PhilPop M3SA by Sakurai, Shinnah Summer (Salamat)

sssakurai — 2024-06-29 14:48:17 UTC

My name is Shinnah Summer Sakurai, a 2nd Year Psychology student. In my free time, I consume a lot of pop culture and media, including Filipino pop culture.

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 03:13:37 UTC

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 03:30:17 UTC

As someone who consumes a lot of media, I'm bound to enjoy pop culture from my home country, the Philippines. Here are five of my favorites, in no particular order.

The Shake, Rattle, & Roll Series (Film)
Drag Race Philippines (Reality TV)
Drag Den (Reality TV)
The Healing (Film)
BINI (Girl Group)

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 06:44:07 UTC

For this activity, I would like to talk about the Healing, a 2012 supernatural film starring Vilma Santos and Kim Chiu. I going try and make this as spoiler-free as possible hehe.

The Healing...

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:03:57 UTC

tells the story of Seth (Vilma Santos) who takes her sick father, Odong to a faith healer named Manang Elsa. Seth's father miraculously recovers afterward, and Seth's friends and family approached her to help their sick loved ones.

However, a string of violent and bizarre deaths followed the healing, where every person healed by Manang Elsa (after Odong) dies.

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:06:46 UTC

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:13:34 UTC

This is one of my favorite films because I found the plot very interesting. It centered around faith healers, which are almost a staple in every Filipino community.

I remember first watching this at home with my relatives when I was nine years old. Even though it wasn't riddled with typical horror elements like jumpscares, it still stuck to me for days because of the progression of events, the way the deaths were presented, and the plot in general.

I guess I just really appreciate when Filipino horror movies incorporate cultural aspects that aren't just aswangs or mythical creatures. In my opinion, it opens a lot of opportunities for creativity and really tests your storywriting.

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:16:04 UTC

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:17:26 UTC

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:21:00 UTC

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 07:54:32 UTC

In this particular film, I believe the use of semiotics is very effective. The Healing has received a lot of praise and an amazed audience for its use of color-scheming. The scene would be monochromatic, with characters and background sharing a single color. For example, at the start of the film, everyone would white, representing a blank canvas. Then when the deaths begin to intensify, everyone would wear red, representing violence and blood.

I also appreciate the use of crows. I'll try not to spoil too much because it really is a cool movie. One of the victims reported dreaming about a crow before she died. Later on, a crow falls from the sky signifying that the curse has ended. Crows usually represent transformation, change, and rebirth, but they also sometimes represent death. Both meaning make a lot of sense in context of the film.

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 08:00:04 UTC

Whenever I watch Filipino supernatural horror films, I would often use The Healing as a point of comparison. That's because the use of Filipino superstition and cultural beliefs blends really well with horror aspects used in this film.

I believe films like the Healing changes the perspective of viewers towards Filipino cinema for the better. I can't wait to watch more films like this.

sssakurai — 2024-06-30 08:02:36 UTC