KATHRYN FAYE F.

MENDOZA 11 – SERVICE

DED NA SI LOLO

A Reaction Paper

Soxy Topacio’s Filipino indie film Ded na si Lolo is a portrayal of the Filipino culture that caters
both typical Filipino family dramas and humor, highlighting various superstitious beliefs during a wake.
The plot of the movie orbits on a Filipino family grieving due to the death of one of its members which is
Lolo Juanito, the grandfather, as seen in the movie’s title from the perspective of Bobet (BJ Forbes). The
story started when Charing (Manilyn Reynes), one of Lolo Juanito’s children, and her family received the
news about her father’s death. They went to her father’s house where the wake will be held and where her
sister Mameng (Gina Alajar) also lives. The oldest sister Dolores (Elizabeth Oropesa), the oldest son
Isidro (Dick Israel) and the gay son Junee (Roderick Paulate) also came home to mourn their father’s
passing. But as the story continues, the siblings’ issues with each other arises. The movie then concluded
with a happy ending as the family found out a secret, resolved their issues, and bid goodbye to Lolo
Juanito.

As far as I could remember, I was still a child when I last went to a wake. Watching the film made
me feel like I went back to my childhood. As I started to watch the film, I primarily assumed that it was
just all typical humor and drama like most Filipino films nowadays. But as the story unfolds, I noticed
that the movie was actually enlightening us about a piece of our culture, specifically the superstitious
beliefs associated with the dead. Some of the superstitious beliefs, especially those seen in wakes held at
home, that were present in the film were: No one is allowed to wear red when someone dies because it
symbolizes happiness, anyone living in the house where the wake is held is not allowed to take a bath
inside the house, the house where the wake is held is not allowed to be cleaned even if it gets very dirty, it
is not good to shed tears on the coffin, all donations for the dead must be only spent for the dead, and the
family has to provide food for the guests. There are also beliefs that were unfamiliar or unaccustomed to
me like no family member of the dead can help carry the coffin, the coffin has to be positioned in such a
way that the feet of the dead do not point to the door, a rosary is placed around the hand of the dead so
that there will be no other family member that will be dead, putting some money in dead’s hand and
taking it back before the burial for good luck, children should cover themselves with red blanket to
protect them from being visited by the dead, and a family member is not allowed to walk guests out of the
house when there is a wake. I think that most of the things that I’ve listed were still prevalent even today
especially those that I am familiar with. As the new technology arises, a lot of Filipinos were greatly
influenced by other nation’s culture making them mock and forgot their own. I am quite surprised that

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 most areas in the country still value some of these beliefs, particularly in the rural areas, by continuously
practicing and teaching it to young Filipinos.

Another thing that caught my attention in the film was the resiliency of the Filipinos. It was
evident in the story that even the family was entangled in an unfortunate circumstance, they proved to us
that love for the family is stronger than any other problem. The movie having a happy ending showed us
that Filipinos can still make it through bad times. The bayanihan of the community in the story was also
evident especially in the part where they are carrying the coffin into the house. What I also noticed in the
story was that Filipino children are really obedient to what their parents told them to do. It seems to imply
that Filipino parents or the elders should always be followed by the children.

As part of the youth, watching films like this seems boring but I am glad that I watched
something different. Aside from enjoying watching the film, I also learned a lot from it. I like how the
film incorporated humor to the story because it made the mood lighter. When in fact for me, the film as a
whole speaks profoundly about a current issue that we face in our society today which is the negligence
of our own culture and the rise of doubt among the people whether some beliefs are worth practicing. In
my own opinion, I think we all have a choice if we want to practice these beliefs and I chose to respect
the beliefs of the people around me. There are some people who do not want to practice these
superstitious beliefs because they do not have concrete explanations and they seem ridiculous. On the
other hand, some people wanted to practice these because these are already part of our culture. I actually
think that there is nothing wrong in believing these things. Truthfully, I also think that some of the beliefs
were absurd. As for me, I do practice some of these beliefs because I want to value our culture; It is my
choice. I could try convincing other people, but I cannot force them to believe in what I believe.

In conclusion, the movie was good even though it was really old and the quality is low.
Nevertheless, I can recommend it to other people most especially to my fellow Filipinos so they could be
more knowledgeable of the superstitious beliefs taught to us by our ancestors. They will definitely find
the film hilarious and worth watching.

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