There is surface, and then there is depth. It was the 1950s when gay-themed films that so often saw portrayal from the King of Comedy Dolphy permeated every television of every household. Back then, the Filipino gay man only bifurcated into one-dimensional roles: the loud and flamboyant parloristang bakla who works in cheap salons, and…
Category: Menagerie
When the sun’s on the cusp of petering out from the sky and the breeze is finally cool on the cheek, people switch their porch lights on, anticipating the darkness in the offing. In Daly City, sundown is at 8:27 pm. For Beth*, this means rest. Her room is small and she has no door,…
Men are defined not by their accomplishments, but by the journey they undertook to achieve triumph. In totality, the feat alone does not justify their worth, it comes auxiliary to the herculean effort and eventual victory. When the end of the road seems all too imminent than than it already is, that’s when the beckoning…
The first thing to notice was the utter smallness of the door. Bordered by a frame of dark, distressed wood, it reveals a sizeable patch of dim light when opened—one so completely removed from its surroundings so that it appeared as if it were hovering. Behind that square of light are white granite walls and…
Picture this: You are currently standing on a platform, 720 ft. above ground. You try to reach over your itchy back without unlatching that large elastic cord delicately attached to you – your only hope in surviving this jump. Then you realize you have just hurled yourself out into the air and there is nothing…
It’s easy to notice the leads. They’re the faces you see along billboards, the names you often read about, and, if it strikes your fancy, they’re the same faces you root for in the movies. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets her back—they’re the ones who live the theater-filling happily-ever-after. The credits roll,…
Man’s mind is an enigma, and to this day, we can’t fully comprehend what it’s truly capable of. We only understand a fraction of how it works, and so much of what it can do is still left in the dark. Such was the case when American linguist Edward Sapir hypothesized in 1929 that the…
The judge’s eyes glosses over the numerous people awaiting his decision. Below him, the prosecution slumps down, disheartened and tired. This would be the third time in his entire career that he will make these two words come to fruition. The decision to free a life or condemn it has been delicately placed on his…
Some call it a madhouse, a theater for the freak shows, or a home for the misfits, but the truth is, one would find themselves walking along the halls of what seems to be a hybrid of a nature-filled retreat house, a white-walled hospital, and a prison with rooms for isolation. On the outside, it…
He stands at the center of the stage. Everyone’s eyes are on him while he plays to his heart’s content. Beads of sweat drip from his brow to the strings of his violin. The music crescendos, deafening the otherwise hushed atmosphere of the audience. Then, it slowly fades away, his piece drawing to a close.…