One reason I took this class was to learn about the different aspects of my culture. I know all about the American/Hawaii perspective, yet I know so little about the history of the Philippines from the Filipino perspective. I found this film interesting because I did not know much about Imelda or any of the Marcos’s at all. Before this film, I only knew her as “the lady with plenty shoes”. This shows how much I know about Philippine history. The film served its purpose by educating me about an influential figure in the history of the Philippines, but also an era of the “ugliness” in the Philippine government.
The theme of this module was the ‘common good’. In Imelda’s eyes, everything she did was for the common good. To me her ignorant attitude, frivolity, and extravagance are bullshit. In her mind the frivolity and extravagance of her lifestyle was ethical. She believed that the people lived through her, and so by living well, the people were happy. In reality, she was only into aesthetics and not what really mattered. She spent so much money making beautiful centers that were dedicated to the arts, yet so much of the population lived in poverty. I understand the reason she made those centers and that is up to be “up-and-up” with other advanced countries. However, I feel that money could have been better spent so that maybe the country people wouldn’t be living in poverty. What makes me angry is that she said, “I seem to be able to only see the positive things in life and the beautiful things in life and when I see, for instance, garbage or ugliness, then I turn my back or I seem to be able to skip it.” As a leader, one must address problems, not ignore it. This is what killed her positive image as leader and turned many people against her. She said in the movie that “the ultimate reach in this world is beauty.” However she was talking only about herself and not for the “common good”. She loved beauty so much that she was willing to sacrifice the dignity and finance of her people, so that she could live in luxury. It angers me that people had to suffer because she loved material things too much. . It is unfortunate that she had to be so selfish, because she had the potential and qualities to be a superb leader (especially for women), yet she was incapable of leading anyone.
She indeed was a strong woman with many admirable traits. She was very outspoken, and she made her presence known in the Philippine government. She was not a shy or quiet first lady, but she was very politically active yielding quite a few positions in office. She always knew what she wanted, went for it, and always got it. She not only survived an assassination attempt, she was able to joke about it afterwards. These qualities are very admirable in a woman especially of power. It saddens me think of how much good and “real” improvements she could have made, if she wasn’t so wasteful and frivolous on her personal life. She is a very influential leader, and had it not been for all the drama surrounding her life, she very well could have molded the Philippines into something totally different than what it is today. Coming from a female perspective, she had the potential to be someone great. She had the power, yet she abused it. We need strong women in this world, but not like her. The Philippines is actually ahead of their time. They have had two women president, yet the United States had none. I feel regret as a woman because she did not deliver, and if she had, in my opinion of her would be so different than what it is today.
For some she did well bringing art and cultural centers to the Philippines. She broke the ingrained stereotype that Filipinos are poor and therefore have no class. This lady definitely had class. If there was good in what she did, it was making people think twice about how they view the Philippines and its people. Her diplomacy and her influence went a long way with putting the Philippines on the map. She is still loved by some people in the Philippines, and that in itself shows me how powerful and influential she still is there. However it was all aesthetics, she made it seem like the Philippines were not poor, but in reality, they are a third world country. It is like all she did was put “make-up” over the country, even though the country is still hideous.
Another aspect I found interesting in this film is the criticism reflected upon Ferdinand because of his wife. She was frivolous. That is the reason why so many people were unhappy. How can you go on with over a thousand pairs of shoes when many of your country men and women literally have nothing? It makes me wonder how much of an influence did Imelda have over Ferdinand. She lived like a queen no doubt. It is even said that she had more power than he did. I wonder if the entire stigma attached to the Marcos regime had something to do with the First Lady’s frivolity. If she hadn’t spend so much money on material things, then all they could criticize the Marcos’s for the declaration for martial law. There wouldn’t be all those trials for things like money fraud and other wrongdoings if she had kept her image clean. To me it’s sad that this woman was driven by such trivial things, when she had the potential to really make the Philippines a world-class country.
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