Reflection Paper: Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? PDF

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This is a reflection paper on the movie "Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?"....

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BUMATAY, GELLISON S.

P.I 100 (Life and Works of Rizal)

BSCE – 3B Reflection Paper on “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” The film “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” directed by Eddie Romero was a brilliant masterpiece ahead of its time. It depicts how Filipinos struggled to find their own identity during the transition between the Spanish and American colonization of the Philippine islands. The film was able to address social issues existing at the time like the abuse and the maltreatment of Filipinos by the Spaniards, lack of proper education of Filipinos living in barrios and provinces, and also the struggle to find the own of identity of the Filipino people. At most parts of the film, there is a big confusion in the true identity of Filipinos. The main lead of the film, Nicolas Ocampo, also known as Kulas, had many encounters with the different definitions by different persons of the word “Filipino”. Kulas was able to meet people with different personalities during his journey to the unknown after the death of his mother. At the first part of the film, Father Gil Corcuera defined the word “Filipino” as the Spaniards living in the Philippines. Also, Lim, who is a Chinese merchant, also identify Filipinos as the Spaniards living here in the country. But for Don Tibor, Filipinos are those who are ready to take responsibilities. All of these encounters made Kulas realize the true meaning of being a Filipino. Kulas came up with the realization that being born in the Philippines is not enough to be called a Filipino, being a Filipino means that we take responsibility to defend this country, along with the culture and tradition acquainted to it. The other concept that I liked about this movie was how the level of Kulas’ happiness decreased all throughout his journey. As he continued in his uncertain adventure, Kulas discovered and learned new things about the world. At the beginning of the film, Kulas seems to be a happy-go-lucky person even though he lost so much in his life. But in his attempt to learn more and fit into the new environment he’s into, the spark in his eyes faded, questioning his current self. I can relate to this as a young adult wanting to conquer the world. During the early years of my education, I was not exposed to the true state of our society. I am just as student standing in the corner waiting for things to happen. It is late in the game that I began to look into the world with a different perspective. Meeting and interacting new people with different attitudes made me realize that there is more to explore in this world. I also started aiming for more than being grateful with what I have. With all of these things changing in front of my eyes, I realized that the more you know about how things work, the more you learn that our current society is a very cruel place to live in. I had a lot of fun and learnings watching this classic film. The values that we can learn from this film transcends time. Being a Filipino is such a pleasure knowing that our ancestors fought for the independence of this nation from the hands of our colonizers. The people before us made the independence we experience right now possible. Their undying love for this country allowed us to enjoy the freedom that they fought for....