By Methuselah Chua and Jorranne Paraiso

Description

The 1998 movie “Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?” is based on the novel of the Filipino writer, Lualhati Bautista. It depicts the portrayal of the women where males in the society are considered the dominant ones. The literal English translation of the title was “Child, Child… How were you made?”However, the true symbolic meaning of it was “Child, Child… How were you molded to become a mature, grown-up person?”

The movie was directed by Chito S. Rono starring Star for All Season, Vilma Santos as Lea- the protagonist, Ariel Rivera as Raffy- Lea’s first husband, Albert Martinez as Ding- Lea’s live- in partner and Raymond Bagatsing as Johnny- Lea’s closest friend and co- worker.

“Bata, Bata. . .” won prestigious awards such as Best Actress, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Screenplay under Filipino Academy Awards .

Summary

The movie started at the graduation ceremony of Lea’s daughter- Maya. Before the ceremony officially started, there was a small program wherein the kids showcased their talents and answering questions. Maya got the first place among her schoolmates. That time, Lea’s life was just calm and going smoothly- a happy family and a great humanistic job.

However, things got complicated when Lea’s first husband- Raffy- and the father of her eldest child- Ojie, showed up. Raffy wanted to meet his son. Being the good mother that she was, she let it happened. Eventually, Raffy did not want to be just a visiting father and he asked Lea if she wanted to let Ojie go with him to United States. Lea, though loves her son very much, still let him decide whether he wanted to go with his father or not.

On the other hand, Lea’s live-in partner- Ding was unemployed and get jealous whenever Lea meets Raffy. He chose to stay to her mother’s house- who is against Lea as his partner in life- and left her daughter, Maya, to her mother.

Lea, balancing her time with her children and her work as a volunteer for Human Rights Organization was still not able to look for her child’s physical, behavioral and mental development. Maya became more curious everyday while Ojie was shifting from teenage to adolescent stage.

When both of her children got into a small accident, both of their fathers confront her about neglecting motherhood duties and suggested that she should resigned from her work. They also told her that they will get their children away from her. Tired of being preached by them, Lea walked out. She went to her friend Johnny to let out all the things that has happened. In the middle of watching television, Lea asked him if they can do “it”. Johnny refused while Lea let out the entire burden and hate she felt from her previous husband and live-in partner. Being the good friend that he was, Johnny just hugged and consoled her.

Christmas and New Year came but Ding did not show up as part of his promise to her daughter, Maya. Meanwhile, Lea decided to start all over again with Ding. Unfortunately, that was not the same with him. He admitted that he has another woman whom he marries that past Christmas.

As the time for her children to decide whom they will go, Lea still did not force her children to choose her and be by her side. She wants them to have the freedom to decide on who they want to be with even though it breaks her heart if they will leave her. In the end, Maya and Ojie, though their fathers tried to persuade them, still chose Lea.

Another graduation rites which was intended for Ojie, was the last scene of the movie. Lea, as the guest speaker, spoke about how life goes quickly, how humans evolved, changed and transform. At the end, Lea leaves a message that graduation is not the end but the beginning of everything.

Analysis

The movie “Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?” talks about the role of women in the society where males are considered the dominant ones. Before, Filipinas role was to stay in the house, obey their husbands, do chores, guide their children, and just be a mother and wife. Women should only do house responsibilities and must not get involved in different political and livelihood matters. However, this changed as time passes by.

Nowadays, women are able to participate in different areas or sectors of the society, whether it may be in the political aspect. They give females now the opportunity to prove themselves, show what they can do and not just contain their selves in the four corners of the room. Females, in today’s society, have given space and voice that before only man can have. Lualhati Bautista wanted to show and revealed this matter to the audience. How society change their perceptions and treatment towards women.

The matter about how women’s role in the society change can be anchored in the Feminist Theory of Simone de Beauvoir. The theory believes that men and women should be politically, socially and economically equal. In analyzing this film, “Bata, Bata. . . “, Feminist Theory can be applied. In fact, the main critical lens that stood out in the movie was the Feminist theory.

Lea Bustamante was a woman who believes women have rights to do what they wanted to do. For her, a woman can perform what their male counterpart can also do. In the movie, she had two husbands which were Raffy, to whom she was legally married to and Ding to whom she lived in with for a number of years. With these men, she also had two children–one for the both of them. Analyzing the time frame of when the original novel and movie was made, it appears those two marriages or two life partners for one woman is actually frowned upon by society. Even if it was to hypothesize that Lea was widowed in the film, ideally a woman who was already married twice and remarried again is not normal for her gender group to which Lea doesn’t seem to mind and still stood her ground and choices for a fact that her children’s school principal highly objects.

In addition to the previous analysis, the reason behind Lea and Raffy’s separation was because the female protagonist’s high disapproval of being under her man by leaving her career behind to come with her husband in another part of the country. For her, Raff must also understand that her career and ideals are also as important as his and women were not supposed to be a submissive to her partner. In another part of the movie, when Raffy and Ding confronted her to resign in her volunteer work to focus more on their children, Lea still chose to stay in her profession even if the fathers threatened to take their children away from her–much to Lea’s encouragement to do so. And with that, Lea shows the principle of Feminism, aiming for men and women to have equal representations in the society by showing her, as a woman, can build a career and multiple life partners.

Another thing that shows Feminism was the scene where the principal and Lea talking about using her surname instead of the fathers. The principal told that women were the one who always changes for man. One example of that is acquiring the surname of your husband. When you marry, you change your name, if you are a female while man does not. Your daughter’s surname also changes when she marries her man. It was always the girl or the female who need to follow but not the man, it is always the female who had to change but not the man.

The next critical lens that was also evident in the film was the Ideology. Feminism was actually one ideology the protagonist believed in however, aside from this Lea Bustamante also believed in some ideologies as well. In the first part of the film where Maya was a contestant in a Kindergarten beauty pageant, specifically in the contest’s talent portion, Lea believed that pageant is not all about beauty itself. It should be given, yes however, intelligence and compassionate also key ingredients to being beautiful. This scene can also be related to what is happening outside the film particularly to this generation. Campaigns that tackle about ‘real beauty’ aims to educate people–especially young women who were being oppressed by the harsh standards of society–that beauty comes in all shapes, color, racial background, sizes et cetera.

Going back to the film analysis, Lea also believed that a person shouldn’t be ashamed of the truth–a lesson that she instilled in her children’s innocent and unadulterated minds in their early years. Lea was courageously claiming that she had two husbands and two children and there is nothing to be ashamed of that. In one particular scene of the film where Ogie and Maya were asking her to choose between their fathers, even if it was hard to explain the situation to her youngs, still she admitted that she both loved their fathers and that love should not be divided but must be multiplied–another ideology that Lea stands for.

Another ideology that Lea portrays was her deep understanding regarding sexual intercourse between partners. For her, sex is not only defined as the union of physical bodies of a man and a woman but is actually more beyond this technical definition. She believed that partners should make love where they do not only explore each other’s physical bodies but also explore what the heart and mind tries to convey in this intimate level. According to her, sex is a way to understand your partner’s thought that lips cannot convey–by which none of her previous partners ever achieved.
In all fairness, the film shows numerous ideologies that the protagonist possesses however, I believe Lea’s main concern was the sake of women and human rights per se. She has deep compassion for people who needed the assistance and was willing to help the community. She was devoted to her organization and to her career as an activist as well. Also, it depicts the ideology that woman

Lastly, a little bit of Queer theory was also applied to the film. There were few instances that Lea and Ding exchanged roles or characteristics in their household. One of these that Ding seems to be the nagging husband who always shouts and throws snide remarks to his partner. Another scene also shows that Lea was doing Ogie’s assignment one late evening which was to assemble a radio by which the man of the family should be the one doing it. In the society, wives are labeled as the one who always barks at their husband’s mistakes and do the house chores while the husbands are the one who earns money to support their children and finances.

Another important ideology that Lea imparted to her children as a woman with unique view-point of the society is giving her children of their own free will. It was shown in the movie that her two husbands do not see her as an effectiverole model to their children given with her unconventional ideals. Since both ex husbands have started a new chapter of their lives without her, Raffy and Ding wanted to have their children’s custody and live with the new family. Asl a mother, this situation is devastating knowing that both of your children will be taken away from you for years with a new mother whom they didn’t know at all. in addition, she won’t be able to care for her children and prepare them for their future. In all fairness to Lea, however she wished her children to stay by her side, she didn’t want to impose the idea to her children and she let Ogie and Maya decide if they wanted to come live with their respective fathers. For her, what was important was that her children knows that she will continue to be the mother they knew who loves them unconditionally.

Marxism theory was also used in the piece however, in the movie there were only brief scenes that shows this. one of these scenes is when Lea and her co-volunteers went to Baguio for a convention in line with theie advocacy. In one of the tourist spots in the city, she saw children positioned in a ditch with canisters to catch the money. This scene showed one aspect of Marxism where children were forced to beg for monet due to economic or financial reasons.

Another scene that depicts the Marxism Theory was the incident in the squatters area kiling one of the father of Maya’s classmate. When Lea went to the principal’s office, she learned that one of daughter’s classmate’s father was killed during the fire. She later found out that the fire was not an accident. The principal told her that the owner of the land and property where the illegal settlers lived was the one behind the fire incident for them to be forced to leave the place. It depicts Marxism in a way that land owners who belong in the upper class will do everything just to oust the illegal settlers who have no permanent home and belong to the lower socio economic class.

References:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bata,_Bata…_Pa’no_Ka_Ginawa%3F
http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0185910/
https://www.pinoymoviepedia.to/bata-bata-paano-ka-ginawa1998-full-html/