I watched the film last night with J and some office mates, and initially, I didn’t care much for it. Only later (and I mean the-next-day later) did I understand what the filmmakers were trying to do. Homosexuality in Zombadings is shown as a curse, a choice, and a state from which you need saving (and by a “real man” – tunay na lalake – to boot) because that is how Filipino society, even in this day and age, sees it. This is how Remington sees it, this obnoxious, pa-macho young man who thinks gays are disgusting. He has to learn to respect homosexuality, and with him being so hardheaded, the only way to do it is for him to experience it. He has to learn how fun it is, and how dangerous, so dangerous that you can be murdered simply because of the way you look, the way you walk, the way you talk, and the gender of the person you choose to love and share your body with.
It’s sad. And stupid, and the filmmakers know this. A character launches into his favorite hate speech, and he is drowned by the sound of a marching band. Sure he has arguments, but it is pointless to listen to them, so why do we have to torture ourselves? Let’s just have music.
Final points:
- Mart Escudero is brilliant.
- Sound and editing could have been better.
- Eugene Domingo!
- Mart Escudero is brilliant.
- We didn’t really need the zombies.
- Oh, have I said that Mart Escudero is brilliant? Because he totally is.
Eliza Victoria 