Monday, July 21, 2008

Bending over

To live life without compromise.

Beneath the comedy and punchlines of Legally Blonde the Musical and The Curiosity of Chance is the question of how far one should compromise ones self to be accepted in a particular social setup.

Everyone who has a gay bone in his body knows the story of Elle Woods. So there is no need to repeat how Elle was dumped by Warner, how she went to Harvard law School to get him back, how she met Emmet, how she tried to remake herself to be the typical law student, and how she came back – all pink, all blonde, all smiles – with a vengeance ... Ooops.

The musical version did not depart from the story line. Only gayer.

Meanwhile, The Curiosity of Chance, tells about the story of Chance Marquis and how he asserted who he really is among schoolmates, colleagues and his family. He was trashed, bullied, and even made to feel unaccepted by his own dad.

Still in the end he made his mark.

Elle Woods and Chance Marquis showed how a sore thumb could turn into a beacon.

As the theme of the two as I perceive it hits me, I have to remind myself that it’s a musical and a movie. Anything is possible. Even to be THAT blonde or THAT flamboyant.

To live a life with no compromise is good on a shirt. But we are basically social beings and bound by our social relations and societal norms. Thus we often find ourselves either conforming or conceeding. How many times have we found ourselves in a compromising position? Not THAT kind of compromising position.

But what Elle and Chance did also show is that compromises have limits. It is not worth it to compromise what defines ones self for the sake of acceptance or sometimes even love. Neither will be lasting. Neither will be true.

I myself have made numerous compromises. There are even ocassions when I do conform if the situation calls for it.

Still, there are matters that I , for the life of me, cannot presently imagine compromising. The politics I uphold, the choices I have made and views on a number of social practices. There were times I did waver and put all of these into question. To continue to hold on to them is a lifetime question.

However, if he is the one who will talk me into something I am not really willing to do, I am not sure how far I can take it until I bend over.

Then I may not be able to sing: “See, dreams really do come true, you never have to compromise. Omigod!”

17 comments:

Lyka Bergen said...

Si Brett, pag-gabi, ay nagiging Brett-ney!

Anonymous said...

hmmp ganun? brentt in like beckham talaga?

meanwhile, pakitabi rin ang kopya ng the curiosity of chance :-)

Kiks said...

parang walang sense ang buhay ni brett kung sya lang ang mag-isa.

me point ba tong comment na to? tila meron naman. ask paulette.

... said...

nakakapagod din mag bend ha. kelangan din maraming ibend upang maka-bend. hihihi

jericho said...

@lyka: ok lang. tulog naman ako sa gabi ;)
@gibo: sureness! kung magkikita tayo
@kiks: hanggang bend lang si Brett, walang snap
@mel: kureks! ;)

. said...

Mukhang missing ang aking gay bone. Wala akong alam sa musicals. Waaaah..

kiel estrella said...

si brett ba nag-bend over din? parang mas gusto ko yun...

seriously, though - in my experience, there are times you push the lines where you compromise. and sometimes the bigger the stakes the further you need to bend over. otherwise, you break from the pure weight of the pressure.

hindi sa i try to rationalise, hah? basta.

Mico Lauron said...

it's really nice to do a lot of compromising. pero naman, echo, hindi naman siguro maganda na puro compromiso ka nalang ang gawin ng isang tao, hindi ba?

nakakasuka naman ata dun. parang tae na yung kalalabasan mo after nun.

bend? ibang bend ang alam ko eh. chak! JOKLAng po! hehehe!

Luis Batchoy said...

snap na lang ng snap kasi
pareho tayo mugen
di rin updated sa musicals
hehehehehe

KRIS JASPER said...

hmmmm... e-stalk mo kaya je? or baka naman stalker ka na nya?

wanderingcommuter said...

haaay, sobrang nakakarelate ako sa mga pelikula at sa post na ito... tsktsk!!!

Anonymous said...

don't you just hate it that as a gay man, you have to conform pa ren sa norm. ang drama shet.

Gayzha said...

Truly we bend and kneel over a lot of times to be accepted and feel love ... sad but true!

Dabo said...

compromise is a good deed if it is a mutual activity

but if the principle behind is to please for quite a time and to please frequently, then it should be called "taking for granted" with consent

--- --

and sad to say.. we love being taken for granted

[chocoley] said...

whew, it's gaydar talk? lol :)

lucas said...

i love reese.period. hehe

Anonymous said...

this is a really good post!

i believe that though there always has to be room for compromise when you deal with people, there are fundamental things that you cannot give up on, things that you truly believe in and those things are things we always should be proud to stand up for ;-)