MODULE 2- j. paulo

The film Imelda shows the actions and personality of former Philippine first lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. I already had an idea of my own regarding how she acted from what I have seen on the television. I’ve always thought of her as a spoiled old lady concerned only of her shoes. It also seems like she is always playing the victim of how the Philippine government have treated her and her family since the EDSA revolution. But now that I’ve seen the documentary “Imelda”, I think she’s a narcissistic and materialistic woman who appears to be smoking a lot of crack.
Imelda is found of materialistic objects like no other person I know or heard of. Really, who needs 3000 pairs of shoes? That means she can wear a new pair everyday for about eight years without having to wear the same shoe twice. I don’t really get the point of this. Shoes are worn to protect one’s feet when walking. That is their use. Most people wear just one pair of shoes until they’re worn out then buy a new one. Having 2999 extra pairs is clearly a sign that something is not right with this person.
Her fascination with materialistic objects go over the line on some occasions. An example of this is the Manila Film Center. Wanting to rival the Cannes Film Festival and gain international stardom, Imelda ordered the Manila Film Center to be built. However the building’s construction was rushed, with its building plans always getting changed. Imelda wanted her building so bad the 24hour work shifts were put into place. Without waiting for the foundations’ concrete to dry, more were poured on top. This lack of patience caused a scaffolding to collapse later on killing at least a dozen people. And instead of halting construction, Imelda was quoted on saying something to the likes of “well they’re there, they’re encased in concrete, finish it”.
Then there’s the Philippine Design Center, Folks Art Theater, heart centers, lung centers, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. All were built according to her wishes. All were thought as a waste of money. Her critics pointed out that there are more pressing issues that needed attention such as helping poor people and giving and repairing their houses. Imelda answered this by saying she is reviving performing arts that will last through the ages unlike houses which were superficial.
Now to this all I have to say is “What the f**k is she thinking?” I don’t care what religion you believe in or what culture you grew up with but if people die in your workplace, you stop what you’re doing and honor the deceased. It is just the right thing to do. You help the victims and their families out and pay your respects, even for a short while. You make sure that it is alright with everybody to resume work before you do. You NEVER, EVER give an order that ignores the tragedy that just happened, let alone disrespect the dead by not even doing anything about it. And as for repairing houses being superficial? She has no right saying that since she’s the one that has a whole room filled with shoes. They are not a primary need of humans unlike houses that are shelters. She really should think first before saying something that will make her look stupid.
Perhaps a trait more annoying than Imelda’s materialistic needs is her obsession with beauty. She values beauty way too much and her perception of beauty may not be the same of others. During the attempt to assassinate her she wasn’t thinking “Oh no I’m gonna die” like normal people would. Instead she criticized the bolo stabbing her as ugly and it should’ve had a yellow ribbon tied to it to make it look pretty. Now if that’s not proof that something is wrong with this woman, I don’t know what is. She values beauty so much that she takes one to two and a half hours to dress up to make her self look “beautiful”. And since she loves beauty and she thinks of herself as beautiful, she then loves herself. WAY too much if you ask me. She thinks that she must be beautiful because poor people “need a star especially in the dark of the night” and so that “they have a standard to look up to”. When I heard this I just thought, “Wow. What do you say to that?” Here is a person that is so in love with herself that she thinks other people’s lives are depended on her. Here is a person who talked for four hours nonstop to a priest without him ever talking; then when she finally got tired pops in a videotape on the VCR and made him watch her speak. Here is a woman who turned up the volume of the television because she knew her children are going to talk about her next. I mean come on. Who does she think she is? If she did any of those in my presence, I would’ve punched her in the stomach and kicked her in the face. Well maybe not but that’s how I feel like whenever I see her speak or do such nonsense.
She says that the “ultimate reach in this world is beauty”? Some would say happiness or to be rich or just to live a good life. But no, her ultimate goal is beauty. Her ultimate goal is perfection. Does she even know how being perfect feels? Being perfect means you cannot improve any longer. You have already reached the maximum capacity of your potential. There is no next step. There is nothing. Nothing to do, nothing to revise, nothing to change. Nothing. When you reach perfection you become boring because you have nothing else to shoot for. And to me a person who has nothing to reach forward for, a person with nothing else to do, is ugly. And who wants to wake up next to a perfect person anyway? They say that it’s a person’s flaws that you remember the most. How they snore too loud or how they have lines on their forehead or how the sound of their voice sound like. A person with no flaws is just plain ugly. As ugly as a mannequin in a department store. It has no features distinguishing itself as its own unique person. That is the flaw of perfection. So in the end, what Imelda may be pursuing could be what she is trying to avoid with all her might. In her pursuit of perfection she would just find ugliness in the end. Well that’s what I think anyway.