American Adobo seemed to depict Filipinos in America in a very realistic way. It presented various scenarios that are true to what we are experiencing today. Just the thought of the title American Adobo made me wonder what connection it actually had with adobo. Although it was not the focal point of this movie, it was used very uniquely. To me it seemed to represent authenticity which would be a representation of such a unique race and culture, a representation of values despite American influences and adaptation after migrating from the Philippines. It was a bit confusing to understand the movie at first as it seems as it was all over the place. But as the movie went on, everything meshed and the stories began to unfold.
It is evident that throughout this movie, you can see the efforts of preserving a culture but yet over come by such influences of the American way of life. The lifestyle of having such freedom greatly changed the ways of these peoples lives as it would have been different if they were living in the Philippines. To have so many choices, to have a voice, to be able to be independent and prosper is a dream that many Filipinos have when they want to come to America. Although having such luxury is one positive aspect, consequences of losing touch with one’s culture and identity as a Filipino is another story.
A representation of characters varying from different walks of life moves this movie very well. You have a religious single virgin woman, a single rich woman, a successful young man, a homosexual person, and a father who is very strong with his family values. Although different from these aspects, they all share a common problem of identity and trying to find out who they really are and trying to comprehend it. Caught up in their individualistic ideals, they are challenged but manage to break through from various obstacles through their occasional dinners or get together from time to time. On a positive note, that would represent the close ties of family and friends that our community has.
An interesting part of the movie that I like is how it represented faith and how things happen for a reason or even if it were the beliefs of following signs. This was shown through the religious virgin lady who actually threw her statue of Mother Mary out the window, but then to actually hit a person who she would end up with in the end. From my experience, faith is a strong part of our lives. To pray, to go to church, and to believe are some aspects of faith. Although I don’t go to church much, I continue to pray as it was strongly instilled with me as I was growing up. On the opposite end, as shown by the rich successful young lady, she did not believe in such things and rather went with things as they were. As here relationship with her musician friend became obviously unbearable, she began to open up and began to believe again. It is weird how we can forget about our faith due to distractions but only then remember about it when we are really in need.
Another interesting aspect of this movie was the showcasing of sexual activity for both men and women. Commitment to one person seemed not to matter anymore as sexual deeds seem to overpower the true meaning of a relationship. To say or do anything just to get one with them into bed or to go things in their way seemed to be unmoral but true to life. This is evident in today’s society as many are married but then divorced in the early stage of their life. There are many situations were many cheat or are secretly seeing another person to satisfy other selfish deeds. Or in other cases, there are many with kids but are not married. What happened to the value of love? What does love mean? Is it the same today versus 25 or even 50 years ago? On the other hand, there is a representation of those who are seeking true love which is maybe 30% or less of the population, as represented by the religious virgin woman. Despite such conflict, this movie portrayed very well also of how such selfishness in one greatly impacts their way of life as well. That goes to prove that no one can make a difference in their lives except themselves.
Lastly, I’d like to touch upon the family values as it shown that kids now a days are very rebellious and seem not to listen anymore. Although one would like to keep strong family ties, it seems to be hard if everyone else doesn’t feel the same or is not seeing the importance of such family. But representation of having those dinners proves that having such closeness helps and builds a bond stronger for one another. Growing up, my family has continually echoes the importance of family despite all the obstacles that may have passed.
Although the ending was quite sentimental, it really tied everything in together, proving and highlighting several points of those lives of FilAm.
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