Philippine Culture

Before I take the Greatworks course, I have various perceptions and insights on what the entire course is all about. Based on the feedbacks of those people who have already taken Greatworks before me, they told me that it will definitely eat my time because of the loads of readings and reflection papers that will be assigned to us. Some people also advised me to get this subject together with other subjects which do not require much reading because I will be overwhelmed with various readings and book reviews in Greatworks. However, when I get to attend the first session of this class, I was really relieved and I somehow felt pleased when our facilitators said that our class will be different from that of the other classes which ask their students to read books and articles. Instead, our class will be more of practical application and keener understanding of the works of the country's three great National Artists named Lino Brocka, a National Artist for Film, who is one of the most highly regarded Filipino Film director not only in his times but even until now; Carlos "Botong" Francisco, a National Artist for Visual Arts, who have emerged as a leading modernist painter, specializing in the almost-forgotten art of mural painting; Leonor Orosa-Goquingco, a National Artist for Dance, who had brought Philippine dances from mere entertainment into the level of art and began new trend in Philippine Ballet. The works and style of these three great National Artists were assessed and further studied in this course. We were taught how to weigh up or think through the human problems with new perspectives and paradigms. The themes and subject of this course helped us relate with the various work of arts with the Filipino history, culture, and tradition, and with the current societal issues as well.

The specific theme of this course is The Body of the Filipino in the eyes of Three National Artists. We would be using the body as the subject of scholarly inquiry. The human body is said to be used in order to create social meaning about love and passion, pleasure and desire, and knowledge and power. Through observing and examining these three National Artists and their chosen works, we would be able to gain knowledge on how the body is used to create social meanings in the fields of film, dance, and visual arts.

The first part of the great works which was selected for this course are the works of Lino Brocka, particularly the movies, Tinimbang ka Nguni't Kulang and Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag. Unlike the modern movies that are usually released nowadays, the said two movies were in black-and-white, and were more of a serious type. The viewers of this movie can easily depict the scenes which show implications on what really are happening in the society. The characters in the movies also portray different types of people in the society where Filipinos are living. Discrimination, poverty, abuse of powers,