Bayaning Third World

I really don’t know how to start this, for it is a movie, a documentary film/movie but not really a movie. Bayaning third world is not a kind of a movie that we are expecting to watch, see or to witness as the usual movies. This is something new to some of us. This movie/documentary film proved that it is impossible to make a movie about Dr. Jose Rizal because there are so many unanswered issues about his life. I admit that even I watched it for about two (2) times, something in his life story was still strange and unclear to me.

Reading different columns, writings and life story about Rizal, as we are studying it, helped me a lot to understand different scenarios shown in the film. What’s great here is that they focused on turning back on Rizal’ time for us to understand it clearly and the Film Makers 1 and 2 used to interview the relevant people in Rizal’s life such as his mother Doña Teodora, his sisters Narcisa and Trinidad, his brother Paciano, his supposed wife Josephine Bracken and also the Friar that time, Father Balaguer .

I would like to focus this paper on issues he had that until now , a big question to us . The first one is about Rizal’s intension to our Religion. What’s really the issue of him about the Catholic Church? Is he really against in the teachings of it? Well, as we proceed in watching the movie , Doña Teodora said that Rizal is a true Chistian but she doesn’t know if he has changed due to focusing on his studies in Europe. The movie stated that Rizal is not really against in the Catholic Religion, but he is against to those who runs it. For him that the goverment happend to be the church and the church being the goverment. Rizal is not against the Catholicism, but to the priests who were cruel to the Filipino people.

The second issue is about Rizal’s “Retraction”. He expressed his perspective against the Roman Catholic Church under the spaniards through his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Was he really retracted? According to the film, Rizal agreed to retract because he wanted to marry Josephine Bracken. But it also stated that Rizal did write the retraction letter but he didn’t signed it until they are not yet married. Others said that the letter was certified but the signature was fake for Rizal’s signature was easy to copy. We don’t know the truth, but whatever it would be, if he was retracted or not, it doesn’t matter. Because Rizal is someone who has a dignity to fought for our democracy in a peaceful manner.

The other one was Rizal’s issue with Josephine Bracken. Does he really loved her? I think so. Eventhough Rizal’s family don’t like Josephine, he still chose to live with that woman though there are the rumors that Josephine is a spy of the spanish priests to pursue Rizal to retract. But after all, where is Josephine? As the film revealed, Josephine left and was disappeared. Nobody knows where she was.

Lastly, in the revolutionary cause. Rizal refused to be a part of it. He just said that there are a lot of ways to gain freedom. The “Himagsikan” only used Rizal’s name. Thus, Rizal is really a righteous one.

Therefore, Rizal’s life and story is an unending one that needs to be answered through having a deep and wide study. Rizal will always be a part of our lives since birth until death. We all have our own interpretation to Rizal. Dr. Jose Rizal is someone who has his negative sides, flaws and imperfections because he is also a human person like us who is capable of doing things like what we can. From this movie, “Bayaning Third World”, Rizal told the Filmmakers that he doesn’t want to be a hero, but just someone, a normal being who wanted to prove his great love and passion for our beloved country. In short, Rizal died because he handled his philosophy whatever happens to his life. Jose Rizal is an imperfect human but rise above all his weaknesses, our prime national hero– The Third (3rd) World Hero of all time.