Ekstra is a 2013 Cinemalaya Film Festival entry by Jeffrey Jeturian. A film about the sufferings and the injustices happening in studio production system in the Philippines, Jeturian tried to represent the unseen part of Philippine popular soap operas – the hierarchy and power tripping among people involved in the production and the social labor issues experienced by the over-worked staff and ‘talents’.
The film narrates the life of Loida Malabanan as an ‘ekstra’, a bit player, working for a soap opera aired on national television. As she dwell in front of the camera with her fellow ekstras, serving as a background for the main star, the film uncovered the injustices and unfairness among people working in this industry, particularly the alienation of the background people and production staff. The ruling group composed of people directly connected to the production studio created a marginalized treatment among the workers. Also, the problems encountered by the production set as caused naturally or man-made showed the chaotic and abusive response of the people in privilege and how the people of less power are affected by their selfish and mechanical response.
Jeturian were able to pay homage to the unseen part of the entertainment industry where the existence of some group of people was inhumanely treated by the people of higher economic power. The discourse of labor relations was set open and the failure of the production team to maintain fair labor triggered by personal desires and greed were tackled. Through the script, a strong attempt to condemn this current state of slavery in popular media was expressed by the film.
As a viewer, the film was able to entice a socialist thought in my mind as it tackled the welfare of the workers and dramatized their struggles to live. However, the film did only present these problems the workers are trying their best to get rid off and live as a normal human being would live. The film started with Loida preparing her things for an out-of-town shoot and ended with Loida returning home with some few money in her pockets enough to sustain her daughter’s education. Beside the thought of cruelty and labor injustices, the film seemed unable to deliver a liberating and action-oriented thought. The poor remains poor in the narrative and the setting of the film was simply just another day in her miserable life. The attempt to free their lives from the root cause of their sufferings, the grapples of the oppressors, was not observed in the film. It, again just as his contemporaries, romanticized and dramatized human interaction under their miserable states by employing melodramatic-comedy acting, some love affairs, starred by Philippines popular actors and actresses.
The strong force that condemns labor irregularities in that particular industry seemed to be ruined by an attempt to conform with the current framework of popular cinema. That shallow laughter, the crying and the hyper-realistic acting make it no less than the current Filipino popular films you see in malls, coming from the center of the status quo. I also doubt that there is an attempt to discuss on a deeper level the topic it set open the association of Vilma Santos, Marian Rivera, Piolo Pascual, Cherie Gil, Pilita Corales, among other big names in the entertainment industry to the film. It seems to just be supporting the idols that attract the masses in hope for a popular response and greater profit.
From exoticizing poverty, I now turn to exoticizing social labor issues itself. Its discussion in the film seems to be masking the director’s desire for commercial release and self-fulfilment. It used the topic as a sensation we should all put our attention to because it talks about society. But as to what extent can he tackle this particular issue in our society? By portraying it through his camera and adding a little drama? The political economy of labor injustices was kept silent throughout the film. Unlike Brocka, Bernal and others, there is a strong political argument in their films regarding the struggles of its subjects. Ekstra failed in this matter.
In dealing with social realism, one should not just present the issue per se. The history of the issue should at least be recognized as well as the political standpoint that address to the solution or to the root cause of the issue. The current wave of Filipino independent filmmakers seem to be obsessed with poverty and other social phenomenon for international recognition and foreign applause. They don’t know that these award giving bodies who awards the most poverty-filled film as the best film legitimates the dichotomy of the first world and third world societies.
The goal of the third world cinema should not just to be fascinated by the first world audience but to enlighten the third world people about how their country became a third world in the first place. This enlightenment penetrating the consciousness of the masses should form a deeper sense of nationalism and humanity.
In summary, Ekstra was successful in calling our attention to the dark side of Philippine soap opera production by exposing dramatized scenes portrayed by today’s big stars. However, its critique to this social phenomenon is doubtful. Like Rivera’s Septic Tank, the critique seems to be just a mask to conform with the current cinematic framework in the Philippines. The film forgot that one of the essence of third world film-making must to interrogate history, politics and humanity towards social transformation.
Reference:
- C. Mateo. Movie review: ‘Ekstra’ exalts the lowly bit players, raps ‘studio system’. GMA News [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/322320/lifestyle/reviews/movie-review-ekstra-exalts-the-lowly-bit-players-raps-studio-system [Last Accessed 11 December 2014]
[Film 12 FWX | 1st Sem | AY 2014-2015]
kawalan at kamalayan 