Pinoys laugh a lot. We crack brown and green jokes. We laugh at the slightest provocation. We tear up while laughing. Some of us laugh their way to the banks. Others, make laughter their best medicine to combat pressing and stressful situations.
In this day and age of Vice Ganda and his mastery of ridicule sugar coated as humorous and irreverence, and with social media being the platform to express opinions masquerading as bible truth, good manners and right conduct is now an alien concept to many.
Anything and everything, the noisiest and shallow flock in social media has a say. One prime example and easy target group, are individuals who are described as curvy, chubby, men with dad bods and beer bellies, women who are plumpish and voluptuous. My adjectives of choice are still on a positive light. If you get to read what “body shamers” express and write, you would entirely get a different picture.
Body shaming is now a way of life to some people. Most of them are oblivious of the fact that what they consider as jokes, are inflicting deep pain.
In the forthcoming Jerry Lopez Sineneng movie, Familia Blandina—headlined by Karla Estrada, who does not deny her being plus sized—they have a right-minded manner in addressing the issue of body shaming.
Director Sineneng expresses, “I am against body shaming. We, the whole cast who are in this movie, we are against any form of shaming. We are very careful not to offend anyone.”
He carries on, “I know that because of some scenes in our movie, you may have the perception na ginawa naming ang mga yun para lang makapang-lait. Integral siya sa narrative, at may dahilan kung bakit minsan ginagamit ang pagiging plus sized ni Karla bilang bahagi of a comical scene. Of course, we sought her permission first bago namin i-shoot ang mga nasabing scenes. The movie is not meant to offend plus-sized women.”
Estrada opines, “100 percent, I am against body shaming. I can laugh at myself, my being plus sized because I am very comfortable in my own skin and I am a believer that the greatest love of all is really loving yourself. Even if there are some people na nanalait sa panlabas kong anyo, I make sure, what is inside, the brassiere that I am wearing now, is tighter than tight, I find it difficult to breathe.”
She guffaws and continues, “Joke yun ha. I don’t get affected by people who body shame because my heart is in a good place right now, it is filled with goodness and positivity. Of course, it took some time to be in this place.I learned most things the hard way. With people who make fun of you in an offensive manner, the best revenge is to live well and kill them with kindness.”
Aside from Estrada, some of Familia Blandina’s special attractions are the two pretty young misses, Kira Balenger and Chantal Videla. Both of them are articulate, classy and their future is indeed bright.
Another dream boat is Marco Gallo who plays as Estrada’s son. You should hear Gallo speak in Italian. He gives more romance and sizzle to the romantic language.
Gallo senza dubbio, sai che Marco diventerà un bel ragazzo (without a doubt, you know Marco will grow up a handsome gentleman).
With these young cast of half breeds, it will be interesting to see how their stories unfold on screen.
Director Sineneng promises that many half-Filipino, half-foreigners will relate to the struggles that the blonde characters experienced in what he describes as, “a family movie with a lot of laughter and love.”
Familia Blandina unspools in cinemas nationwide on Feb. 27.
