JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Ten-minute sunbath at noon cancelled as the UV Index is cranked up to 11 and I don’t want to inadvertently acquire superpowers (Advertently, yes). Oh great, now a theme from those primitive Marvel cartoons of my childhood is playing in my head:

Doc-tor Banner
Affected by gamma rays
Turns into The Hulk
Pretty and glamorous!

At least that’s what I thought the lyrics said, and I assumed it was irony. I just googled the actual lyrics and they turn out to be:

Doc Bruce Banner
Belted by gamma rays
Turned into The Hulk
Ain’t he unglamo-rays!

Excelsior, a pun! I should’ve known, by Odin’s beard. Superhero movies are excellent escapist entertainment, but now that I have time to rewatch the entire Marvel oeuvre I find that they’re not working for me. And I speak as one whose comfort movie is Thor Ragnarok. Yes, the movies are about people overcoming powerful foes and the triumph of the human spirit over great odds, and we’re in a situation that feels like Thanos is going to snap his fingers, but I can’t take comfort in the heroes’ eventual (and inevitable) victory. BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE SUPERPOWERS. You can counter with an inspirational speech about how all of us have superpowers, be they determination or courage or resourcefulness, but those are qualities. What we need in this situation are ACTUAL SUPERPOWERS. Without those, we have no choice but to manage with what we have.

What I do have is a DVD of The Exterminating Angel by Luis Buñuel. It is comforting to me today because its premise is so close to real life, it’s practically a documentary.

In a grand house, preparations are in progress for a dinner party. For reasons never explained to us (Because Buñuel doesn’t explain things so if you’re the kind of viewer who needs to know exactly what’s going on, don’t even start), the servants start hurrying out of the house until only the butler is left. The wealthy owners return from the opera with their guests, all in formal dress, and they sit down to dinner.

At 3am the guests are ready to go home, but for some reason (again unexplained) they can’t leave. They can’t even step out of the living room. There’s no barrier or anything, they just can’t. The glamorous guests stretch out on the couches and on the floor. The house is huge and there are many bedrooms, but no one goes upstairs, they’re all huddled together. Days go by. No one thinks to make a phone call. Someone dies and they stash him in a cupboard. In the powder room they look wistfully at the plumbing. They run out of food and water. Someone hallucinates about a disembodied hand trying to strangle her. It doesn’t take long for the worst parts of human nature to come out. Fights break out. Affairs are conducted. The pet bear cub wanders in from the garden, as do some sheep. They break chairs and have a barbecue. They break into the wall to get to the pipes for drinking water. They get more and more bedraggled and desperate.

Meanwhile, the guests’ families and the police wait outside for something to happen, but they can’t get into the house, either. Why? Because. There is no reason, there is no point, it just is.

That, I can relate to.

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Due to the severe shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontliners, UP-PGH has initiated a program to fabricate PPEs. They will begin mass production once the prototype is approved. A roll of the material will produce 6 or 7 disposable suits. Each roll costs about P3600. Those who are willing to pledge a roll, half a roll, or any amount may contact Dr. Mary Haines Monjardin at +639178365622. You may deposit your donation to her BDO account 008490106695 or BPI account 3519042567. Please send a copy of the deposit slip to her email Mhmonjardin@yahoo.com.

Meanwhile, Bubbles’s church fellowship CCF will house the frontliners of The Medical City starting tomorrow, 4 April. 75 frontliners and support staff will be provided rooms and meals. They need 75 food packs for breakfast, lunch and dinner, packaged bread and cup noodles for snacks, coffee, creamer, and sugar, paper cups and stirrers, and bottled or canned drinks. You can send cash donations through the CCFMI Security Bank account: SBC Peso SA 0381-009648-201 or SBC Dollar SA 0381-009648-202. Please email transaction receipts to lady.cruz@ccf.org.ph, subject line Meals for Medical City House-In Staff at CCF Center. For clarifications, you can reach Lady Lyn Cruz at 0905-4493097. To schedule meal donations, please coordinate with Tiffany Rose Del Rosario at 0917-5709180.