Photo from Netflix
The star-studded Filipino meta-comedy drama “Kontrabida Academy” premiered Sept. 11 on Netflix.
The film satirizes worn-out teleserye tropes and explores the stranglehold that melodramatic television has on its loyal, beaten-down Filipino audience.
Cast
Directed by Chris Martinez, the film stars Barbie Forteza (Gigi) and Eugene Domingo (Mauricia) as the primary bida (hero) and kontrabida (villain), respectively.
It also wouldn’t be a proper “Kontrabida Academy” without legendary career kontrabidas on the cast like Celia Rodriguez, Jean Garcia, Gladys Reyes, Baron Geisler, Mylene Dizon and more. These big names play the role of villainous teachers at the academy, helping Gigi graduate into a campy confrontational kontrabida.
Premise
Gigi starts off as an overworked, undervalued Filipino suffering in silence as a daughter, lover and restaurant worker. Thanks to a magical TV she received at a Christmas party, she is able to interact with characters from a teleserye she follows and even gets taught how to become a classic kontrabida herself.
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The movie pokes fun at the familiar tropes – the demure doormat protagonist easily outshined by the villain, the adorably cartoonish dialogue and many others.
Self-awareness at the heart of the story
Apart from being the comedic foundation of the movie, self-awareness is also at the heart of the story.
The villain fantasy in practice gets Gigi laughed at in the restaurant, despite yielding results. When given the go-signal to be the villain, be it onscreen or offscreen, Gigi knows she doesn’t want to be a villain once she’d already unloaded her bottled-up anger.
The story posits that, in a Philippine setting, the “villains” are the people finally standing up for themselves after constantly choosing to “keep the peace.”
“Kontrabida Academy” shows the catharsis of becoming a villain, but it also shows the catharsis of accountability, being open to change and not being a doormat protagonist in real life.
Through Gigi, the movie reminds Filipinos who they are. But it also reminds them that those speaking up against toxicity and recycled narratives are not the villains – an apt sentiment in a tumultuous, pivotal month in the Philippines.
The post ‘Kontrabida Academy’ reflects on Filipinos’ self-awareness appeared first on USNewsRank.
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