Twenty-Five Twenty-One: Not a Happy Ending Story

Beware of this post if you have not seen the movie.  Spoilers on the way!

To the Gen-X, this is something of a feel good movie that hinges on fantasy and reality.  It brought back lots of memories.  High school girls crushes on college-age guys, while male classmates would just ask, "What about me?".  And then there is this so-called first love - and first break-up.   

Twenty-Five Twenty-One revolves around the story of two young adults, Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), a young man whose Chaebol family went bankrupt during the 1998 IMF crisis in South Korea, and Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri), a high school fencing prodigy, who met in an unusual circumstance, became friends, then lovers.  But whether they ended up with each other or not is untold in the story.

The drama opened with Na Hee-do's daughter,  Kim Min-chae discovering her mother's diary and began reading them. She learned that Na Hee-Do also has a roller coaster relationship with her own mother who seems to disapprove of her fencing passion.  She also got to know of her mother's passion for her sport, her inspiration turned rival turned friend and grit and determination to win.  Then she reconstructed the story of friendship and love between her mother and Baek Yi-jin.

 

It was a bit frustrating at the end.  Maybe the writers were rushing towards the finish line.  Some said they revised the script. Why can't Yi-jin and Hee-do's love survive the distance?   Bummer!  There are too many tears wasted, from the actors and from the viewers. 

At the end of 16 episodes, we have to idea who Min-chae's father is.  The father must have a Kim surname.  Where was he in the story?   

What happened after their goodbyes?  What about those good times wherein they inspired each other to live life to the fullest?  Is it that easy to love and let go?  Are thank yous enough?  Why can't they be together?  Is there a 3rd party involved?

The reality is, those 35 and above can always relate to this, high school love seldom lasts.  Think of your own high school reunions and those love teams in the past. I can say this based on my own observation, but never the experience.  

What can you say of Twenty-Five Twenty-One's ending?

Philippine Election 2022: Stupid Voters

"Only stupid voters will choose ______".  Fill in the blanks if you wish. Some, sounding high and mighty, would even tell others "You are whom you vote".  Others make fun of the "lutang" and "lugaw" of the other candidate.  And some even had the gall to call one candidate, "Boguk". These are the familiar scenes and posts of some of my friends in FB. 

Fallacious as they were, but to their minds, they cannot comprehend why people would bring back to power the son of the former President who is known in History to be the most corrupt, brutal and had stolen billions of pesos from the country.  I have thought of the same.  Why are some of my friends and family members voting for him?  Are they stupid voters as well?  I must be too full of myself if I judge them based on whom they choose.

I tried to ask some of them.  The older ones mentioned the highlights of Marcos era wherein prices were low and that most of the large companies were owned by the government.  Some said that they did not feel any threat during Martial Law period. Many infrastructures still standing today were built during that era.  

The younger ones could not give concrete answers.  "Basta".  Some would even say that "Wala kasing nagawa mga Dilawan". 

The not so young would say that 36 years should have been enough to convict the Marcoses and recover the funds.  That failure, they assume, could mean that the Marcoses were not really guilty at all.  I think these are the same lines propagated by Marcos apologists.   I heard my brother in law murmuring, and trying to convince her elder sister that the Marcoses had been unfairly treated by the mainstream media.

Why not Leni?  I voted for her in the last elections' VP race.  She thrived despite being bullied and not given any chance to shine. I think she's good.  I am glad people are supporting her.  But am I voting for her?

A friend posted in his FB page:"Yes friend, I am stupid! Well, that's what you said in your post about people who vote for the candidate I choose, right?"  He must be have been annoyed by the political posts of some in his circle.  That couldn't be me because I had no post for the longest time.  We even joked around our political choices when we met up for dinner.

I cannot say that my highly intellectual Professor was stupid because, years ago,  he chose a known corrupt official for President.  "If it's good for the economy, why not" I remembered him saying.  That statement, I really could not fathom.

Vote wisely, is a cliche. Some churches and groups, had prepared guidelines on whom to choose without necessarily endorsing someone. But members rarely follow.  Yet there are groups, or alleged cults, whose leaders endorsed the Jr., had bigger influence on their members.  They think they're stupid if they won't follow their leader.

Throughout my voting history in the Presidential election, except for PNoy, all of my preferred candidates lost badly. But the Pnoy presidency was a bit of a disappointment.  He could have done better. Or at least his men could have done better. Did I regret voting for him?  Nope.  The others could have done worse. 

This 2022 election, I am voting for someone who I think is the best choice, and can run the country well if given the chance.  Some may call me stupid for choosing this one and not their preferred candidate.  Maybe I am. 

Blogging Thoughts 2022

I wonder what it will be like to start all over again in blogging.  What will be my first post like?  Will it be something like what I wrote way back in 2006?  Boredom.  It is a sad, sad word.  I could not recall what I was doing then 16 years ago.  Maybe I was in some crossroads of my young career that I wanted to be doing something else.

This blog is supposed to be a secret repository of my thoughts - my leftover thoughts.  That is why I used a pseudo-name.  I wanted to explore the internet, grow in it, like it is my own fantasy world.  I had a few short stories and poems posted  somewhere in the internet.  Everyone else at that time was having fake names.  I'm not sure if they wanted a new persona that is different from reality.  I don't know their reasons, or maybe it was something like a therapy for them.  I am not a recluse though.  Promise.

Time came when some readers (which are mostly bloggers, by the way) question the authenticity of some other bloggers' posts. People were asking bloggers their credentials.  What makes you an authority to write this or that? It was difficult to distinguish truth from fiction.  As for me, I didn't care if a post is true or just something created from one's imagination. If it was beautifully written, then go.  If the post is sincere, or funny, then go. The search for truth is up to the reader.  And blogs written by anonymous bloggers are not good sources for it.  Entertainment-wise, maybe yes.  By the way, I didn't doubt any of those bloggers whom I connected in the past.  I think they were all sincere and real people.

Then there was Facebook. Connect here and connect there.  Gone are the pseudo-names.  It became difficult to hide in the shadows.  Why are we hiding anyway?  No, there was no malicious reason at all. It was just like a kind of fun to be shrouded in a little mystery.  Then there was Twitter.  Short puns and plenty of meanings.  Who has the time to read lengthy posts when there is microblogging?   So every other blogger went to twitter to promote his/her posts.  I didn't follow that path.  I created another persona in twitter.  But then, some fun things never last.

Probably it's time to explore blogs once again.  I definitely don't want tiktok.  Those dancing turn me off.