“Unable to make ethnic identification”
This just in from Budj.
IF: Illegal Facilitator, a criminal whose crimes facilitated the crimes of others.
…
“He’d looked, Milgrim thought, like an ethnic version of a younger Johnny Depp. Brown had once referred to the IF and his family as Cuban-Chinese, but Milgrim would have been unable to make an ethnic identification. Filipino, in a pinch, but that wasn’t it either. And they spoke Russian. Or texted in an approximation of it.” —Spook Country by William Gibson
To recap:
Novels by foreigners set in the Philippines
- Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
- The Tesseract by Alex Garland - made into a movie set in Bangkok; too bad as Ige points out there was a great Eddie Garcia part in there
- Ghosts of Manila by James Hamilton-Paterson
- The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd - doesn’t read like he was actually here.
- Brownout on Breadfruit Boulevard by Timothy Mo
- And Now You Can Go by Vendela Vida
- Someone alerted me to Denis Johnson’s Fiskadoro—Thanks, I’ll look it up.
- Biggest Elvis by P.F. Kluge, who reportedly got his ass kicked at Scrabble by a madame in Malate
- Ay, almost forgot Fires On The Plain by Shohei Ooka (Thanks for the reminder), a strange and wonderful novel about the Japanese soldiers trapped in Leyte towards the end of the Japanese Occupation.
Filipino characters in novels set elsewhere
- The hero in Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. Who else would know how to deal with alien cockroaches. By the time the book was adapted for the screen, the Pinoy had mutated into Casper Van Dien.
- Eugenio Martinez in Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Filipino nanny in A Man In Full by Tom Wolfe
- Pinguez in Thomas Pynchon’s V
- Conchita the maid in Fragrant Harbor by John Lanchester
- Tatsuo’s parents in Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
Songs with titles alluding to the Philippines: Filipino Box Spring Hog by Tom Waits; Bebot by the Black-Eyed Peas.
Movies set partly or completely in the Philippines (the Phils as the Phils, not Vietnam or Indonesia): An Officer and A Gentleman (don’t think they actually shot here), No Way Out (signifier: bananas), that Claire Danes one, and Days of Being Wild by Wong Kar-Wai, who makes casual reference to Manila in all his movies. And Kon Ichikawa’s masterwork Nobi (Fires On The Plain), which is set in Leyte but was actually shot in Japan. (Really minor quibble: The Filipino cast members should’ve been speaking Visayan.)
Tagalog heard in movies: The Rock, Constantine, Her Alibi, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.
Does anyone know the title of that French spy novel with an episode at the Hobbit House?
Tina notes that several of the novels set in the Philippines are of an apocalyptic nature. It’s only fitting that Apocalypse Now was shot here, even if it’s set in Vietnam. Apocalypses R Us.
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Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 4th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Clive Cussler, author of the Dirk Pitt novels had some of parts of his novels set in the philippines namely Dragon and Flood Tide.
Every time my mother sees chuck norris on the tv, she always tells an anecdote regarding his movie, Delta Force (or is it Braddock: Missing in action?). As chuck and friends lift off in the helicopter, the AFP markings could be seen on the underside of the chopper. Haven’t checked this though.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
There are 2 key Filipino characters in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown, one in the US and the here in the Philippines.
September 4th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
what about Verlaine the seaman in Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg? i think there was something about him being Filipino.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
theres this Filipino maid swearing in tagalog in
priscilla queen of the desert
an australian road trip gay movie. not the best portrayal of filipino maids though.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
On “Tagalog heard in movies”, the stand-up comic bombing miserably in front of the North Korean troops in Big Fish was speaking in Tagalog.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Haha. Recently, I saw an episode of House where a flight attendant who was supposed to be ‘Korean’ addressed a sick passenger in Filipino.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
meron din nag-tagalog sa “big fish” (tim burton) di ba?
September 4th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
yung ventriloquist sa Big Fish nag-tagalog rin di ba?
September 4th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
In the movie “Big Fish”, the “red army” ventriloquist was telling a tagalog green joke in front of the bored army before he was carried off the stage to make way for the singing twins.
In the movie “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert” starring Hugo Weaving, one of the characters’ wife is a Filipina mail-order bride who spoke in tagalog; mostly cusswords. Her character “Cynthia” played by Julia Cortez (also the villain Rita Repulsa in The Power Rangers) made a bad impression about Filipinas. A review about that can be found here: http://jaynir.wordpress.com/2006/10/13/the-misadventures-of-a-filipina-as-a-mail-order-bride-spitting-pingpong-balls-vs-the-adventures-of-priscilla-queen-of-the-desert/
September 4th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
The Japanese film “Fires on the Plain” (”Nobi”) from 1959 is set in Leyte (dunno if it’s shot in RP) and has Tagalog-speaking characters.
September 4th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
The latest novel of Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, has several Filipino characters, some just mentioned in passing. Michael Chabon devoted 2 pages to the main character’s informant, a Filipino ex-boxer named Benito Taganes who owns a donut shop. MC calls the donut sticks (bicho-bicho?) shtekeleh. The other Filipinos in this book: a boy who delivers lumpia to the detective, a chismosa maid, a couple of hired thugs, and a family driver. Diomedes Maturan singing kundimans was also mentioned.
September 4th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
mitch albom’s “the five people you meet in heaven”, has a young Filipina character. but some of the words Albom used was a little inaccurate. for example, he said “sundalong” was Filipino for “soldier”.
September 5th, 2007 at 4:23 am
In Michael Chabon’s latest novel, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, set in Sitka, Alaska, there are several Filipino characters mentioned in passing: a lumpia delivery boy, a chismosa housemaid, 2 hired thugs, a family driver, and Diomedes Maturan singing kundiman. The most prominent Filipino (2 pages) in the novel is the Filipino donut & cafe owner, Benito Taganes, an informant to the detective in the novel. MC’s description of the hot donuts, which he calls shtekeleh, makes you want to bite into one.
September 5th, 2007 at 5:09 am
Fierce People.
Eddie Rosales who played the shaman in the movie’s dream sequence was actually speaking in Filipino.
September 5th, 2007 at 8:13 am
i think that claire danes one (brokedown palace) is actually set in thailand even though the film was shot in the philippines.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:26 am
In the novel Eleven Minutes by Paolo Coelho, one of Maria’s (the main character) co-workers in the brothel is Nyah, a Filipina. I find the name quite interesting, reminds me of that pinoy expression “nye”, a slang for “is that all?” or “is that it?”.
September 5th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Paolo Coelho’s “Eleven Minutes”, though a prostitute, a Filipina named Nyah consoled the lead character with her “wisdom” derived from her experience….
Also in Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”, the little girl.
The series “Numb3ers” just last week, sabi nagpro-produce daw ang Pinas ng steroids. Ngek
September 5th, 2007 at 10:00 am
In 2 Days in Paris, Julie Delpy’s character asks her ex about his trip to RP then accuses him of being a pedophile.
Mark Darcy has a Filipina maid in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. In the same book, Bridget fantasizes about interviewing famous people, including Marcos, but then she remembers he’s dead already.
September 5th, 2007 at 10:36 am
in five people you meet in heaven by mitch albom, the last person that the main character meets is a filipino girl. of course, in the movie version the filipino girl also spoke filipino.
most of the sydney sheldon novels also have filipino characters, not main characters though.
mt. pinatubo was also mentioned in the pierce brosnan movie, dante’s peak.
September 5th, 2007 at 11:02 am
In the Italian film “His Secret Life,” the maid is a buddhist Filipina.
September 5th, 2007 at 11:43 am
there’s shirley conran’s novel “savages” and the film “her alibi”
September 5th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
merong filipino drag queen sa connie & carla…nakakatawa sha! may P & F defect,hehe…
September 5th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
In the third season of House MD, House asks a stewardess to talk to a sick passenger. The stewardess asks, “Nalalagnat ba kayo?”, although it was meant to be Korean, I think.
The sick passenger looks like Eat Bulaga’s Wally Bayola.
September 5th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
there’s this sidney sheldon novel that has a filipina maid character in it..
it was her who found a dead body of one of the victims, if i can remember that clearly..
im not sure though if there had been a line in filipino..
dont you just feel patriotic if you see ‘manila envelopei being used in novels..
geez..
September 5th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
the long-dead teenybopper romance series “love stories” has one novel, “the language of love”, whose protagonists are filipino. there was a lot of misused tagalog in that book though. like, a mom telling her kids to stop playing actually said “para.”
http://www.amazon.com/Language-Love-Stories/dp/0553566679
September 5th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
well, there’s this science fiction book by peter watts called maelstrom and one of the supporting characters is a Filipina. ironically, the character is somewhat a rebel and together with her group, manages to loose a DNA virus or something on the world. pretty cool beans…
September 5th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
how could anyone miss “Return of the Jedi”?
September 5th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Addendum to Tagalog heard in movies:
Starwars. An ewok spoke in Tagalog
September 5th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
My friend keeps badgering me that the demented girl who went rigid at the start of the movie “Constantine”, was a ‘Filipina’. I don’t know if it’s a part of the movie that she has to be ‘Filipina’. Or is it just my friend’s imagination?
There was also this scene in the sitcom “Will and Grace” where they mention Filipinos. Can’t remember what it was about, though.
I know you heard this already, but Josh Hartnett went here in the Philippines, (Davao, was it?) to shoot a particular scene in his latest movie. Does someone know the title of this movie he’s starring for?
September 5th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
the first time i ever heard tagalog in a movie was in “operation petticoat” with cary grant. it’s set in WW2, in cebu (i think it was filmed in key west, though). tony curtis’s character steals a pig from a farmer, who complains to grant and gets repaid with shoes and golf clubs. the farmer speaks tagalog in the entire scene, but grant utters a weak, badly pronounced ’salamat’ at the end.
there’s also a disturbing film adaptation of the equally disturbing carson mccullers’ novel “reflections in a golden eye” which starred marlon brando as a bisexual marine, whose neighbours have an effeminate filipino houseboy, anacleto. the novel is worth reading just for one of the lines in the first paragraph: “There is a fort in the South where a few years ago a murder was committed. The participant of this tragedy were: two officers, a soldier, two women, a Filipino, and a horse…” (!!)
those ubiquitous basco brothers, i’m sure they’ve actually played filipino characters at some point–a ghetto tango dancer in “take the lead”, another filipino houseboy in “ask the dust,” a nursing student on “will and grace,” a one-night stand on “will and grace”…speaking of, karen on that show says she likes filipinos because “they’re asian, but not cocky about it.”
i think at some point, “ER” added some filipina nurses to the reception area. whoo!
September 6th, 2007 at 12:51 am
well that girl in constantine had a Tagalog line…but i’m not sure if the character was supposed to be a filipina or if she was just speaking in tongues…
September 6th, 2007 at 1:47 am
the turkish director fernan ozpetek’s films– especially the ones set in italy– usually have pinay domestics as peripheral characters. somebody already mentioned “his secret life” above. another one is “steam (hammam).” there was in fact a scene involving a roomful of pinays presumably having a salu-salo on their day off. everyone was speaking in tagalog… the phone rings… alpha pinay picks up… “pronto! si signora… etc, etc…” o di ba taray? saw this movie about a decade ago in new york and all i could think of was jessica’s world domination agenda and her army of chiminies and i just had to chuckle!
September 6th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Karen Walker (Will & Grace) made a joke about Filipino men in the show’s series finale. She said, “I love Filipino men. They’re Asians but they’re not too cocky about it”.
On a completely separate note, I heard Vicky Belo now has a lot of male clients; most of them are getting the Spanish peel.
September 6th, 2007 at 11:44 am
In Jackie Chan’s Miracles, Anita Mui pretends to be a Filipina Maid who can’t speak much English in order to avoid answering questions on the phone. Not very accurate…
September 6th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Speaking of the ubiquitous Basco brothers, Dante played a graffiti artist in an episode of “Entourage”
September 6th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
From ‘Bergdorf Blondes’ by Plum Sykes:
I dialed the New York number again. Someone picked up. I could hardly believe my luck. I snapped to attention.
“Jazz?” I said.
“This is housekeeper,” said a distinctly Filipino voice.
“Is Jazz in?” I asked.
“Yea.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“She a-sleepin’.”
It was lunchtime. I was shocked. Until now I was under the impression that i was the only person I knew in New York who isn’t up before 10:30 a.m. I said, “When she gets up can you ask her to call me back please? Can you tell her we want to write a fabulous story on her for the magazine?”
“Yes. You number?”
I gave it to her. At least Jazz was here, which made things easier.
It didn’t surprise me that Jazz didn’t call me back that day. Front Row Girls never call anyone back. They don’t need to. Everyone calls them, endlessly. They’re the society equivalent of the most popular girl in high school. I telephoned the apartment the next day—after lunch. The maid picked up again. I asked to speak speak to Jazz.
“Not here,” said the housekeeper.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“She go to Mustique yesterday.”
My heart sank. Mustique is one of those godforsaken Caribbean islands where you cannot get a cell phone signal anywhere.
“When’s she returning?” I asked. My deadline was in a few days.
“Don’ know! Never know when Miss Jazzy here or no,” replied the housekeeper.
“Do you have a number for her?”
“Sure!” said the housekeeper, repeating Jazz’s impotent cell number.
—————-
Chick lit. Hah.
September 7th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
teen soap ‘the o.c.’ had a filipina character in one episode of season 3. of course she was a maid. julie cooper mistook her for a mexican (i think) but she snottily replied, ‘i’m from the philippines’. proud pa ang gaga.
September 7th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
A German movie: Anatomie 2
Daming Pinay na nurse ang role. Bida pa nga yung isa, Rosie Alvarez ang name. In some scenes they could be heard making chika in Tagalog.
Does anybody remember theat TV show, Bring ‘Em Back Alive?
I remember may scene sila where one of the natives shouted, ‘Nahkhita koh!’ when they found whoever it was that they were looking for.
September 7th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Also in ‘The Rock’, that Nicholas Cage movie. When they were running after Sean Connery in the hotel kitchen, a big hunk of a cook (mukhang sanggano ba) spat a Tagalog cuss word. Sa sobrang lutong natanggal pati tutuli ko.
September 7th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
that girl in constantine is jasmine trias’ sister
September 7th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
should a flilipino be ashamed of other filipinas working as maid abroad?
i dont think we should be..
thy’re part of a great scheme for world domination.
u should applause if a filipino maid would proudly say where she is a from..
u just dont know what’s gonna happen next..
world domination!!
for reference:please try to read one of flip’s issue on this. u’ll see reason why you should be proud.
September 7th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
if i’m not mistaken, Kurt Vonnegut briefly included a Filipina character in Player Piano. also, a Filipino accountant in Eat, Pray, Love by E. Gilbert. and there’s a Filipina maid in Plum Sykes’ Bergdorf Blondes. (ay, somebody cited that already.)
this is fun.
September 8th, 2007 at 2:21 am
One of the principal cast-members of the Canadian TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation (perhaps one of the best and most realistic teen soaps ever!) is Manny Santos. There even was an episode where she had a row with her parents who definitely had the FOB accent going fierce.
Wiki-wiki!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Santos
September 8th, 2007 at 5:14 am
@#37 lestat: gago. why not?
Also, in the movie Her Alibi (heller Tom Selleck!), there was a pinay maid in there somewhere. Hugh Grant in 2 weeks notice, complimented his brother’s help and said - You look like a young Imelda Marcos. She didnt look Pinoy though (the help, not Imelda).
The Beach by Alex Garland mentioned Pinas-related details many times. And I read somewhere that the Pinas is Mr. Garland’s favorite. Hello SUNSHINE!
September 8th, 2007 at 6:28 am
dearlyderangeddaria: yes i do remember “bring ‘em back alive”, the tv series starring bruce boxleitner. it was shot in singapore which explains the pinoy extras and dialogues in it. I can’t forget a line in one episode: nasaan ang buto?
September 10th, 2007 at 12:27 am
About songs, though….
The Philippines was mentioned in passing on Murray Head’s hit song “One Night In Bangkok” from the musical Chess
A ’80s British band, It’s Immaterial, released the single “A Gigantic Raft in the Philippines” which can be heard in the Denzel Washington-led remake of “The Manchurian Candidate”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It’s_Immaterial
September 12th, 2007 at 11:09 am
In Michael Crichton’s novel “Next” is a character named Kelly, a “Philippine national” who entraps one of the villains.
September 14th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Too Late the Hero, a war flick was shot in Boracay, when Bora wasn’t in the radar yet. Starred, Cliff Robertson and Michael Caine.
The Year of Living Dangerously was shot in Manila doubling as Jakarta. Starred Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. Overheared was Doming Landicho, blurting Maawa naman kayo….
The Hot Zone by Robert Preston ( non-fiction).In the paperback, a monkey farm in Laguna was mentioned , wherein the monkeys were afflicted with Ebola virus. Fortunately, it was the benign variety.
Platoon was shot in Los Banos, Montalban and its immediate environs. Some portions of Born on the 4th of July was shot in Ilocos, doubling as Mexico. Both films by Oliver Stone.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:05 am
There is a ‘Philippino’ waiter in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Yeah, that Ewok in Return of the Jedi that says, “Aba, ito ang puno. Maganda.”
Then theres that movie, “Aswang”. I wish I still had the DVD of that.
March 7th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
hahahaha andaming references!! woohoo! kaya lang it’s so sad na foreigners get the wrong impression of us dahil lagi taung portrayed na maid or something. Then, lagi pa tayong pinagkakalito sa mga mexicano… Parang wala tayong identity sa mundong ito… Anyways, I have a few:
In The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Charisse (or Clarrise, I forgot), one of the main characters’ friends, was mentioned to be Filipina. Or with exotic Filipina looks, I forgot.
Oh, and, SPIDAMANG! I saw that Chuck Norris movie, it was Delta Force 2. Yeah, that was shot in the Philippines, btw. It also had some old Filipino actors in it, in very small roles.
Also, my mum told me about a Steven Seagal movie where there was a Filipina shopkeeper whose store gets robbed. Then she swears at the top of her lungs in Tagalog. Lolz
Hey, Why wasn’t The Great Raid mentioned? It was set in the Philippines (not shot here, though) during WWII. Look it up.
Yeah, and in The Five People You Meet In Heaven [SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK], the Fifth Person, the dead girl, was Filipina. Some part of that book had some involvement with WWII here.
In Family Guy (Love that show!), Brian, the talking dog, has a gay cousin whose boyfriend is Filipino. There’s a deleted scene in that same episode where Stewie (The maniacal infant) has a conversation with the Filipino guy in Tagalog.