PANDAY RIDING THAT HEROIC CYCLE
Below is an email ELSA BIBAT posted in the Alamat mailing list, prompted by a thread about making/writing/creating a new Panday story.
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Okay, okay, I'm back...and I was hoping to have a break from writing stuff.
Anyway, it is incredible that someone actually remembered the post. It's been lost to time for exactly a two years now. Thank you for notifying me.
Let's begin with the original videotapes. My original videotapes are lost to time, but, I caught all three of the trilogy in ABS-CBN's FPJ Theater... or was that Saturday Action Cinema? GMA 7 went the entire nine yards and showed the entire series in one of their old Tagalog action film shows that were on Saturday nights. The sight alone of the aliens of Panday IV raising the undead and turning innocent villagers to badly made-up extras makes my belly ache.
As an aside, FPJ should exercise the rights and release a DVD edition of the entire thing, maybe three movies a disc. Ack, how I miss my Pandays!
Okay, who created Panday? FPJ claims most of the honor. The original Panday had his fingerprints all over the place: the tough, silent hero archetype that he pioneered, Max Alvarado and the dialogue is pure FPJ. But, after a bit of consideration, after reading Zach's post on Caparas, Panday may have been a result of collaboration. Carlo J. Caparas wrote komiks as his entry point into the writing industry, as pointed out in Roxas' book on the history of komiks, and one can definitely see the komik-style fantasy atmosphere that is prevalent in the Panday mythos. I'd say that FPJ did the basic concept, while Caparas helped flesh it out.
Personally, I do not care who made Panday, except of course for the legal ramifications. Panday has become part of the Filipino myth-pool, as Zuma, Darna, Dyesebel and Dolphy have become. He has become an independent entity of his creators. To illustrate the point, I once got into a drunken discussion with my cousin about the Panday animated series, which I watched in all its entirety(1). He watched it too and decided to test my knowledge. He started telling me a long convoluted story that was supposedly an episode. Hazily, I think it included a tikbalang, a magic pearl and the kid being kidnapped. I stared at him and pointedly told him that I didn't see that particular episode, even though I assuredly watched the entire run. We went over his story and we dissected it, ending up tracing elements of several stories from different cultural boundaries woven into the tapestry that was his subjective imagery of a Panday animated episode. And, no, I do not have a copy. Ask Channel 9, I think they have copies in the archives or something.
So, essentially, Panday is a big pop cultural monolith supported by the mass unconscious of the Filipino people. That's why I am against the concept of a Panday "Year One". Panday Year One is essentially the movie. Panday is an archetypal character on par with Tarzan and Doc Savage of the pulps, messing with him like what PJ Farmer did with the above two in his Nine Unknown trilogy, which are revisionist, psychoanalytic texts that do the same thing as the "Year One" concept would do, is rather ... self-defeating. A Hero with clay feet is not majestic enough, it lessens the effect of greatness. No background is neccesary on Flavio other than what was supplied in the film. If you want a "Year One", do it on "Boses ng Katarungan", that hokey radio-drama hero with shades of the Batman and the Shadow. Now that's something you won't see anytime soon.
Anyway, let's go back to the films. FPJ once said that he created the Panday movies to be an uplifting story, with moral lessons. One of the big moral lessons of Panday is not good will win over evil. It is this: serving a tyrant or ignoring the tyrant does not make you any more immune from his power. If you dig enough, you'll see a subtle subliminal message against the malaise that infected the Filipino during the Martial Law era. But that's for the graduate thesis. ^_^ Back to the story.
Remember the opening scene: Flavio hammering on the forge. Red hot metal. Fiery sparks. The arrival of Lizardo's men with a prisoner. The branding.
Flavio at the beginning is an ostracized character. He is a fucking traitor to his people. It's not his problem. They're criminals, right, so I have to do this.
Joseph Campbell's call to adventure for Flavio is that he himself is branded, because of his interference, shortly after the arrival of the bulalakaw and the Itim na Aklat(2). Thus, with the searing pain of the brand he is fucking enlightened. Who wouldn't? That hurt you know.
His eyes are opened to injustice. Kapag napuno na ang salop. Which is sadly, a reflection of Filipino culture. We only do something when the cup's already full. But that's another story.
As an aside, the Vibe of a blacksmith as a hero has been picked up by others. Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker and Robert Jordan's Perrin Aybara from The Wheel of Time are prime examples. Ah, synchronicity at work.
Now we go on to the old Panday, Tata Temyong. Tata Temyong is an interesting character. When I think of wizard/mentor characters, I do not think of that pansy Gandalf. I think of Tata Temyong, who fought with neither sharp sword or mighty magic but the quickness of his mind. Rizal's Pilosopong Tasyo with a staff, a KKK hat and orange clothes that remind me of Shaolin monks. Plus that beard looks a lot more realistic than Gandalf's. Former blacksmith, he was obviously forcefully retired and I suspect that if you look under that bright orange shirt, a Lizardo brand would be on his scrawny chest. Obviously he spent his life looking for a way to take Lizardo down, thus obtaining his knowledge of the prophecyof the Panday. He's Obi Wan without the Force.
The kid I'll ignore because he's FPJ's bow to the commercial needs of the film. Comic relief and annoying pest, he however does grow up in the third Panday movie, which is too late in my opinion.
Next, we go to the world the Panday mythos exist in. In Philippine cinema's most obscure and weird prologue, matched only by "Kapag Napuno Na Ang Salop 2", we see a Spanish house in the American/Post War Era where a mirror breaks and an evil spirit is unleashed. From that five minute sequence alone, I can build a coherent world mythos for the Panday series.
But before that, we must discuss Panday geography, to whit:
"The adventures took place on a vaguely Luzon-like pseudo-Spanish setting. My cousin posits that Flavio's original town is in the equivalent of Batangas and his journey to Lizardo's castle takes him through the Sierra Madres-equivalent and ending with Vigan and the infamous "Puting Desierto". Consequent movies take him to the Pangasinan-equivalent and the Laguna-equivalent."
- Me, August 21, 2001
I have not changed my views. But I'd make the desert bigger and Lizardo's castle a bit farther, maybe Aparri. The Bong Revilla vehicle "Dugo ng Panday" adds a few more geographical touches. I'm working on a map right now. It's a lusher, more pristine Luzon under the iron rule of a Castillian oppressor. I'd assume that there are major horse highways and a ferry service on the Pasig-analogue. As an aside, one of the more amusing things that struck me while I was watching the Shishio story arc of the Rurouni Kenshin series is the similar existence of a Tokaido-like road on which Flavio and friends travelled. Just shows you...
Anyway, we return to the essential: where the hell are the Panday Mythos set? We return to the freaky prologue. Me and my cousin agreed it was a WTF!? opening, there to shock. But it inadvertently solves the problem of where Panday is set: a pocket universe/dimension. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I would think that Panday was set in Lovecraft's Dreamlands, shaped by a mad dreamer on par with Kuranes or Randolph Carter. I have this image of an old, old man with faintly mestizo features chuckling in his rocking chair as he grinds those pesky indios to the ground where they properly belong. But the Dreamlands always fights back in a way, Panday becomes the emerging Filipino social unconsciousness...fuck, now I know I've read too many thesii. ^_^
A history of Pandayan would be a hard endeavor. The original movies made hints only and gave us a look at a pseudo-Castillian culture. Peque Gallaga's(3) best movie, IMHO, "Dugo ng Panday" managed to flesh out the culture even more with the addition of indigenous cultures that were somewhat absent in the original. I'd say that Pandayan time from its inception to "Dugo" would be three hundred years: an initial creation period, a conquest period, the tyranny, the Panday movies, the fragmentation/tribalization(4), supremacy of one state with the accompanying tyranny, conquest once again, then Panday once again. "History is a continuing cycle of Revolution...War...Peace...Like the three steps to an endless waltz."
Finally, we go to a "New Panday" proposal. Personally, we'll probably have to wait... oh... a hundred years before we can do a "New Panday". FPJ likes to preserve the vision of the original films and, the Jinggoy Panday film being a noticeable exception as more of a favor to Erap's never-been son(5), I think he'll stay by his position for a long time(6). Another problem with "New Panday" is what I've started calling the Darna effect, after the insanity that erupted on the list several threads ago(10). Panday, like Darna, has become collective property of the mass unconsciousness. Any attempt to do a new thing with it will be responded to either highly negative or highly positive. By my calculations, you'd automatically lose fifty to seventy five percent of your market after the first issue/episode alone, unless you are very very good. Even open-minded people will bad-mouth you since you're technically messing with his/her mental property, his "vision" so to speak. It's all subconscious and subliminal.
Trust me, you can't fight human nature.
Anyway, if you really want to do "New Panday" either as a comic or as an animated TV series(11), I'll point out a few pointers, listen also anyone interested in doing it, this is free advice:
a) Make it a mini-series. Thirteen issues/episodes is enough to tell a deep enough story if done properly. Personally, the original should have been done this way so as to give more depth to Panday and co.'s travels. It would have given a sense of distance and epic quest to the tale.
b) Fight scenes a la Lito Lapid's forgotten masterpiece "Kamagong". Local martial arts all the way. There are several local knife arts that would be excellent for the balaraw form of the blade, plus there's a Cebuano fighting art used for the kampilan that would be just excellent for the big blade form. If you seek foreign influence, make it European, not Oriental in flavor. Marozzo's Progressions of the Blade is an excellent primer and books on European single-stick fighting are around.
c) Make it black and white. As in morally black and white. None of this modern shit about the villain having a pathetic childhood. Lizardo is a bad mofo. He's evil. Flavio is good. He is a man on a mission, not a vengeance quest. He's not an anti-hero. His only weakness is women, the effect of being an overage virgin. Make Flavio a paladin, a knight with two companions on a quest to free his people. Flavio is Moses-cum-Bonifacio-cum-FPJ. And he is not a bishonen anime hero. Neither is Lizardo a bishonen anime villain. He's a pig, for God's sakes!
d) Think Archetypes. George Lucas didn't go wrong with using Joe Campbell's theories. Use them, too, along with Jungian tropes. But, remember, Lizardo is not Flavio's father. ^_^
e) Think Epic and Heroic. Think big, as in an epic tale. But also think small, as in the heroisms of the tiny people along the way. Also every episode should not end with a battle with the villain of the week. Think of it as a Dragonfist campaign for an RPG: big villain fight every once in awhile, while dealing with(not a synonym for killing) the minor obstacles.
f) Final episode should be at least an hour long. ^_^
g) Do not be limited by the rules. If you think a concept is sufficiently cool to be added to the "New Panday" mythos, throw it in. But this does not mean ninjas(12).
There. I am going to sleep off my mental fatigue and let the toxins in my brain work their magic.
Anyone can e-mail me privately in _proper format_(Capitals and sentences, for God's sakes, is Mihai Nadin's culture of illiteracy that far advanced?) if you want a private discussion.
Footnotes:
(1) To those snickering in the back, fuck you! The Panday animated series, though lamely animated and formulaic in storytelling, highlighted local animation at its 80s finest. You could say it was on par with early Disney, when he still only had one fucking camera and a dark room for a work place. It also introduced the first fantastic series on local TV, "Okey Ka Fairy Ko" being discounted as a rip-off of "Bewitched". Excellent voice-acting and my then-low standards elevated it to a good degree. Plus the soundtrack makes the Flash Gordon theme sound positively uncool. The highest point I think was when they showed a fight against a tikbalang. If I never see another animated tikbalang again, in my lifetime, the image and the screeching sounds of a kid screaming for help will stay in my heart
forever. ^_^
(2) Personally, I think it's the Book Of Eibon, having a cameo appearance.
(3) Once again, to the people sniggering at the back, fuck you. Peque Gallaga, for all his faults as a director and a writer, manages to have a rather good creative imagination. My cousin says that he's the only person the Philippine film industry _with_ an imagination. He has constantly delivered pseudo-original fantastic material in a marketplace that emphasizes milky melodrama, formulaic action and bathroom comedies. Nothing like the old Zuma and Panday films, which are the acme of Philippine fantasy films, but what is?
(4) Luzon regionalism would be enforced. Fragmenting into the suitable equivalents of the Bicolanos, Batanguenos, Tagalogs, Kapampangans and et al. The city states with vassal villages of Peque Gallaga's "Dugo" would be the norm. They would be connected by an immense dirty road system that would develop into...but enough sociology of civilization. Back to the main.
(5) I have this sneaking suspicion that Carlo J. totally sabotaged that film. C'mon, Kris Aquino and Jinggoy Estrada? Who wouldn't be tempted to at least put them in a total flop!?
(6) Trivia question: what tabloid(7) serialized that movie in komik form? Answer correctly and you'll be damned to hell for even knowing. ^_^
(7) A footnote of a footnote...so post-modernist, ewww. ^_^ Anyway, tabloids have become the leading place for pinoy pop culture creations
(8). There's a private eye novel currently being serialized in Tempo, plus the several komiks strips that become movies, though only the bad ones ever get chosen. Wonder where the film industry gets its ideas? Go to the newsstand and look for the scantily clad covergirls.
(9) Pinoy pop culture creations have to be trawled for and after that, sifted for true diamonds. The old komiks publishing companies have ran out of good writers that they have started reprinting the old stuff. The good stuff. Personally, I think they should go the Japanese way and publish the entire things in tankoubons rather than in issues. Radio drama is still alive and well. Listen in the mornings. Tagalog pulp has a rather strange fantasy novel that reminds me of an unholy mix of Maturin and Mrs. Shelley, a tale of an overweight immortal looking for love. The absurdity of it reaches great heights. Great. Now that I remember it, I have to look for it
(10). And, Liwayway is still the magazine you have to buy every week. Now only if they get a decent layout artist...
(11) Ever seen the Read or Die anime? See where Yomiko lives? That's an appropriate approximation of my living quarters. Add a TV and a video, DVD, VCD player. Pop Culture Hell.
(12) That discussion alone would give me a year's worth of discussion/source material on the effect of the collective myth-pool on personal socio-cultural identity for my papers as I seek aca-fucking-demic recognition.
(13) The bright new age of technology has made making an animation series even easier. Last year's sleeper anime hit "Hoshi no Koe" was made by one man, his fiancée and a Mac. I'm currently writing an English-Tagalog story based on the concept, "Love travels faster than the Speed of Light".
(14) Erap Estrada once fought ninjas, with him as a samurai in an obscure early movie in the 1950s. Paper shurikens galore.
Elsa Bibat