Bomba: The Birth of a Genre Essay Example

align="justify">Figure 1: Ruben Abalone's Aha, starring Ditto Gall, Lilt Legal's, and Merle Fernando. Aha and the Birth off Genre Not unlike the American Western that had its launch with The Great Train Robbery (1903), the bomb genre had a pioneering film, too - Ruben Abalone's Aha, starring Merle Fernando and Lilt Legal's. The film tells the story of a husband and wife discontent with their sex life after the husband is rendered impotent by an accident at sea. The wife then has a love affair with his friend, until the husband dies in another accident.

Critics' responses have been unanimously poor. Del Mound points out that the movie does not have a redeemable quality, basing his Judgment on two things: 1) a lack of characterization, and 2) a lack of overall production quality (e. G. Script, directing, acting, and music)6. Ignitions, moreover, classifies I-Chaw plainly as pornography, citing the same reasons. He argues that the film subordinates the elements of cinema to the interest of prurience. It was not surprising though, that, like the bomb smirk that predated it and despite critical disparage, Aha was a hit.

Producers immediately Joined the bandwagon and subsequently released other films with the same sensibilities, namely Heliport, Hook, Allan as Allan, Bogus - all released in 1970 - Luray, Hided, Ecstasy - in 1971. 6 7 Colorado del Mound, WI-Chaw: Nag Bomb," Filipino Reporter, November 10, 1970. Ignitions, "Art or Pornography? " The Cash Cow that was Bomb Cinema The emergence of this new genre was primarily influenced by economic gratification. Indeed, at the height of the bomb in 1971, the Filipino film industry produced 251 movies, in 1972,

181; in 1973, 146; and in 1974, 1208.

Considering the fact that ,200,000 people flock to 1300 Philippine theaters daily, it was not so small an achievement. , Producers were earning in their investments. Proof of this was the emergence of a Hogue 2: December ladled news art Woven's explore exploits. Lace controlling star system specific to the bomb industry alone. Names such as Roseanne Marquee, Merle Fernando, Sally Rexes, Woven, Unnamable Ram Rexes, (! ), and Gloria Ditz were synonymous with the idea of bare flesh, and their incantations were enough to whet the Filipino moviegoers sexual appetite.

So much was the effect of the bomb on the medium at the time that it was capable of ringing down cultural institutions themselves - one of which was the Experimental Cinema of the the Philippines (ESP.). The ESP. began to decline in prestige since the start of the sass, when its promises of ushering in a new era of cinematic glory has been reduced to the resurrection of the resurrection bomb movie. Once acclaimed for financing such financing films as Himalaya, ROR, Plat, Mat, Jolters, and Mister's as TWA, it began to exploit the Manila TWA, Film Center to generate more funds by screening bomb films - the first of which was Cells Ad.

Castillo Snake Sisters. Instead of transforming the mainstream movie audience that it was Sisters. 8 Colorado del Mound, "Towards the Development of the Filipino Film," The Philippines Daily Express July development Express, -5, 1976. 4 formed to do, the ESP. chose to pander to tit, prompting Marco's to abolish it and turn it over to the private sector. Marketing strategies were

also used to maximize viewers: consider one news a cell. On December II/U, ten Doom star Woven wore a "see-tongue mall" that bared everything to the public, almost causing a riot.

The incident coincided with the release of her film Climax of Love, and was obviously a gimmick to attract viewers o the film. Such strategies, aside from the obvious marketing ploy of titles with sexual innuendos, were exemplary of commercialese cinema, even at the expense of the lives of its viewers 1 . "On the part of the audience, this extreme preoccupation with sex is a form of escapism that blinds and numbs them to social conditions that cry for change. This is the greater violence. 12 Sexual Revolution and Counterculture in the Cinematic Medium It is interesting to note that the release of I-Chaw in the Philippines was almost coincident with the release of the popular porn film Deep Throat (1972) in the US. Indeed, upon closer inspection, the emergence of both pornographic industries appeared at roughly the same time. Most obviously, the cause of these phenomena may be traced to the sexual revolution of the sass, when traditional codes of behavior regarding sexuality and interpersonal relationships were transformed 3.

The upheavals in human conduct were a result of numerous circumstances in scientific and artistic cultural productions. For example, the pioneering research by Alfred Kinsey on the sexual behavior of humans opened a scientific discourse into an otherwise taboo issue. Psychoanalytic theory on human sexuality was also pioneered during the last few decades before the sass, when Sigmund Freud proposed that human behavior was unconsciously controlled by the libido, or sexual energy.

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introduction of intrauterine devices and oral 9 Tweeze Parcel, "Eros and Experiment: Is the ESP. "Expanding the Parameters of Human Experience" or Promoting Sexism and Pornography? " National Midweek, November 6, 1985. 10 Taliban, December 4, 1970. 11 "Bomb' - did announced, anagrammatic', Taliban, March 22, 1972. 12 Justine Determined, "Sex in the Filipino Film/Seeks as Pipelining Filipino' Sagas, July 976. 13 David Allan, "Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution: An Unfettered History', 2000, Little, Brown and Company. Contraceptives also played a key role in this revolution.

Other advances followed suit, resulting in a less conventional view of human sexuality. Transformation Amid Sociopolitical Change The morphology of the bomb film, like of any other genre, cannot be held in place. It's historical evolution is fairly linear, and Toleration traces it quite neatly: the bomb film (septet. 1972); bold film, wet look stage (1974-1976); bold film, daring stage 1976-1982); IF (fighting fish film) films and penne films (1983-1986); SST or sex-trip film In the implementation of Martial Law in 1972, the bomb needed to change.

The messiest was the prevalent star in pre-Martial Law era, embodying the Hispanic influence located in Toga cinema. The western concept of beauty was standardized - with fair skin, sharp noses, and voluptuous bodies 5. The ultra-nationalist stance of the Marco's regime forbade such screenings of European bodies in favor of the native image on screen, paving the way for the emergence of the bold film and its stars such as Gloria Ditz, Elizabeth Ropes, and Adair Ramirez. The wet look bold film typically involved the female stars drenched in water, with their assets clearly visible beneath a thin undresses.