Insights on the movie: Batad: Sa Paang Palay

The Self and the Other: 
On Being Local and Global

The movie “Batad: Sa Paang Palay” showed to me different kinds of thoughts, feelings and reactions. Looking into the movie’s quality per se, it showed that it can stand with its underlying theme, story, and essence. As for this reflection paper’s case, I will be reacting to some ecological and socio-spatial issues that I have seen in the movie by analyzing it by looking into two of the most common binary opposites in the study of geography, the dichotomy of the self and others and the local-global debate.

The movie was interesting and intriguing in a way for me, as anthropology major and as a Filipino. It showed a new kind of viewing the notions about indigenous people in the contextualization of an indie-film. In this film, the idea of how do the characters in the movie see themselves on the context of comparing their self vis-a-vis other locals and with the outsiders coming to Batad was very evident. One of the points I have seen in the movie possessing some ecological and socio-spatial issues was the notion of comparing the economic, social and cultural differences of both the locals of Batad and the immediate outside (for the movie’s case, Baguio City) and the far outside (the foreigners).  The idea of looking to the notion of the self in comparison to outsiders can pose a critical assessment on the question of why do they look different from the rest. In the movie, the main character had a certain focus on the idea of having a pair of shoes. He then questions his nature and capabilities on as to why he was not capable of having his own pair of shoes. The idea of the other being civilized, ordered and properly dressed (including the idea of having footwear) poses the idea that he is different from the others because he is not the same as the other. Adding up the idea that he doesn’t have enough money to buy his own shoes because of his obligation to help his family financially and the question of the importance of the shoes in their place give an intriguing issue on as to how their very own idea of the self as a reflection of their individuality tends to be in line with their conceived notions of the other. I remember one of his friends questioning the need for him to have a pair of shoes saying that “Hindi naman yan kailangan dito sa atin.” justifying that he doesn’t need a pair of shoes in Batad. In this argument, I saw a direct relation of their notions on how they are portraying their own notions of their selves on contrast and in comparison with their idea of the others.

Another important point that can be seen as an idea of the self and other was with the idea of the commodification of the cultural traditions and material culture. The socio-spatial conditions of the place, being a tourist destination, depict a clear manifestation that the exoticization of the others can be a market of interest for tourism purposes. Like in the movie’s case, the idea and the act of selling the bul’ul, the Igorot’s God for harvest, was a taboo for them because it will bring bad luck to the person selling it. But despite this tradition, there are cases in the movie wherein some traditional artifacts were sold in exchange for money due to its “exotic nature” simply because they are conceived as marketable for the other’s (foreigners/outsiders) fascination with indigenous culture and artifacts. Another one was when the main character started to wear their indigenous clothing so that he can be an attraction for photo opportunities thus being able to generate income. Due to their need for a more stable source of income, the materialization of the self and others came into the contextualization of the socio-spatial issues and condition of Batad.

On the idea of local and global, another important thing I noticed in the movie was their issue of keeping their tradition of rice cultivation and the inheritance of heirloom lands. Some of them sold their agricultural lands for them to able to find jobs outside the country. The idea of having high paid jobs outside the country is primarily the reason why they choose to go outside the country; for them the income coming from rice cultivation is not sufficient and the idea of planting rice in a traditional manner has been out of the global context. In this regard, the issue of the ecological and socio-spatial conditions can be seen as a manifestation of the emerging global perceptions of the new and modern world entering the community of Batad. The notion of having good paying jobs outside the Batad or even out of the country is the best way to survive the emerging need for subsistence and living. It was the modernity offered by the global progress that made the residents of Batad question their local living. I even remember the main character asking his mother the question on as to why his father chose to live the traditional Igorot life, relying most on the ecological and traditional way of life offered by the space they occupy. The power of language has also been seen as an integral issue on the notions of socio-spatial considerations primarily on the superiority of globally influential language like English in making a mark as a progressive and effective medium of expression. In the movie, the main character has this notion that if he was able to speak English he has more opportunities of earning. On the other hand, they can also be a mixing of global and local influences that can be seen in the presence of folk Catholicism depicted in the mixing of the folk religiosity and Christianity practiced primarily in their community during their agricultural activities.

In the end, the notions of the self and other marked by local and global influences has been an analytical tool in looking at the different ecological and socio-spatial issues faced not just by the residents of Batad but of almost indigenous Filipino communities. The notion of their “traditional and local self” has been marked as a conservative counterpart of the “modern and globalized others” primarily due to the existence of globalization and emergence of modernity among the human cultures. As for my own opinion, this argument is certainly dependent on the ideas on a contextual definition of the so-called self in the context of valuing differences among everyone; that in the context of humanity, the idea of being others and global would still matter on a firm sense of being a localized self, unique yet open for differences and similarities. As what one of the characters has said, “Isip lang ng tao ang nag-iiba, hindi ang buhay.”

***(A Reflection Paper submitted as a requirement for Geog 173 (Cultural Geography), 05 September, 2014)***