveal that guilt is not only upon foreigners. Ironically, those who call themselves nationalists can also be blamed. A concrete example is the manner of presentation of our history and culture in history textbooks. Research indicates that in many information are be biased to foreign culture; the focus is on the contributions of the colonizers instead of the achievements of the locals. History, for instance, is often divided into three periods: the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial eras � a categorization, which is centered on the Spanish colonizers. Disregard for Philippine history before the Spaniards is also obvious. These books also highlight the negative characteristics of Filipinos creating an ugly picture of who we are.

The character Juan Tamad, signifies Filipinos as lazy, which is an injustice to all those laboriously tilling the land. Renato Constantino in his book �The Miseducation of the Filipinos� stresses that we have been cheated and tricked by some history books to be a shamed of who we really are because these books have highlighted the negative side of Filipinos and have continuously reiterated that our identity is a mere product of influences of foreign cultures. To talk about national identity is to speak of the �self� and �others�. The �self� is the totality of everything Filipino regardless of geographical, linguistic, and socio-cultural barriers. To be called a Filipino is a sign of belonging. It also means a sense of sovereignty and freedom from influence on internal decisions.What is the relation of all these to popularization of popular culture? To talk about popularization is to talk about the medium used to communicate a message to a target audience. Here, the medium, which is film, tried to depict reality and transmit it to the target market- the Filipino audience. In popularization, the biggest challenge lies in how one can attract the target audience. And when we speak of popularization and popular culture, the target audience is the masses. How texts would be arranged so as to convey messages that are meaningful to their state in society is the focus here.