The movie started with the young Jess Huson who sells crabs in the market with his friend. His father, Mang Pepeng makes banners using paint ( i dont how it is called). Jess Huson's mother lives in New Jersey. On the journey of Jess he met a reporter of a tv show called "Planet Stranger". when Jess grew up he had a gf in the states named Annete who usually send him money so Jess can fix his papers to get a visa and fly to the states. After the long run Jess met a single parent named Mara who works in a carnival as a fake mermaid and has a child named Jason who at first was very shy about the work of his mother but at the end he was able to show everyone in his class about Jess and Mara together.
the symbolic cultural of the story was i noticed that Jess always wears read top. and i also noticed that in the first part "10,000" was always used as a value of the money. and the moment when Jess and Mara met again at the hospital you can obviously see that they will be back together. and especially the filipino superstitions were very present in the movie. it was all very consistent that it can make the viewers understand the subject of what they are portraying. the movie also showed the "knight in shinning armor" role of Jess when we was being crucified and also in Mara's work, filipinos we well entertained.
the social issue of the movie was about the crab mentality of the filipinos that if they work abroad they can survive poverty here in there own country. and also the hospitality of the filipinos when there is a tourist that is here in our country. The story reveals various aspects about Philippine culture: Holy Week, spiritists, how Pinoys look at tourists, crime and punishment, families broken and mended, AM radio, food, and choices, i think thats the central part of the movie.
i actually liked the movie it was funny though it has a twist of drama moments. i wasnt able to connect my self to the beliefs of the catholics. but overall it was a great filipinos movie. :)
ps. i really got irritated with the 5 singers :\
