The Deconstruction of Kumander Bawang

            The 1988 horror-comedy film titled Kumander Bawang tells the story of Tikboy, an awkward and frail teenage boy who suddenly becomes a superhero to save Matambato from Conde Regalado and his army of aswangs raging from vampires to self-segmenting viscera suckers by transforming to Kumander Bawang and using garlics to ward off the villains.

The film opens when Tikboy’s grandfather laments that the Moro-Moro, a stage play depicting battles of Christians and Moros during the Spanish colonial period, is being less popular due to celebrities being invited during fiestas. Even in recent times, with the rise of popular culture and our fascination of Hollywood, this proves to be true. A reflection of the on-going struggle of cultural workers such as Lolo Ambo, countless days of practice, memorization and exaggerated movements with no room for mistakes, makes theatre a nurturing art form that unfortunately only rewards them merit among the audience they can attract. Stratification on cultural consumption among audiences affect cultural workers as personified by Lolo Ambo and is evident through his catharsis in the film (Chan & Goldthorpe, 2005).

Wanda, the right hand of Conde Regalado, gathers the different members of their family to join in the welcoming of his uncle. He emerges from the dead after 20 years, since he was defeated by Tikboy’s father. It is interesting to note that the supernatural beings or so-called aswangs are the ostracized members of society. A gay hair-stylist, a nerd, a member of the New People’s Army, midgets, indigenous people, women and an “intsik” (derogatory term for Chinese commonly used in the country) are the villains of the movie. Lim (2015), explains that the social expulsion felt by the aswang are also felt by the queer and the marginalized subjects. This could be one reason that the alternative personalities of the villains in the movie are those subject to social rejection. The queer, as portrayed by Perfidia in the movie and the gay gorilla were also feared. In a scene where the old hermit is talking to Tikboy the gorilla appears and hugs Tikboy from the back sparking panic. The old hermit dismisses Tikboy’s fear by explaining that the gorilla is gay to which Tikboy answers “Mas nakakatakot nga ho lalo yan eh. Mukhang type yata ako eh. (That’s even scarier. It looks like he likes me.)”  We also take into consideration the fear of women as supernatural creatures springing forth from the early accounts of the Spaniards demonizing the babaylan, a priestess that treats, as an aswang. In order to subdue political dissent, the Spaniards also told the natives that women were evil and wicked since women led the upheavals during that time usually at night since they lacked armors and weapons (De Leon, 2012). 

After the search for the missing necklace with a garlic-shaped pendant, Tikboy transforms into Kumander Bawang and goes on to defeat the Conde. A series of fight scenes later, the film ends when he defeats the Conde and Wanda, a shape-shifter, after she crashes into the statue of Mary Magdalene. The film closes as Kumander Bawang flies off doing his usual job as a superhero with his original theme song playing in the background. Our fascination for horror is explained by Psychology where fear and pleasure are very closely related (Gander, 2015). Escapism - that there is something scarier than what we are being faced with now, also provides an explanation why we are so invested in horror films. Meanwhile, rooting for the underdog and our interest in superheroes stems from the fantasy response to the mismatching of our expectations and what is reality. The superhero formula recognizes that fantasy is not the opposite of reality but rather another way of making sense of reality (Saunders, 2011). The deconstruction of Kumander Bawang leaves us with a new point-of-view on how one should relate culture to every aspect of society and that truly, visual art is more than what meets the eye.

___________________________

References:

Saunders, B. (2011). Do the Gods Wear Capes?: Spirituality, Fantasy, and Superheroes A&C Black. Bloomsbury Academic

Lim, B. (2015). Queer Aswang Transmedia: Folklore as Camp. Kritika Kultura 24. Ateneo de Manila University.

Vandello, J., Goldschmeid, N., & Richards, D. (2007). The Appeal of the Underdog. Sage Journals. Volume: 33 issue: 12, page(s): 1603-1616.

Pizarro, David A. and Baumeister, Roy (2013). Superhero comics as moral pornography. In Robin S. Rosenberg (Ed.), Our superheroes, ourselves (pp. 19-36) New York, United States: Oxford University Press

Chan,T. & Goldthorpe,J. (September 2005). The Social Stratification of Theatre, Dance and Cinema Attendance. Cultural Trends. Taylor & Francis. Vol. 14(3), No. 55, September 2005, pp. 193–212. DOI: 10.1080/09548960500436774

De Leon, J. (1 August 2012). IJuander: Why do Filipinos still believe in aswang?. GMA News Online. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture /267856/ijuander-why-do-filipinos-still-believe-in-aswang/story/

Lapeña, C. (24 January 2013. Investigating the monster in 'The Aswang Phenomenon'. GMA News Online. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/291789/investigating-the-monster-in-the-aswang-phenomenon/story/

Vina Morales Official. (2015, April 1). Kumander Bawang 1988. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXdsSYsW6Po

New York Film Academy (14 August 2015). Stage vs. Screen: What’s the Big Difference?. New York Film Academy Student Resources. Retrieved from https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/stage-vs-screen-whats-the-big-difference/