This movie answered one question that once came to my mind (but never got around to googling to find the easy answers). Who was the guy who took the throne as King of England when the current king abdicated his thone so he can marry his love, twice divorced American Wallis Simpson? (hahaha far from profound, i know but i only wondered about this once.. ok maybe twice). The reason I asked this question was, who was supposedly the future king of Englnad? If it were not for the abdication, Charles would not be Prince of Wales and William should not be the future king. (blame this curiousity on the papparazi’s obsession with the British monarchy especially with William’s recently announced engagement).

But I digress.. Let us go back to the movie. I loved Firth’s portrayal of a powerful man (Prince Albert a.k.a. Duke of York a.ka. King George VI) paralyzed by fear because of his inability to speak confidently. He dreaded his older brother’s abdication because that would mean he would be “forced” to make public speeches. Worse, he simply dreaded speaking. It was the unorthodox method and genuine loving concern of a speech therapist that made the difference. This man wasn’t overwhelmed by the fact that he was tutoring royalty. He was not there to say niceties to the king. He was there to help the king by telling him as it is. The chemistry of Firth and Geoffrey Rush as speech therapist Lionel Logue was key to the movie. The third character that created the perfect ensemble was Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth 1. The queen’s support and confidence in his husband was his driving force. She was there for him.

And of course, the movie had to show king’s two little daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret. Perhaps as a link to the present, living British monarchy.

I love this movie for several reasons: first, Colin Firth. The first time I knew of him was when I watched Bridget Jones’ Diary. He became famous among women especially with that line his character (Mark Darcy) gave to Bridget Jones — ” I like you just as you are.” I like his understated kind of acting. He is like de Niro or Pacino who need not be “hollywoodish” to be recognized. Then he was part of the ensemble cast of Love Actually . I liked him there as well. When I saw him sing in Mamma Mia, I was thrilled! He has a nice singing voice. (compared to Pierce Brosnan’s voice, actually). I would have wanted to watch him in the role that made him famous, that of Mr Darcy in a BBC TV version of Pride and Prejudice

Second point: I like period movies that are based on true accounts, those that we can refer to in history books or in — wikipedia. Although I liked the movies Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, I do find movies that are based true stories more interesting. I remember liking the movie The Other Boleyn Girl, which was fictional yes, but still loosely based on the lives of real people. I remember that I liked the movie, Flag of our Fathers as well.

The King’s Speech refers to the speech that the king delivered at a pivotal time in the empire’s history as the country wages war against Hitler. It was a speech that mattered much not just to the country but the rest of the world.

Before I get into trouble, let me clarify. I don’t think that people who have no or little appreciation of music from different genres lack spontaneity nor do I find them boring. I think being with a group of people who share exactly my interests can bore me. We were created to be different from one another – we are in essence, all weird. We were made to have our own interests. I only made that sentence because I remember someone saying “I think those who do not read books are shallow.”

I read books but I am not a voracious reader. I don’t think I am shallow though. What if for a rejoinder, someone says this – “Surely not all bookworms have depth. They could all be the highly dogmatic geeks who know stuff up there, who can recite lines lifted from a book, ergo not their own and ergo is not real to them. “

Harsh? Obnoxious? Presumptuous? Egotistical?

Aren’t we all guilty of this? Consciously or subconsciously, we categorize people based on a few key descriptors culled from our finite observations. We place them in neatly labeled boxes in our heads, labels that are products of our own biases, biases that were borne out of our own personal history, our childhood, our education, our family and our own insecurities.

Even we place labels on ourselves. It is a way for people to understand us without having to know us. We say we are this sort of person or that because, hey — who knows us better than ourselves right? We fear exposing ourselves because no one might like what they see or we might not live up to expectations.
We do this because it is the safer thing to do. It brings order and logic to an otherwise chaotic environment. We are all too diverse that we need to find some pattern somewhere to make sense of how varied we are. We tend to find the bell curve and conclude that it must be right one. We make our own sweeping statements about people we interact with – we do this to an acquaintance and boy! – don’t we also do this to our own friends? Perhaps this is survival instinct, otherwise we might end up confused.

During Sunday worship, our Pastor mentioned a book by John Ortberg which sounds interesting. The title goes something like, People are Normal Until You Know them (or something like that). I have to get a copy of that!

We are all weird. OK— if you don’t like the word weird, let us use — unique. As we grow older, we will continue to meet people who, in our minds’ eye, are ‘kakaiba’ or “ibang level’. As we grow older, we ought to realize too that we have a blind side — meaning that there is a side to us that can be seen by someone outside yourself. On certain occasions, we need this to let us know that the labels we put on ourselves are way off, slighly off or just — wrong.

The sooner we accept that, the more we will be gracious to people who are different from us or react differently to us.

Minus the convenient and sweeping conclusions.

There are a lot of memorable scenes and subplots but one that stuck with me was that of a squabble between husband and wife, Jake and Gloria.

It was the time when Gloria admitted that she is actually a very good chess player but has only been letting his husband win because he is a sore loser. Jake of course denies it and challenges her to a face off – which Gloria accepted.

So they played.

Midway through the game and amidst gloating and angry words, Jake suddenly says, “Are we really doing this?! Are we really letting this stupid game come between us?”

To which Gloria responded by messing the chessboard and hugging her husband.

BUT this is not why I liked the story.

The TV series follows the same format as the equally entertaining TV series, The Office where the characters occasionally face the camera as if being interviewed. This is when they are able to say exactly what is going on inside their heads.

So in front of the camera Jake says, “Two moves. Two moves and she would have finished me. I had to find a way to stop it before she notices how close she is to winning. Good thing she didn’t see it.”

In front of the camera Gloria says, “Two moves, two moves and I would have won.” She closes her scene by saying, “I am a good chess player, but I am a better wife.”

What does that mean? Does that mean I pretend to be the weaker partner, submitting to my husband and letting him always be the one who prevails? Does that mean I hide my strengths, keep my thoughts and my opinions to myself? Does that mean I lift up my husband at my expense? Does that mean I always let him feel as he is better and allow him to take the limelight?

No it does not. It means that it doesn’t really matter who wins. It means that even when you know that you have proven yourself right, you don’t gloat. It means that when he concedes to your suggestion but then later on realize that his suggestion was the right one, he doesn’t glower angrily. It also means that you don’t nag when you are proven right. It means it truly doesn’t matter who is better. It means it doesn’t matter who was right.

Between a highly confident, articulate man and his opinionated (and equally articulate – wink wink) wife, you can expect differences in opinion. And I am not talking about the major, life changing opinions. I am talking about the little things – UFC Tamis Anghang Ketchup or Del Monte Ketchup? Surf or Joy dishwashing liquid? Do we park here or there? Do we attend this or do we go there? Is it faster via Paseo de Roxas or Makati Avenue? Each day has an opportunity to make compromises and/or arguments. So far, thankfully, we haven’t had a major argument.

We have only been married one year so perhaps the major squabbles would come a few years from now. Or maybe it won’t. So I am writing this and remember Gloria’s willingness to let it go. And let it be.

Because it doesn’t really matter who was right.

As what my sisters and I used to say… “ay, tapos na new year..luma na ulit ang taon..”

The holiday season is over.

I woke up this morning to the sound of the waves. I opened the door, took the camera and voila!

We are in a resort in Dimakya Island, Coron. We arrived yesterday at 3pm and will stay until the year changes to 2011. We will welcome the new year here with a diverse group of tourists – Koreans, Espanyols, Germans, Brits, Pinoys of course and .. not sure if I there are Americans – maybe there are. Quite a remote place (good thing Mr C brought his plug-in internet whatchamacallit – so we are able to access the net). This is the extreme opposite of the party place that is Boracay. We are in a beach front cottage so while I write this — I didn’t bother listening to my ipod when I have the best background music one can ever hope to have – the endless sound of the crashing waves.. Heavenly! But tomorrow, there will be a new year’s eve party and fireworks!! Woot woot! The pics that we took are about to be uploaded in the hubbys FB.

Fun fun fun in the sun, sand and sea plus a handful of strangers as I give my own shout out — HAPPY NEW YEAR!

“Is it really the largest aquarium in the world!?” I asked Honey when i spoke to her last night. Yes she said.

“So I should go there then?” i said laughing.

And of course, I have to visit the World of Coke — first because it is an interesting place for tourists and second — well Mr. C works for Coke! If I listen real hard, I will actually hear a tone of … warning errr I mean …tone of encouragement in his voice each time he says I should go visit the place before we go home for Manila.