Module 2-"Imelda"-D. Valencia

A political power in her own right, Imelda Romualdez Marcos was one of the most influential leaders of the Philippines in the 1970s and early 1980s. In addition to being the First Lady and wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda also served as the governor of Metro Manila and was given the authority—by whom else, but none other than her husband--to control a considerable amount of government spending while she was in office. Following the backfire of her husband’s “snap-election” in 1986, Imelda fled to Hawaii with President Marcos and a hundred of their closest family members and friends.

I’m ashamed to say that prior to watching this particular documentary on Imelda Marcos, I was unaware of just how much of an influence she had in the Philippines. All that I ever really knew about her was that she had an immense collection of shoes, which, mind you, I completely underestimated, as I didn’t think that it was humanly possible for one woman to own over 1,000 pairs of shoes. Apparently, I was wrong, as Mrs. Marcos clearly had and still has a strong passion for shopping and things of beauty.

The documentary of Mrs. Marcos’ life, properly titled Imelda, was, in my opinion, as humorous as it was insightful. It captured Imelda’s innocent spirit and charming personality, as well as her somewhat gullible nature and strange way of perceiving life. As I watched the documentary, I was amazed at how she could be so extremely superficial, but charming and likeable at the same time. I kept thinking to myself, “I hate her. She’s so stupid. How could she say those things?” But in reality, I just couldn’t hate her. No matter how much I tried to make myself believe that she was just one of those naïve rich people who only cared about money and beauty, I couldn’t hate Imelda because she was just so darn charming. You know, if you really think about it, and I mean, if you really sit down and think about it, you’ll come to realize that Imelda Marcos is one of those people that everyone wants to hate, but can’t (hate) because she’s so nice and she just seems like she doesn’t know any better. One could even go as far as to compare Imelda to a really pretty little girl whom all the other little girls hate, but secretly want to be.

In my notes, I quoted Imelda saying, “the ultimate reach in this world is beauty” and “I turn my back on things that are ugly.” At some point in the documentary, she also said, “when I became First Lady and I would be meeting kings and queens, it would take me an hour to dress up. But when I went to the provinces, it would take me an hour and a half or two. It takes double the time because they need a standard…a role model. They need a star, especially in the dark of night…I had to be a star for the poor people, and at the same time I had to be a slave. I had to enslave myself so that everybody could become a star.” Now after hearing her say those things, I wouldn’t blame anyone if they thought that Imelda was a little crazy and out of this world. I mean, I, for one, certainly thought that she was making a fool out of herself by not only dressing up to go to see people in the provinces--who in their lifetimes, would never become the stars that she wanted them to be--but also by verbalizing her belief that she needed to be both a star and a slave to her people. At that time, someone should have told her that that statement was the most ludicrous thing that could ever come out of her mouth, but then again, she is Imelda Marcos, so I guess that no one really notices or cares about any of her ridiculous statements.

As far as people’s perceptions of Imelda go, I quoted, in my notes, a Jesuit Priest saying, “Imelda cannot face reality…She once talked to me for four hours and didn’t give me the chance to say a word…then, when she got a little tired, she played a movie of her talking and I had Imelda twice!” If you ask me, Imelda does kind of come off as if she’s a little full of herself, heck I’ll even go as far as to say that Imelda is a narcissist. Prior to this documentary, I didn’t know of anyone who could talk about themselves—nonstop--for four long hours. I mean I, for one, could never do it. I probably would run out of things to say within the first 45 or so minutes.

Regardless of my previous comments, I do believe that although it may seem as though Imelda Marcos is strictly superficial and nothing more, she did seem to have a very good heart. I also believe that all of the things that she did for her people came from a good place. I think that she really wanted to give her people the chance to live the kind of life that she had because she was sick of seeing impoverished provinces and “ugly people in ugly situations.” During her time as First Lady, Imelda established the Lung Center, the Heart Center, the Center of the Arts, and many other centers in the Philippines. At one point, she even went against the Catholic Church and distributed condoms and pamphlets on sex to hundreds and hundreds of people. Now, if that’s not coming from a good place then I don’t know what is.

All in all, I think that this documentary was very wholesome and entertaining. Imelda still remains a threat to democracy and social justice in the Philippines, and something tells me that we haven’t seen the last of her yet. Imelda Marcos is certainly a woman of status and she isn’t afraid to show people just how much she values herself and all of the “beautiful things in life.” God forbid she ever run into something ugly, it might just scar her for the rest of her life.