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Beautyandt heBesti
eisaf i
li
pinocomedyf i
l
mr eleasedin2015,dir
ect
edbyWennV.
Deramasandpr oducedbyVivaEntertai
nment
.Themov i
est ar
sVi
ceGanda,oneofthemost
popul
arcomediansi nthePhil
ippi
nes,andat al
entedteam ofactor
si ncl
udi
ngCocoMar
ti
n,
JamesRaid,andNadineLust
re.

Theinspir
ati
onf orthemov iecamef rom ViceGanda' s fri
endshipwithhisreal-l
i
f ebest
fri
end,at r
ansgenderwomannamedBi mby.Themov ieai mstohighli
ght t hestrugglesand
discri
mi nat
ionthattheLGBTQ+Communi t
yst i
llf
acesint hePhi
li
ppines,whil
ealso expl or
ing
themesoff ri
endshi
pandl oyal
ty.Beautyandt heBesti
ewasaCommer ci
alsuccess,
ear ni
ngov er
php529mi l
li
on(approx.USD11mi ll
i
on)att heboxof f
ice.Themov i
espopularit
yalsospawned
various mer chandise,i
ncludi
ngdoll
soft hemai nchar
actersandspin-offt
vshows.

Despi t
eit'
sboxof f
icesuccess,thefil
m drewsomecr i
ti
ci
sm f r
om theLGBTQ+Communi tyfori
ts
por t
rayalofthet r
ansgenderchar act
erasa" si
deki
ck"r
atherthanal ead,andfori
tsuseofhumor
thatsomef eltrei
nforcednegat i
vestereoty
pes.Never
theless,themov i
ebroughtmuch- needed
attenti
on toi ssuesoft he genderand sexualit
y.sparking conv
ersati
on and debat
esabout
representat
ion i nfil
ipi
nomov iesandmedi a.