Te Doy Mis Ojos... Y Mis Blusas, Mis pantalones, y mis sapatillas... ayayay

In my quest for cultural diva-ship, at least not just being a dilettante (look it up in the dictionary), I made a date with Felice to watch a Spanish movie at the Greenbelt 1. It was such an important thing for me that even the vicious pouring rain did not deter me from arriving at the cinema at 7pm.

And arrive I did --- squelching my way into Landmark. This is the second this happened to me. The first time I understand why I got soaked. I was challenging nature by not bringing my umbrella. But yesterday, I had an umbrella, and still got drenched!

So again, I bought another new ensemble --- simple as I could get (a shirt, clamdiggers and new open toe sandals)! I thought it would be a cheap date. Turned out I forked out about 700 bucks that night!

Oh well...

So, anyway, Felice and I planned to watch "La Ley de los Herodes", a satire, but because the screening that night was by invitation only, a Mexican thingy ----- and we knew of this only that night! --- we caught the other film, "Te Doy Mis Ojos", translated, "Take My Eyes".

It was an intense film about domestic/ marital abuse that engages one from beginning to end. The portrayal of the actors were so real, I was uneasy looking at some of the scenes. Most unforgettable scene for me was when Pilar, the female lead, about to leave for Madrid for a tourguide job at a museum was confronted and humiliated by her husband Antonio. There was this woman, excited at the prospect of a good job at a museum, carefully groomed and then this man, who is supposed to love her, care for her strips her of her pride, her dignity --- literally. And when Pilar reports this assault committed by her husband, she explains when asked if she was physically assaulted, hurt, broken, (I loosely quote) "no, i was not broken outside, but inside..."

The film ventured into the delicate dynamics of a marriage and the cycle of marital abuse. The actor who played Antonio really looked like a mean man, really piercing eyes, bushy eyebrows and imposing built. A shoo-in for the part. But when his character was shown going to therapy, trying to get along with his family and earning an honest keep as an appliance salesman, one can't automatically say that he's evil incarnate. in fact, I can relate to him.

I can just see how easy it is to lose one's temper just like that, at the slightest provocation. And one usually directs it to the person/ people he loves most. Been there, been that. Mental note: anger management therapy.

These are the other insights I got from the movie:
1. the importance of girl-friends -- the support and camaraderie we can give each other
2. that being with a man is not necessarily the only way
3. one must find what makes her truly happy and alive --- no violence involved. in Pilar's case, it was art.