The film Dekada ’70 captures the lives of a family of seven during the 70s when political unrest was at its peak. This family is of middle class stature so much is seen through the eyes of the wealthier side of life in the PI. Though they had money it did not buy them the perfect life that someone outside might ascribe to a family like them. They still had their share of misfortunes and mishaps. The film and the reading conscience and authority complemented each other. Before I talk about how the reading enhanced my understanding and analysis of the film I must first give you an overview of the film.
The characters in the film are the mother and father (Amanda and Julian) and their boys (Jules, Emanuel, Isagani, Jason and Bingo). Each of them have their own set of beliefs and they work through them as the consequences of those differences in those beliefs arise. The mother is the glue to their family. She has devoted her life to her husband and her 5 boys. An outsider might think that she had everything but the truth was she did not. She found herself longing for more in her life than just being a wife and a mother. She wanted a job. When she talked to her husband about it he went on the defensive mode and accused her of seeing him as an incompetent provider. In Julian’s eyes, if the wife gets a job it shows to the outside world that he had failed to properly and sufficiently provide for their family. Their boys had their own issues as well that crept into the rest of the family’s lives. Jules decided to become a rebel and this pushed the family to limits they had never been pushed to before. This son expressed his anger and loathe towards Marcos and the way that he treated those who did not support him. Isagani decided to enlist in the army all the while having to marry a girl he impregnated. Another son, Jason, disappears and ultimately finds his death because of issues about Marcos and his way of governing. This was interesting to me because Julian, who was once a supporter of the Marcos and his implements, is pulled between doing right by his son and his support for the government. Another son, Emanuel is an avid writer against the government. He rattles the family when he is wanted for speaking against the government. And the youngest boy, Bingo, just seems to be the innocent boy that he is. He is one that consoles his mother. He is busy trying to be young in a world where everything seems to be unraveling around him.
It was interesting to read up on Milgram and his famous experiment again. As a psychology major I have been exposed to him numerous times. When I first introduced to this study I didn’t really give it much thought but when I saw the video I thought it was the worst experiment ever. My opinion and thought on the experiment was not due to the experiment and what they were administering but the on the results and how the person administering the shock proceeded even when it was unethical. This experiment made me think of the film and how Jules did not obey the orders given by the authority. Those that killed Jason and those that participated in hurting Jules and all the other Filipinos at that time represent the two thirds of those in the study that continued to administer the shocks to the other learners because of the experimenter. The experimenter would symbolize Marcos and his men and the learners are the Filipino people.
Although each character was important to the movie Amanda was the one that stood out the most to me. I am sure it had to do with the fact that I too would like to be more than just a mother to my children and a wife to my husband. If I believed that my role in life is to be just that then I would not be in college getting an education so that I can get a more than decent job. If that were the case, I would be married and with children. At the end of the movie, Amanda does get a job but I am not sure if she left Julian or not because it seemed as if Julian gave her an ultimatum between him or a job. It could also be that he gave in and settled to being one of the two providers for the family. It was refreshing to she Amanda and her daughter in laws in a different setting. It is in this scene and in the last scene where she is holding the rally signs that you could see that she had gotten what she wanted.
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