LIM, JOSIAH M

ENG 2 F-4R

Recit Instructor: Sir Christian Tablazon

Assessing Heterosexual Dynamics Displayed in Philippine

Infidelity-Romance Cinema

Today, an abundance of films containing the same theme on

deception, temptation and rules in a relationship are trending.

While the Filipino populace generally fancies romance films

filled with memorable one-liners, this growing interest in

stories of third-party relationships is quite surprising. Out of

the ten top-grossing local films of all time, four movies carry

this similar theme and are all released just within the past

three years. One might wonder at what elements comprise these

films that make them popular. These films may seem to carry a

myriad of relationship twists and turns but basically, every plot

is recycled and carries significant plot points from its earlier

counterparts like Sampaguitang Walang Bango (1921) (Coronel, 2013).

However, recent films no longer conform to the pattern of

revolving around a central male character or a given female

mistress, but allow the scenario to dictate the gender dynamics

involved, which gives more freedom and flexibility for the

idiosyncracies of both male and female lead roles. In general,

this allowed the characters to pursue notions of worth specific

to their gender, not to the emotion of love alone.

Men and women approach relationships in vastly different

perspectives and these differences have effects on how each

gender view infidelity, both sexual and emotional (Formica,

2009). Males are typically more affected with physical

infidelity, perhaps due to the innate territorial nature of men.

Females, on the other hand, suffer more from emotional

infidelity, an example of which is when their partner becomes

emotionally intimate with another. This then marks a distinction

between the possible responses of each gender to unfaithfulness.

In addition, a relationship between gender-based social style,

gender norms for cognition, social expectation and the reaction

to the disruption of that expectation is apparent and different

for each gender (Formica, 2009). A movie can effectively

illustrate the aforementioned elements. In particular, films

reflect the current socially-accepted gender norms as well as

stereotypes of gender roles in a society. For the paper, selected

top-grossing and mainstream films from the past three years

(2011-2013) are chosen to be references for illustration.

Former movies heavily focused on the querida, the colloquial

term for mistress, sacrificing herself for the sake of her

lover’s happiness. This notion of martyrdom recurs often,

surfacing in Marilou (Vilma Santos) in Relasyon (1982) and Nenita

in Sampaguitang Walang Bango. Modern films, on the other hand,

presented much more liberal characters, allowing the mistress to

be more dynamic, hence, the expansion of the sub-genre to a

broader spectrum. In light of this, infidelity should be the more

appropriate term for all cases of affairs, whether it be extra-

marital or not, as long one party violates a set of rules or

relationship norms (Leeker & Carlozzi, 2012). “Mistress” films

are often delimited by the husband-wife relationship of one of

the female lovers. Nowadays, however, with the society being more

liberal with ideas such as pre-marital sex, majority of the films

run a plot having focus on boyfriend-girlfriend relationships or

on engaged couples. An example of the former is Seduction (2013)

produced by Regal Films and examples of the latter are A Secret

Affair (2012) by Viva Films and The Bride and the Lover (2013), also by

Regal Films.

When the husband is confronted regarding marital infidelity,

he usually defends himself by stating his traditional gender role

– being a breadwinner for the family. Extra-marital affairs

instigated by the husband are often on grounds of financial

stability, that as long as one is able to afford it and provide

for the needs of the legitimate family, sex outside marriage is

appropriate and okay (Gonzales, 2003). This can be associated to

how Filipinos raise their children: Girls are assigned to

domestic or feminine tasks while the boys are assigned to labor

that requires strength and hardly any emotional bearing,

generally, masculine tasks. It is also noted that men who do such

are highly regarded, though in secret, by their peers (de Vera,

1976). Acquiring a querida becomes a benchmark of being a man.

This level of social acceptance and dominance is typically

attributed to the alpha male (Hawley & Little, 2008). Some

characteristics relevant to the image of the alpha male are the

ability to control various aspects of one’s life, to attain a

certain level of aggression, to influence peers and to attract

sexual partners. In general, the alpha male must gain a certain

degree of attainment that enables him to acquire objects, in this

case, mistresses, that further boosts his ego.

Interestingly, this is common for the unfaithful fathers of

the women involved in the affairs. Not only are they rich, but

they have established themselves in respected companies and

created a reputation. The effect, however, is a seeming gap

between their relationship with their daughters, possibly

resulting into an unmentioned but present “daddy issues”. The

result then is the daughter’s greater attachment to their mother,

who becomes their confidant especially when they themselves are

presently confronted by similar issues. Rafi (Anne Curtis) in A

Secret Affair (hereon ASA), is told by her mother that her father has

a long-standing affair with another woman. The same is also true

for Jasmine (Carla Abellana) in My Neighbor’s Wife (2011, hereon

MNW). Notably, the reaction of the mothers differ. The former

accepts the affair unwillingly, as the paramour threatens to

meddle in the life of the children. This form of matrimonial

martyrdom was particularly common to older films. Later on, as

the film progresses, the mother gains the courage to confront the

mistress that gave confidence for Rafi and herself. The latter,

on the other hand, accepted the unfaithfulness of her husband and

instead of confronting himself, took up a lover for herself.

Jasmine, in the first act of the movie, receives hurt when

Giselle (Lovi Poe) unintentionally sleeps with her husband Bullet

(Jake Cuenca). She then retaliates by taking up her own lover,

Giselle’s husband Aaron (Dennis Trillo). Another similar

situation develops in The Bride and the Lover (2013, hereon TBTL) when

Josephine Paredes (Carmi Martin) reveals to her daughter Vivian

(Lovi Poe) about her husband’s affair. The confrontation helps

Vivian decide to move on from her misfortunes. It can be said

then, that their parent’s marriage heavily affects the outcome of

the women’s own relationships.

The Mistress (2012) differs because the plot focuses on the

affair of Rico Torres (Ronaldo Valdez) with Saree (Bea Alonzo).

Rico is an accomplished businessman who has kept Saree as his

mistress for years. The conflict arises when JD (John Lloyd Cruz)

meets Saree by chance and begins a relationship. Conflict arises

when he discovers his father’s affair and he confronts his fatehr

about it. Rico, as the CEO of a company, has great control over

his peers as well as his own son’s financial stability.

Furthermore, his role as the alpha male in the film dictates the

need for character development in JD. JD is forced to accept his

predicament and strives to achieve dominance by pursuing his

affections for Saree, despite knowing Saree’s prior affair with

his father. Eventually, at the end of the film, the alpha male

role is turned over to JD when he replaced his father as CEO and

when he won the heart of Saree.

What is most apparent with JD is his initial lack of

dominance. It can be observed that not all lead male roles in

infidelity movies inherently posses the traits associated with

the alpha male; there is often the need to secure them or

reinforce them. In Philippine romance cinema, these are usually

manifested in good looks and toned bodies, material possessions,

popularity among peers and presence of a paramour. A common trend

exists in infidelity films wherein the leading men are either

developing their own perceived concept of masculinity,

rationalizing their mistakes in terms of their manliness or

exercising their “privileges” as the dominant male.

In MNW, Bullet is depicted as the alpha male. Rich, well-

accomplished and popular with his female clients, he serves to be

the model for which Aaron, his bestfriend, tries to follow all

throughout the film. As a masterstroke, Bullet accidentally has

sex with Aaron’s wife. This crushes Aaron emotionally resulting

into him seeking redemption later on by taking Bullet’s wife. The

development of Aaron’s character from the underdog to the

aggressor persists the entire movie and reaches climax when he

humiliates Bullet by boasting his affair with Jasmine. At the

epilogue, it is apparent that he achieves a level of dominance,

though not necessarily on par with Bullet’s.

Riki (John James Uy) in Rigidon, attempts to control his life

which is at the brink of shambles due to great debt, unstable

jobs and extravagant lifestyle. Despite being a finalist in a

reality television contest, Riki’s fame failed to materialize. He

tries to maintain social status by acquiring material possessions

that are often beyond his means and attending social events. At

one of these parties, he meets Sam (Yam Concepcion), who he

seduces and becomes his lover. As the film progresses, things

turn from bad to worse, as even his wife tries to have him

killed. Shaken by a series of unexpected twists, Riki’s decides

to accept his fate as a unsuccessful actor and a poor husband,

enabling him to move on despite great uncertainty for his future.

While he does not achieve the traditional picture of masculinity,

he, however, achieves a modern view of the man who prioritizes

the family over the self (Rogers, 2010).

In contrast, No Other Woman’s (2011, hereon NOW) Ram (Derek

Ramsey) does have a relatively established life. The only issues

present are his inability to please his father-in-law, who is

later shown to also have an affair, and his hatred against his

father, who left his family to pursue his dreams. As he struggles

with these concerns, Kara (Anne Curtis) tempts him to falter in

his marriage with Charmaine (Christine Reyes). While the affair

is seemingly casual, eventually, their emotions become involved

and brings suffering from all parties. Eventually, as the

conflict heightens, it becomes apparent that in his anger against

his father, Ram begins to emulate him. After a serious accident,

Ram reconciles with his wife and gains closure on his other

issues. Compared to the previous movies, it is only in this one

does the main male lead role achieve a complete sense of the

alpha male. Not only are the social traits acquired, but Ram also

attains a sense of fulfillment and actualization that is uncommon

with other infidelity movies.

ASA’s Anton (Derek Ramsey) sees his ego deeply hurt as he is

left by Rafi the eve of their wedding. Shortly after, he

willingly accepts an affair started by Rafi’s friend Sam (Andi

Eigenmann), in a pretense of casual hook-ups. However, as Rafi

returns, their relationships are placed in chaos, resulting to

ruined relationships. Finally, the movie closes indicating that

the three go their seperate ways, after Anton tries to propose

once again but is rejected by Rafi. In the end, as the

relationship ended, he only contemplates the regrets over the

mistakes he made.While Anton is certainly the prime masculine

model in the film, having established himself well with friends

and subordinates, his sense of manliness falters, as he says, “I

wasn’t a man.”, in response to his friend’s relationship advice.

Furthermore, he also admits that he used Sam in a sexual way to

reassure his ego.

TBTL’s Philip (Paulo Avelino) is not the main focus of the

movie. Rather, he acts as catalyst for the affairs to happen and

insights to his character are rarely shown to the audience.

However, his role is essentially one that is to be desired by the

male audiences. He is good-looking, doing somewhat well in his

job, and more importantly, sleeping with the two desired ladies

of the film. While there are insults to his ego for the two

failed engagements, he, almost casually, rebounds from them and

proceeds from one relationship to the other. The alpha male model

in him is static throughout the movie, something that rarely

occurs in the subgenre.

Opposite the men are the women, whose roles may differ

substantially, but are purposed to be the objects of desire for

the men. Regardless of the character, plot and contribution to

the overall scheme of the movie, all the women in infidelity

films, maybe in the entire romance genre, are subjected to the

male gaze. The male gaze is a feature of gender power asymmetry

wherein the women are objectified because heterosexual men are in

control of the cinema (Mulvey, 1975). Perhaps the most common

indicator of the male gaze is how the camera focuses on the

female body for an extended period of time. The focus is entirely

given to the woman’s body, usually scantically clad in bikini,

transitioning from head to toe or vice versa, while being “gazed”

upon by the man, both the actor and the audience. From Sophia

(Solenn Heusaff) in Seduction (2013), to Anne Curtis and Christine

Reyes, in all their roles, every woman’s body gets screentime,

perhaps indicating the country’s preference for a specific type

of beauty or reflecting a message for women to conform to the

accepted level of “desirable”.

The male gaze becomes particularly important when depicting

the femme fatale. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the femme

fatale as a mysterious and seductive woman whose beauty often

captivates lovers into undesirable and compromising situations.

By objectifying the women, they become sex symbols, desirable

icons that compel lustful longings. The term is deregatory, the

role is commonly used for villains or the rivals of the heroes.

The mistress is usually the seductress in most infidelity films.

However, at times, traits of the femme fatale are used by the

heroins in order to establish control or regain what they loss.

For this instance, the victims or offended party resort to them

to take back their lovers. The character is then transformed from

being a passive character to an active one. She usually revives

her lover’s interest by gaining confidence, taking control of her

life and establshing herself as a socially-dominant female. This

dichotomy of roles are often used in love affair films. But,

there are cases where there are no dominating personalities among

the female roles. In such cases, the women react to what the men

need, more often than not, as catalysts to change an aspect of

the men’s lives.

Seduction revolves on the distinction between the femme fatale

and the young, emotionally-conflicted but naive lover. Trina’s

(Sarah Lahbati) personality contrasts with Sophia as they vie for

Ram’s (Richard Gutierrez) feelings. Richard, the struggling alpha

male in this sequence, first meets Trina, who charms him with her

innocence. But, shortly after meeting him, Ram suddenly meets

Sophia as he saves her from a burning hotel. Sophia becomes very

attached to Ram and asks him to be his bodyguard, eventually

seducing him. All throughout the film, Ram is torn between the

lovers but ultimately chooses Trina, driving Sophia in rage and

desperation. Later, it is found out that Sophia looked for a

father figure in Ram because of her parent’s untimely death. This

explains her obsession with him after he saved her life. Trina,

on the other hand, looks to Ram as a lover, who gives her comfort

and love.

ASA presents the clash between the roles. After leaving

Anton, Rafi gathers her thoughts as she is shaken by the enormity

of the commitment of the marriage. Sam immediately moves after

Rafi’s departure to seduce Anton. Upon return, Rafi fights for

Anton’s feelings but does not resort to seducing him, for Anton

was already in love with her and was willing to give up Sam for

their relationship. What was notable in the film is the

motivation of Sam in pursuing Anton. At one particular, Sam’s

father was convincing her to look for work, not as a means of

acquiring money, but as a measure of self-worth. She responds by

indicating that she does not the work, as long as she finds the

“perfect” husband. On another scene, when Anton finally decides

to discontinue their affair, Sam pleads to him,”Please be with

me! Please choose me!” This indicates that ultimately, her worth

as a mistress is dictated by the choice of Anton between her and

Rafi and the amount of love she receives from him. This is

further backed by her history of having not one “matinong”

boyfriend.

In NOW, Charmaine contests for her husbands affections after

Kara tempted him for an affair. Initially, Charmaine’s character

was weak in character: she was unsure of herself, naive and

unwilling to fight for her marriage. However, after being

persuaded by her mother, who is also undergoing a similar

conflict, she adapted by picking up traits to seduce her husband

and going toe-to-toe with Kara’s efforts. On the other hand, Kara

had to prove nothing as she was already the heiress of the

company who hired Ram. Furthermore, their affair was purely

physical at first, implying she used Ram to assuage her physical

needs. In the end, Charmaine triumphed by asserting her emotional

intimacy with Anton, after he was hospitalized from the accident.

The situation in TBTL involves two bestfriends, Vivian and

Shiela (Jennilyn Mercado), who both fell in love with Philip.

Conflict arose when Vivian’s marriage was stopped when she

exposed Philip and Shiela’s prior affair. After the scandal,

Philip and Shiela tried to repair their relationship and start

anew. Vivian returned, however, to ruin the relationship by

feigning reconciliation with Shiela and meeting with Philip in

secret. Ultimately, neither of them got married with Philip but

they restored their friendship. A particular scene near the end

showed Vivian contemplating her lack of success in love and

attributing it to her use of deceit and lies to secure

relationships. Despite her position as heiress to a construction

company, she felt unfulfilled due to the lack of recognition from

a man.

The plot from MNW is similar to TBTL, only with more serious

affairs and effects on each character’s personalities. The

unintentional one-night stand with Bullet caused Giselle’s role

to be completely reversed. Instead of having the stronger

personality, she willingly subdued herself to regain Aaron’s

trust in her. Her worth then became subjected to what her husband

allows her to do and what she is willing to give up for their

relationship. The situation also becomes reversed for Bullet and

Jasmine’s marriage. Formerly, Jasmine was a dedicated housewife

who seldom was allowed any activities not related to house-

keeping. However, after the scandal, she decided to take up a

business and removed all former restraints placed by Bullet.

Additionally, the role reversal also happened to Bullet, who

decided to be more of a family-man – resorting to new model of

masculinity. Later on, after the unfaithfulness of Aaron and

Jasmine were uncovered, it was Giselle’s wishes that are

actualized when she became pregnant. On the other hand, Bullet

and Jasmine seperated, which devoided her of full companionship

with her son. The film closes as she seen to be emotional at her

son’s temporary departure.

Rigodon presents an extreme case wherein the women highly

value their relationship with the man. Despite her husband’s

attention on her, Regine (Max Eigenmann) hires a hitman to kill

her husband after confirming suspicions of one his affairs. As

the story is told, Regine is an unhappy housewife who dedicates

her time for her daughter and for baking cupcakes. When she fails

miserably in her pasttime of baking, she falls into depression,

leading her to make the decision to hire the gunman. Similarly,

Sam, also suffers from depression due to a failed relationship

prior to Riki and an overbearing father. She then put a lot of

her hope on her relationship with Riki. However, after finding

out that Riki is married, she becomes inconsolable and

ultimately, commits suicide in front of Riki. Both women placed a

great value on the attention given to them by Riki, but value

also gave them intense jealousy. This, pushed on by their

failures, became motivations for them to commit irrational

actions.

With the liberalism in thought of the Philippine society,

infidelity films are no longer bound by characters that conform

to traditional stereotypes. The mistress film is no longer tied

to matrimonial martyrdom alone. While clearly lacking originality

in some aspects, the industry has evolved more into a business

that knows how to deliver what the society demands with more

movies giving emphasis on memorable one-liners, scandalous

confrontations, fashionable hysteria, the publicity of neurosis,

and the contrivance of a normative resolution (Coronel, 2013).

Having said this, the infidelity genre is much broader in

perspective, now capturing all forms and types of affairs, not

the extra-marital alone. However, the observation is that it also

no longer follows the central theme of love and rules of

relationship but instead allows the heterosexual roles to give

much more bearing to their esteem, that is, their respect for

others, respect by others, self-confidence, achievement, etc

(Maslow, 1943). Following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it follows

that after love and a sense of belonging, the esteem needs of the

individual present a higher form of motivation. The gradual shift

of our culture from a family-oriented one to that of the Western

individualistic could also have affected our cinema culture. The

“lower” form of esteem, which includes respect by others, is

manifested in the films as the character’s need to conform to

traditional stereotypes such as the alpha male to attain social

dominance. However, the “higher” form, involves self-respect,

which is manifested in confidence, independence and freedom

(Maslow, 1954).

It can be concurred that relationships between main

characters, both male and female in the infidelity-romance genre

are motivated not by love alone, but rather by the need to

emphasize and secure their self-value. The notion of self-worth

as displayed in the cinema differs for each gender: For the

males, it becomes the feeling of achievement and confidence once

control over one’s life is attained; For the females,

unfortunately, it still relies heavily on the worth given to them

by the man, often measured in terms of love and respect. A lot of

female roles experience liberalization only after receiving

empowerment from their themselves or from their lovers.

Ultimately, gender dynamics are motivated by the individuals

desires of each gender, as dictated by the scenarios they are

situated in.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

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mistress-in-philippine-cinema/

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Retrieved from:

http://eapi.admu.edu.ph/content/filipino-context-infidelity-and-

resilience

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