Module 4-"Santa Santita"-D. Valencia

I’m going to be honest when I say that Santa Santita wasn’t exactly one of my top ten favorite movies. In fact, I disliked it so much that I tried to tune it out a few times. If it weren’t for me being required to watch the movie, I would have left class right after that horrible and somewhat creepy beginning when everyone was cringing in their seats because of that little chant that was playing as Malen walked through the desert. Santa Santita, for me personally, was just a little too much to handle. I’ll even go as far as to say that I was scared at the end of the movie because everything about it just seemed so incredibly real.

As “eventful” and packed as this particular movie was—packed with death by illness, a tragic car accident, deceit, and broken hearts—I firmly believe that whatever the message was that the director was trying to get through to her audience was not clear. It seemed as if she was just telling a story about sinners and saints without allowing a greater, deeper message to come through. The only message that I believe I got from the movie was that sinners could become saints—as proven by Malen.

Santa Santita was a film about two young lovers—both of whom seemed pure and innocent on the outside, but were fighting to suppress their sins and keep them on the inside—meeting in a poor district of Manila. The rebellious Malen was notorious for disappointing her devout Catholic mother, who, as an intercessor, offered auxiliary prayers for paying sufferers. Behind her mother’s back, Malen sold religious badges in town as a means to meet young men. Malen’s boyfriend, Mike,
on the other hand, was a suave Filipino man who offered wealthy tourists rides for hire as well as other services that they may have yearned to request from him.

As the movie goes on, Malen’s mother dies as a result of a heart attack, and shortly thereafter, Malen decides to adopt her vocation. It should be noted that Malen adopted her mother’s job out of necessity(she needed to be able to pay for electricity and water), not belief,as she wasn’t exactly a “believer” in the miracles that God could create. When she first walked into the church, the more experienced intercessors that had once worked with Malen’s mother sniped at Malen,
as they were aware of her reputation and they knew about how disrespectful and disobedient she was to her late mother. One of the intercessors even went as far as to say, “this is blasphemy, she is defiling prayer,” but regardless, Malen went on about her business and said prayers for her paying customers.

Soon, some of those who had previously gone to Malen and requested a prayer found that their needs had been met and their problems had been solved. A father who had gone to Malen and asked for her to pray for his sick child had come back one day and told her that the hole in his daughter’s heart had suddenly healed, and that it was her who was responsible for getting God to answer his prayers. At this point, no
one was more stunned than Malen, well, except for the other intercessors who were extremely jealous.

More and more people eventually started going to see Malen and her relationship with Mike was being threatened, as she had begun buying into the whole idea of prayer being the answer to all of ones problems. At one point in the movie after Mike had fatally shot a man that he had had a collision with on the road, he tried to get Malen to move with him and his family to another part of the Philippines. Malen,
however, refused to go, as she knew that praying for others was her calling, and it was what God wanted her to be doing for the rest of her life.

Module 4:
The concept of “everyday ethics” applied to this movie, in my opinion, as Malen was forced to make ethical decisions on a daily basis. Whether her decisions were regarding whether or not to disobey her mother and go running around down doing what she wanted to do, or to allow herself to get paid to pray for people in church—something that she had, at first, absolutely no interest in—Malen was faced with many tough decisions. Of course, one should note that Malen did choose the unethical or wrong decision most of the time—choosing to disobey her sick mother, dress like a prostitute, and go around town parading herself without a care—but eventually she came around and began to understand God’s power and the great impact he had on people’s lives, and she began to change her ways.

Mike was another character in the movie that was challenged with multiple ethical decisions and it wasn’t until he went to jail that he came around and started to believe in God. Throughout the movie, Mike was portrayed as this bad boy who would do anything to get by. He hustled people, stole their cell phones, and constantly lied about his whereabouts. (Talk about a sinner!!!) Mike even killed a guy as a
result of a fight regarding a horrible car collision. Only when he needed God the most, did Mike believe in him—such as when his son had died and he ran to Malen and asked her to pray that he be reincarnated. Of course, Malen couldn’t bring Mike’s son back to life, and for that reason, he accused her of being a fake.