Chicken Ala Carte by Ferdinand Dimadura depicts a way of life. Dimadura showed me a window through which I saw life far removed and yet ssimilar to what I know. My own experience made me see a cycle of hunger and poverty but when I place myself in the shoes of those who have less, I believe I see relative subsistence and, as the film framed it, happiness.
The film shaped an interesting perspective to visit, wherein, you place yourself in someone who has a different set of needs and wants from your own. This new perspective makes me ponder my concept of needs and poses a lot of questions in my mind: What do I need now? Why did it change? Why are these needs not met? When I stand from the legs of someone who has only known a live each day existence, I would have to say that I see nothing wrong with providing for my family however I can.
Nutrition and hygiene is not important. It is a luxury. Tomorrow will have to take care of itself because I have today to get through. It is like keeping a Job. You go out every day in hope that you have something to bring ome to your family, do your best on the Job, be happy of any find, go back home to the warm welcome of those who are waiting, give them the fruits of your days labor, give thanks for todays blessings, and be grateful that you won’t be sleeping hungry tonight. Anything more from here seems a bonus.
When I stand from the edge of my own experience, I would have to say that I saw the family stuck in a rut of poverty where a hand-to-mouth existence gets them by until the children learn from their parent’s, make a family of their own, and then start another vicious cycle of hunger nd poverty. Why another cycle? Because the children might never learn the education we would like them to learn, not Just how to rise to the subsistence level but rather to go beyond that and make the quality of life better; make better personal choices. I find it so fascinating that they had found a way to maximize what I see as already used resources.
Living off a societys excess. Anything more and we can call this an indirect donation. One thing you can’t fail to notice is the picture of happiness from the film. Was it borne out of relatively lower expectations and contentment? Maybe. Or maybe they are Just happy to be eating Chicken Joy. Let’s include Religion in the picture. A culture and their beliefs go a long way in the context of tolerance, happiness, and contentment. We have been taught that keeping the family whole is more important and that this alone is a reason to be grateful. Is this where we can inject the never-absent question of why do they keep having children?
Maybe it’s the famous idle hours, etc. Maybe they never knew that you should plan. Or maybe they thought to compensate with a big and happy family, never mind what will happen for ustenance. Coming from two different perspectives, I saw that needs were the same, it was only that one was Just more conscious of what is needed than the other who was relatively more concerned of getting by each day. At some point of a person’s life they will find themselves lacking, maybe when they start looking for a Job ana are not quallTlea, meet a person tney aamlre, or any sucn Instance. Inls Is t e point when they will strive to close that gap.
And this is where the difference in socio economic capacity and determination will come in. This is where rags to riches stories are made. The film is an interesting study of culture, at the least, with habit changes matching the pace in lifestyle and thus changes in personal choices. I grew up with the concept of eating healthy home cooked meals of rice and vegetables and taking enough to eat with no leftovers because we are taught not to waste blessings. This film has shown the manifestations of globalization and technology through the fast paced lifestyles that taught us to accept fast food as a meal substitute with
Marketing aiding their eat and run campaign with East meets West rice meals partnered with fat saturated pre-set, pre-cooked, and ready-to-eat food. It may also be interesting to note here that the degree of acceptance of fast food establishments have been so deep that consumer recognition is so high that these brands are treated as a landmark for the Philippines like Mayon is for Albay. My solution is simple at this time. I will be realistic. I mean to keep my family from this rut however I can. That is my resolve.
