"Imeldific"

Jonathan Idolor

2013-14792

My first view on Imelda Marcos has been based on the view of my parents who witnessed martial law. I imagined her as the right hand to Ferdinand Marcos’ regime. The lady with the 3000 pairs of shoes amidst the people in poverty who don’t even have a change of clothes. Although Marcos was smart and was able to implement laws that were beneficial to our development, like others I cannot help but be angry at all the corruption and injustice done under Marcos.

The contents from the movie, at first, showed me Imelda's upbringing which explains her attitude. She was many times the star and she clearly loved the attention. She sees herself as the center of many things. In her mind she may have thought she was humble and that she was serving the people but it was clear how blinded she was by her self-absorbed nature. It does not excuse her ignorance or neglect to the truth regarding the state of the country under hers and Marcos' regime. Although she sees positive things in the past situations of the Philippines, she only focuses on the positive and turns her back on ugliness even though that is what needs to be addressed. A selective generosity that is composed of mainly her ego-centricity. "When I am living glamorously the people are happy." I do not know where this makes sense…

She spends and spends, one gown every time she goes in public. She has this need to idolize herself, having a diorama or shrine or something to worship her life. “Imeldific”, a superiority complex that she thinks helps people. She erects that so many buildings, some eventually never get used and lets the workers die when it collapsed.

The part about how she sees life with her interconnected drawings freaked me out. I’m not sure if it was seriously how she thought, I respect individual ideas, but it really seemed outrageous and seemed to have a shallow basis. It was funny how she seemed to be so convinced that she is right in how she thinks.

The shallowness to her reasoning is surprising and what’s more surprising is the image she has been able to build an international reputation for herself under that mindset. Shocking that she has had some influence over other political figures around the world with such s strange perspective on herself and her duty. It is true that she has the self-confidence and position to make a statement, but is what she has to say really for the unadulterated benefit of the Filipino people or what she thinks is the “imeldific” thing to do since she is so rich that she must give back.