Bata Bata... Pa'ano Ginawa?

This movie followed the life of a mother of two who has troubles in a male-dominant society. The mother, Lea, has two children form two different fathers. In the story, she finds herself in situations where she is in the search for a sense of completeness because it appears as though she is lacking something. She tends to allow her lust for the companionship of a man to fill this void which she so greatly wants to fill. This is how she conceived her children.
Throughout the movie, Lea is finding herself falling for different men. It seems as though she lusts for or maybe even loves her ex-husband, present boyfriend, and co-worker at various times within the story. It is apparent that on more than one occasion, she tries to sleep with all of them so that she can have her feeling of euphoria.
While she is in the search for her own happiness, it seems as though she is neglecting the needs of her children and lovers. In the beginning, her children seemed to get into different situations where they would need the guidance or comfort from their mother yet she was never around because she was either with a man or at work. Most of her time seemed to be spent elsewhere instead of with her children. She even left her children in the care of her ex-husband’s wife because she felt as though she had to go to work. When Lea’s children were sent to the hospital for a minor accident, the two fathers were there to confront her about her whereabouts as their childrens’ keeper. She could not handle the pressure presented to her and left her children with them.
In the end of the movie, she finds that her boyfriend has actually been married for a year and that her ex-husband is moving to America. When she sees that both of these men are leaving, she becomes desperate and sleeps with her ex-husband. It wasn’t until the end when her children had to make a choice between her and their fathers that Lea realized what she was really missing.
My reaction to this particular movie was one of surprise. I was so shocked to see that Lea was kind of taking such a different role from the other mothers in the movies we’ve seen. Her role as the nurturing mother/wife never really developed until the end of the movie whereas the other mothers seemed to be play that role from the start. Lea was essentially a bad mother in the beginning because she failed to put her children before herself. Instead of spending quality time with her children, she was seeking only her own happiness within her job and relationships with men.
Lea’s character seemed to desire instant gratification. Whatever she wanted, she wanted right away. This was clear when she visited the principal of her children’s school and told her off. This showed the strength of her character because you could see that she had the power to stand up for the things that were important to her.
Although she displayed a lot of strength, she was overcome by her weaknesses.
These weaknesses were her ambitious nature and attitude towards men. Evidently, Lea is a strong and for the most part, a very independent woman. One could see this when she would constantly go to work and neglect spending time with the people who really loved her unconditionally, her children. Because of her ongoing drive to achieve the most in her career, she was unable to see what was the most important in her life.
In the movie, it was clear to see that she wanted to accomplish a lot in her life. She wanted to have a successful career and always have a man by her side. This was where she made the mistake. She was always in search of the comfort and company of a man, yet it always seemed to be more about sex than anything else. When she had the company she so much desired, she didn’t value it as a real relationship. It was as though they were based more on lust rather than love.
I really like how in the end, she had to face the fact that all the men she thought she loved actually were leaving her. This was the turning point in her life where she finally was able to see that she did not need men the same way anymore and that her children should have always been her drive to achieve more in life.
This story was a good lesson in what should be valued in life. We tend to lose sight of what is important in life and films like this can help to remind us of such things.