Maria Clara & Ibarra; A lens for today's social justice issues

Maria Clara at Ibarra is trending on Netflix in the Philippines, a recent new release after an epic hit TV run of 105 episodes!

I usually try to avoid fictional series as the magnetic pull to "watch just one more" swallows a sense of time and priority. I am somehow dragged in this time by a combination of personal curiosity and my kids' struggles to grasp the deep language of the renowned novel, Noli me Tangere (Touch Me Not).

Noli me Tangere is considered as the great novel of the Philippines about colonial injustice.

Written by Jose Rizal, the Philippines' national hero, and followed by El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed), these literary works are compulsory high school and college study requirements.

Both are difficult reads for students, and our children are no exception. With Tagalog as a third language in our home, it is challenging to understand the "deep Tagalog" translation let alone complete homework. assignments.

The Maria Clara at Ibarra series proves that history is still repeating. The social welfare issues that plagued the Philippines centuries ago are still headlining the news tabloids.

New faces and names fill the articles and news posts but the scripts are all too familiar.

It seems like little has changed!

Maria Clara at Ibarra presents Rizal's novels' to a fresh eyed audience; connecting hiatorical fiction with strangely accurate reality.

The characters' represent social justice issues through a modern day lens. We now have a relevent bridge for the gap between history's trauma and a call to social response action for a new generation.

I am honestly not a fan of Filipino drama productions. They are frequently overacted with excessive emotional music and effects, and I usually tire of the predictable storylines. BUT I am quietly enjoying these episodes despite the presence of some of the above and my frequent glances at the English subtitles for clarification. 

As a parent, I admittedly find the Filipino history subjects draining. The traditional culture is so rich and beautiful, yet the text books are filled with tiresome lists of endless repetative dates. Learning is a remote and laborious task for checklist compliance rather than an engaged understanding of original roots and national identity.

So, what is keeping me hooked into the TV series and yielding to my children's request to watch another chapter? 

Surprisingly, I am developing a deeper appreciation and connection with the heart of Jose Rizal and his desperate desire for change. 

It is no secret that I am from a colonizing nation. In my 20 years of expat living, I have seen and experienced firsthand the effects of historical atrocities, yet I have minimal recall of their coverage in my European history classes. I remember two years of high school. studying medieval medicine and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I suspect the violence, brutality, and dominance of international invasions and oppression were diluted, or worse, intentionally eliminated, from the curriculum's focus. Such a dangerous erasure that separates us from the painful realities shaping our fragile world now.

War, invasion, occupation, and greed are still the same painful issues of history rewriting.

The screen adaptation confronts me with the same greed, racism, discrimination, power struggles, hypocrisy, abuse, exploitation, poverty, and corruption.

It is impossible to ignore the parallels as I grapple the blatant irony of the issues we encounter with our ministry work at Lifenet Children's Foundation Inc.

Rizal so insightfully and eloquently pulled these truths into the spotlight for a different audience, yet the students now required to read and respond have no frame of reference to connect to a fuller perspective. 

The truth is painfully real and I find myself identifying with the character's powerlessness and futile attempts to change the narrative. The frustrations and diaappointments are too familiar and similar.

Perhaps Rizal would be disheartened to know his dreams for progress, education, and freedom have moved so slowly over the centuries, yet I sense he would not be surprised. The complicated layers of his literary authorship are not wrapped in a Disney bow ending or expectation.

I can switch off the TV, but beyond our street are the same challenges he wanted to expose and address through the power of his ink.

My dad says, "If you change nothing, nothing changes!" 

I am still gripped by the possibility of a historical turnaround. I cannot rewrite the ancient scripts, but I am trying to be a part of a solution, albeit a tiny drop in an ocean of need and distortion. I want to be the change I long to see. 

I think this was Rizal's ultimate goal.

Change is more than a hope; it is a responsibility combined with an active response. It is more than merely turning another page. It requires us to write fearlessly. This is the legacy we are left with regardless of our origins.

No erasing or diluting!

Scribes arise!