2013 02664

Samalea, Ma. Bianca O.

Bs Arch IV Blk 2

1) Rap song "Sirena" by Gloc-9

The first time I heard the song Sirena by Gloc 9 is on a bus ride going home from school.
At first I thought that it is just another song about a life of a homosexual being and its
relationship with its father thus, giving me the impression of not giving it much thought. Since it
is given to us as an assignment to interpret the song, this will be my first time analyzing the
song. My analogy pertains only to the lyrics of the song and not on its music video. I will discuss
what I have understood while listening to it so my perception will be of my own and directly
from what I heard and will try to convey its deeper meaning.
On the first verse of the song I did not immediately assumed that the person implied
was neither gay nor a man. This reason is for me to give it a clean slate and an unknown entity
and base my judgement on that. I will tackle first the character of the speaker based on what is
given on the first verse, the line Palakad-lakad sa harapan ng salamin, Sinasabi sa sarili "ano'ng
panama nila?" implies to me that this persons being is disturbed because of what the line tells
us of the speakers insecurities and in my opinion its mock up confidence. On the first verse it
also tells us of how the speaker is being mistreated by its father since childhood but it did not
show on to what extents and as to why. The last line also showed us that the speakers
character despite the fact that it is disturbed, it has a soft spot for its father.

The second verse gave me a concrete justification for what Ive been theorizing since
the first verse the speaker is not gay, rather its a she. The line Di ko na po isusuot ang
lumang saya ni inay implies to me that the mother have passed away and it play a great
importance on what my theory is about. It is that the speaker is a female and since her
mothers death she has been mistreated by her father because of the grief and depression of
his wifes passing. The line Iniisip ko na lamang na baka ako'y ampon gave way to another
theory that what it tells us might be true. It gave birth to an idea of how the mother died and
what happened before. From what I see is that the mother had an affair and the speaker is the
fruit of it. When the father knew about it, it may have caused him to hurt his wife resulting to
her death and to his being nonsensical. Thus, this information justify the actions of the father
giving him reason to mistreat the speaker because he does not see her as his own child. I think
that the speaker did not know any of what happened in the past and is being kept in the dark
about it. I believe that the extent of the mistreatment is much worse that what it tells us, that
the speaker is being violated of her right of freedom and possession. From this angle we can
see a darker image of what is pertained. My second theory is that the father forced the speaker
to shave her head and to pretend to be a boy because of the reason that he still sees his wife in
the eyes of the speaker and as she grew up the father gradually believed in its own mind that
the speaker is indeed a boy. Thus giving the society an impression of her being a boy because of
what they see physically. On the other hand, the speaker has this mentality and integrity of
being a girl thus telling us repeatedly that she is beautiful and a sirena on the chorus part.
This theory can be supported by the line Hanggang sa naging binata na ako teka muna mali,
dalaga na pala 'to and the idea of the society being forced to see the speaker as a boy can also
be justified by the lines on both first and second verse Kaya parang lahat ay nalilito & Pero
bakit parang lahat ay nalilito pa rin. This lines shows us that the society is still confused and
blinded of what they have been fed since the beginning. And on the last verse on the part that
the father asked for forgiveness and said Dahil kung minsan mas lalaki pa sa lalaki ang bakla
shows us that the father instilled in his own mind that the speaker is a man that acts like a girl
which tells him that his son is gay, this thinking only showed us that the speaker failed to
convey her identity to the society let alone his father.
For me, this theory may have a lot of holes but it is what I believe I heard from the song.
I think that this song tells us about a woman forced to act like a man by her father and the
society because of some circumstances and her fight to convey her own identity and right to be
called Sirena a beautiful woman.

2) Tang "No to parent-judging" commercial

This commercial shows us the truth about society. That it is unjust and always
discriminating. This tells us of the power that the society holds on ones self, the power to crush
us with mere glances and small talks. It may have showed in the end a happy ending but happy
endings are never true it is just a fabrication formed by our own imagination. Think about what
is really happening beyond what is shown to us, think of what the children are feeling if they
are being judged, rather their parents being judge through their appearance. As a realist, one
would expect them to be disturbed and affect their relationship with their parents. I believe
that even though what the standards foretold that a child is innocent and pure, I think that to
be judge by harsh environment can have a really big effect on their future. This is what I am
talking about the society, that it is frightening to fight against it, that one should always accept
their standards and live with it, that if you value your identity and whole being you will be
destroyed by it.
In my conclusion I would like to point out that the children shown in the commercial
choose to be different, to have their own Identity. And it is normal when it comes to a child but
as he grow up, hell learn soon the meaning of what I imply. That society will never change its
ways even if we to plead it again and again, that no matter how hard we try society will still
judge us, thus, giving me the impression that it is pointless to have a commercial based on a
plea of freedom from the standard norm.