A Father in High Heels

A German poet once said, “Becoming a father is easy enough, but being one can be very rough.” 

I couldn’t agree more.

During my first year as a father, I sometimes asked myself if I am really ready for this next level in my life--- changing baby diapers, waking up during wee hours to prepare milk, making up silly tunes and other never-before-done things just to please my son.  But I always end up saying yes especially when my child smiles at me as if he’s saying, “Thank you, Dad.”

Now, I discovered my new weakness.  I think I won’t ever resist my son smiling at me that I’ll do everything and give anything he wants for as long as he’s happy.

I was just a college freshman when I saw Robin William’s movie about a father who would do anything just to be with his kids.  Doing anything would mean disguising himself as an old lady to apply as a housekeeper to his ex-wife and three children.  With this simple premise, Mrs. Doubtfire became a box-office hit and was included in the American Film Institute’s list of 100 funniest movies of the 20^th century. Last week, I was able to see the movie again over cable TV.

The movie is very funny but heart-warming in so many ways.  The story evolves in the life of Daniel Hillard (Williams), an out-of-work voice actor.  His wife Miranda, played by the versatile actress Sally Field, has reached the end of her patience and decided to leave his irresponsible husband.  Since Daniel has no steady job, Miranda was forced to be the main breadwinner of the family.   Miranda gets primary custody of their three children while the court granted Daniel visitation rights limited to Saturday evenings because they find him unfit to be a father (which I think is one of the greatest insults one can hurl to any man)

When Daniel founds out that Miranda was looking for a housekeeper, he moved heaven and earth just to get the job.  With the help of his brother who is a professional make-up artist, Daniel was transformed into the 60-year old widow from England Mrs. Doubtfire who got the name from the news headline "Police Doubt Fire Was Accidental". 

The moment Mrs. Doubtfire set foot to the house of Miranda and the kids, it was the beginning of mischievous adventures of the family.  One memorable scene was the time Mrs. Doubtfire accidentally ignited his fake breasts on a stove while cooking dinner.  I know in real life it might be a scary sight but it was a riot in this film.   

To add a little more spice to Mrs. Doubtfire’s dilemma, Miranda introduces her new boyfriend (Pierce Brosnan) to the family.  At this stage, Daniel would not only fight for quality time for his children but also for the right to be the person to whom the kids will look up to.  

In the end, Mrs. Doubtfire’s true identity was discovered.  This would lead to the tear-jearker court scenes where Daniel acts as his own attorney as he confessed why he disguised as Mrs. Doubtfire.  The judge, although feeling sympathy for Daniel, finds his behavior somewhat disturbing and awarded sole custody of their children to Miranda.  Daniel's visitation rights were also further restricted as the judge only allows him to see his kids with supervision from a court liaison.  Williams is one great comedian but in this movie, he proves to everyone that he can also make us cry.  You can feel his pain as a father trapped in his worst nightmare in this sequence in the film.

But as they say, time heals all wounds.  Miranda forgave Daniel of all his wrongdoings and decided to give him what a father longs and truly deserve--- the warm hugs and kisses of his children.  The film concludes with Daniel picking up his kids while Miranda is watching a TV show featuring advices to children of divorced parents, saying that no matter what type of family living arrangement children have, love will maintain the bond.

I just fell blessed that I have a loving wife and a adorable child in my life now that I vowed not to be in the situation that I’ll be forced to wear high heels just to see my son.  Let all fathers learn from Mrs. Doubtfire. 

Do you thirst for fame? I do

 

Leonardo DiCaprio once said, “Fame is like a VIP pass wherever you want to go.”

I think that is one good explanation why a lot of people want to be famous.  Next to fame are perks and privileges and a shot to great fortune and power.  In today’s world that just about anyone who knows how to use the internet can get some attention after a few clicks and uploads, fame can be a gift to anyone at any given moment.

We have heard of the stories of Charice, Arnel Pineda, and the even thr Cebu Dancing Inmates.  Who would have think that simple videos posted online via Youtube will changed their lives and gave hope to millions of ordinary people who dream of someday, they too will have their taste of stardom.

Well, I do thirst for fame? But the "Fame" I can enjoy for now is a 1980's movie that can still inspire generations who'll watch it. I was inspired to watch it again after I had nice blast-from-the-past chat with fellow blogger Hana Abello about how great classic movies are--- the ones that sell stories and a great cast instead of movies these days that reach the stratospheric box-office earnings because of jaw-dropping special effects.     

More than 30 years ago, an American musical film that follows a group of students through their studies at the New York High School of Performing Arts was released.  Fame stars Irene Cara who played the role of the young and talented Coco Hernandez, one of the outstandingly gifted students who gave everything to polish their skills and talent as they struggle to excel academically in the demanding school. 

In this movie, the lead actors went through trials and adversaries as they make their way to their common goal of making it big someday.  This film also somewhat serves as a friendly warning to those who want to enter showbiz that there is no fame without pain. 

One of the more memorable scene in this film is the musical performance of the theme song of the movie, also titled “Fame”, through a grand production number of the students dancing in the middle of busy street of New York City creating a huge traffic jam as a result.  The scene showcased the true meaning of being young and free.  There is something about the song that makes you want to dance.  That’s why it’s not surprising to be a favorite in videoke sessions.  The tune won an Oscar Award for Best Original Song.  The film also bagged the Academy Award for Original Music Score.

For the sentimental fools like me is the acoustic version of Montgomery (Paul McCrane) for the song “Is It Okay If I call You Mine” which echoed though quite empty hallways on one lonesome night at New York.  It will remind you of those times that you want to tell someone special of what you really feel but he/ she is not around to hear you.   

But my personal favorite is the part when Coco played the piano and sang the melodramatic “Out Here On My Own” which created a me-against-the-world feeling for every person shown in that scene while she’s singing.  I’m sure most of you would agree that there are moments in our life that we felt we are alone all by ourselves.

What I also love about the film is that the viewers were not presented with a candy coated conclusion on the journey of the main characters just to have that feel good ending.  Instead, writer Christopher Gore (who also wrote for the Fame TV series in 1987 before his untimely death a year later) gave a rude awakening to the dreamers.  

Coco fell prey to a man pretending to be a film director who forces her to undress in front of the camera.  Some of her friends were also as unlucky.  Ralph got swell-headed with the instant success he got and eventually failed in the end.  Hillary accepted a spot with the San Francisco Ballet and needed to have an abortion.  The good news came to Leroy who got his dream of being accepted in a top dance company after he graduates.

The last scene of the movie was a group performance for the finale “I Sing the Body Electric” during the graduation rites.  I was hoping for another take on the main theme song but it was still a good way to end this roller-coaster teen flick.  The students gave there all as if it was their last performance as artists.  It was an ending with a bang.

Fame was not a big box-office success but it was critically-acclaimed and even spawned a TV series and a spin-off, a stage musical and a film remake last year. The remake featured young Filipina actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, granddaughter of local TV music icon Sylvia La Torre. It also deals about a group of a talented group of performing artists who were faced with the many obstacles in their search for their goal: Fame.

30 years have passed and we have witnessed how the world changed drastically.   But there are still things that have remained like man’s thirst for fame as he trek this journey called life.

Did I mention that Leonardo DiCaprio once said that fame is like a VIP pass wherever you want to go?

A message for the graduates

I hope this post not too late but what the heck, every year there are almost 400,000 college graduates in the Philippines so I think this one will still be a good reading for any student or used to be studes like me. Thisis my latest movie review published in The Philippine Star last May 23, 2011.

How time flies. If it wasn’t for my niece asking if she could borrow a mono block chair that she’ll use in their graduation rites practice last March, I’ll still find it hard to believe that it was again graduation time. To think I still have a wrapped Christmas present lying on my table because one of my godsons did not visit me last December.

During these times, you’ll start hearing from young people asking one another, “When’s your last day?” or “Will you make it.” Words that can make any paranoid soul run wild and panic. Funny, those questions were also the exact words I often ask to fellow students when I was still studying more than a decade ago.

I can still remember a month before graduating from college, a professor suggested that we watch a movie called St. Elmo’s Fire either in VHS or CD format. I had a hard time looking for the title but really needed to see it so I can get some extra points from my creative writing class to make up for my absences that was quite unavoidable that time for a working student like me.

It was my first time to hear about the movie and the only St. Elmo’s Fire I know was the electrical weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge originating from a grounded object, which is something I learned from high school Science.

The movie was a 1985 American coming-of-age film directed by Joel Schumacher (Dying Young, Batman Forever, The Phantom of the Opera). The film, starring Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Mare Winningham, revolves around a group of friends that have just graduated from Georgetown University and their adjustment to their post-university lives and adult responsibilities.

Aside from the distinctive ’80s hairstyle, outfit and music, St. Elmo’s Fire also captured the feeling of recent graduates as they decide what to do with their lives. I believe it is a universal feeling that every individual will experience as they trek the road towards adulthood. From the fear of not landing a job to deciding when to have a family of his own, confusions like these are only some of the obstacles that the youth will have to hurdle while taking bigger steps in the real world.

The film begins by presenting each of the seven main characters in full graduation uniform as they walk along the campus. A sudden twist comes as the next sequence shows Billy (Lowe) and Wendy (Winningham) in a hospital after figuring in a car accident. It’s like telling the audience that after graduation, things can really be a bumpy ride, figuratively and literally in this case.

The two characters would eventually get out of the hospital and meet with the rest of the gang in their favorite college hang-out, St. Elmo’s Bar. I’d like to think that every barkada or peer group has its own so-called “hideout” where you get the feeling of home with your best buds. In this place, it’s anything goes and many things like secret crushes, homework, failing grades, family problems and even petty things are discussed within the circle of friends. In our case, we found it in this big round bench with a tall three in the center providing a shade to people. We call it Batibot in front of the CAS Building in UE Manila because it resembles the one seen in the popular kiddie TV show.

After graduation, our group needed to have a new place to meet since there will be new students who will discover that place and claim it their own. Well, my college barkada found that meeting place not in all the places we have shared good times and bad times during our college days but in front of our PCs. Thanks to Facebook, we could poke one another anytime we want.

Through online chat and e-mail messages, we are able to share thoughts, plans, fond memories and just about anything we can think of that very moment we are online. And just like in the movie, life is not all fun after all. We share personal problems from financial matters to losing a job, to thinking of a good business venture and plans for our kids. That’s reality. Unfortunately, it’s something that I used to think is much pleasant when I was in college. I even wrote in my movie review for my English class that some things suggested in St. Elmo’s Fire are a bit exaggerated. I ate my words the very day I started looking for a job.

But it’s not all drama in the film. There are a lot of funny scenes which can still make today’s young adult audience laugh. One of my favorites is this amusing line delivered by Billy: ”So you lost your job? I’ve lost 20 of them since graduation. Plus a wife and kid. And, in a new development this morning, a handful of hair in the shower drain.”

The movie ends showing the group during their graduation ceremony, the same scene where it started. This time, once they’ve reached their fave hangout, the group decides to have brunch but not at St. Elmo’s Bar; they instead choose another bar called Houlihan’s because there’s “not so many kids” there. A great ending to show that they are finally moving on from college life and ready to enter the real world as adults.

Personally, I may have yet to realize the dream that I once envisioned when I was still a college student but I am not complaining. Life has been good. I have an eight-to-five job with two days-off a week, a loving and understanding wife and a son who has been my inspiration to do better in work and in everything I do.