Reflection Paper – Pasan Ko Ang Daigdig
Pasan Ko Ang Daigdig depicts the life of a poor girl who undergoes several hardships throughout her life and suddenly receives an opportunity to become a professional singer and improve her family’s life. Viewers may come up with one of two insights from watching the movie. First, one may be led to thinking that despite severe suffering and despair, there will always be a happy ending. For this person, the movie seems to reinforce the rags-to-riches archetype. Forget all problems at present; everything will turn out well in the end.
“Mapalad ang mga inaapi. ” Lupe, portrayed by Sharon Cuneta, has to endure different problems happening all at the same time – “working” as a beggar, living with a mother who doesn’t seem to have any faith in her, being visited by her abusive uncle almost everyday, demanding that they give him money for gambling, even getting impregnated by a man she doesn’t know. Her luck begins to turn around, however, when her talent for singing is discovered at a local singing contest.
Things begin to go well for her, despite a few problems with her uncle and the death of her mother, and she ends up engaged to a wealthy man who also happens to offer her a record deal. At the end of the movie, of course, she chooses the man she loves and the father of her child, and they live a fortunate life, thanks to her singing career. Personally, I think that this perspective can be quite problematic, especially when one actually incorporates it in his/her everyday life.
It may not be wrong to hope for a better future, but when that hope isn’t backed up by actions geared towards actually making something happen, then one needes to re-examine what he/she is doing with his/her life. In my opinion, for one to achieve something in life, hope should serve as a goal to attain, instead of a illusion to simply make one feel better about himself/herself. There really is nothing wrong with this movie showing how people can rise above poverty and other problems.
But when its viewers become blinded by the idea of a happy ending and start to ignore and even just accept their actual problems, then it may just be contributing to the already-problematic mindsets of most Filipinos. Second, one may conclude from the movie that there was more to Lupe’s success in life than luck and talent. Obviously, one must be proficient in singing for her to actually enter in such a career. And joining and winning the singing contest played a major role in her rise to fame.
But when looking closely at Lupe’s life, one may begin to wonder if these two are enough. Given everything that has happened to Lupe, it would take more than an opportunity for fame to pull things together. How exactly does one deal with pregnancy when one neither has the money to raise the child nor the knowledge of who the father is? Also, how is one able to try to improve her family’s life when even her own mother has no confidence in her and continues to give her uncle the money that she earned?
When one begins to look beyond mere chance, he/she may be forced to see reality for what it is – one that is full of hardships to endure, yet with the possibility of rising above one’s problems. One must remember, however, that something cannot be made out of nothing. One cannot simply rely on others to get through life; one cannot just wait for something like being discovered at a local singing contest. Generally, one needs to work hard in order to rise above life’s problems. “Mabuti ang may sariling isip at gulugod. ” After all, it is actually more fulfilling to achieve something on one’s own.
Overall, I found the film to serve somewhat as a reminder of how hard work and patience can help improve one’s life. It should be noted, of course, that this may not always be the case. Movies with happy endings may very well just provide its viewers with an illusion that things will get better, when they probably won’t. There can be happy endings, but they only come with hard work and determination – and that’s not even a guarantee. Giving up, on the other hand, won’t make things any better either. One’s best bet, really, is to hope for a better future while doing something to achieve it.
