For our En11 Critical Thinking discussion on Bayaning Third World.

1. “Define hero.”
A discussion on Bayaning Third World
Prepared by Mia Marci
for En11 ADMU R41 and R63
11/30/2015

2. Before this...

3. There was this.

4. Recap: The Film
In “Bayaning Third World”, director Mike de
Leon uses the mode of metafiction to ask
pressing questions about how Filipinos regard
heroism.

5. Just to give you an idea...
De Leon's film took three years to make. It
was first announced in 1997, but was only
completed in 2000.
It was also on the heels of a Filipino hero
frenzy, perhaps because of the Philippine
freedom centennial celebrations of 1998.

6. Heroes filled the screen

Tikoy Aguiluz's Rizal sa Dapitan (1997)

Marilou Diaz Abaya's Jose Rizal (1998)

Mario O'Hara's Sisa (1999)
But even without the string of blockbusters,
you could see that the Philippines has some
kind of Rizal mania. Ever notice how almost
every other barangay has a Rizal statue?

7. Here's Rizal from “Rizal Without the
Overcoat” by Ambeth Ocampo (1990)

8. Here are Jose Rizal cigarettes circa
unknown

9. Here's Rizal in Catbalogan City Hall,
Catbalogan City, Western Samar

11. But back to Bayaning Third World...
When the movie was released, Direk de Leon
bannered it under, “This is not a Rizal movie.”
It clearly wasn't. It talked about his life, but not
really. As we know, the main thesis goes of the
movie asks, “What makes Jose Rizal a hero?”
as two filmmakers struggled with making his
life fit for the screen.

12. The Retraction
There is also the dispute of whether Rizal
retracted or not, based on a a document signed
by Rizal and presented by Fr. Balaguer SJ after
his death. It claims that Rizal “retracted” his
being a freemason and embraced Roman
Catholicism.
The dispute continues to this day. You'll learn
more about it in your Rizal class in junior or
senior year.

13. The movie asks...

“Does the fact that Rizal retracted really
matter?” After having written and published
Noli and Fili, doesn't that act live on beyond
one disputable retraction?

14. The movie asks...

“What makes one heroic?” Rizal's life was
deemed better for the books according to the
filmmakers in Bayaning Third World. The
argument against his being a national hero is
usually in how Rizal doesn't do much else
beyond travel, sleep, and write two novels
versus other heroes who actually fought and
died for the country.

15. The movie asks...
“When heroes are made human, are they any less
heroic?”

17. 
Bayaning Third World isn't a Rizal movie, but it
does challenge the local notion of how we
perceive our heroes.

18. Now what?

We started the sem by asking what a leader is.
Now you have learned (I hope) to think a little
better.

Let's discuss the questions raised by Bayaning
Third World.

19. QUESTIONS
Why do you think the film was entitled
“Bayaning Third World”? How did it use Rizal
as the national hero to illustrate or define the
third world hero?
Do you agree with the concept of “national
heroes” in the making of a nation's identity?
Why or why not?

20. Discussion Period:
12:30am November 30, 2015
to 11:55pm December 1, 2015

21. Gracias.

22. Citations and Credits

Photos taken from everywhere on google, Josie Rizal fan art seen on
facebook.

Rizal tsundere photo by Roberto Wong on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151838905370423&set=a.9596