March comes in like a bunch of short reviews (Magbuwag Ta Kay, My Perfect You)

It also comes in like a goddamn sledgehammer, but that's a story for another day.

Cebuano speaking netizens who watch viral videos on FB or Youtube may be familiar with the works of Rowell Ucat, aka Medyo Maldito. For everyone else, the film Magbuwag Ta Kay (Let's Break Up Because...) may be their first time watching*. The story revolves around a couple (Ucat and Akiko Solon) in the final stages of their relationship: the girl is about to make a big move to Canada and  they mutually decide to break up in advance to preempt any sort of heartbreak. Of course, heartbreak ensues anyway.

The level of presentation may not be as polished as other films made by large corporations (Star Cinema, I'm looking at you) but the story Magbuwag Ta Kay tells is bittersweet and relatable. Ultimately, even though it takes a strange turn near the end, it makes a point that things don't last forever, and there are some things in life that one should cherish exactly because of that fact. 

*Fans of Medyo Maldito may find more than a few easter eggs in the movie, including a running gag where one of his video co-stars, Snake Princess, has an extended cameo role.

NOTE: THESE SHORT THOUGHTS CONTAIN SPOILERS AND IS RECOMMENDED FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE WATCHED THE FILM.

Why.

This is just one of many questions I asked myself while watching Star Cinema's latest, My Perfect You. After watching, I genuinely could not make heads or tails of it. Perhaps reading the film as a relatively straightforward (if a bit tonally dissonant) romantic comedy makes things simpler. But for me, the dissonance ripples out and affects the whole film, which really made me wonder what the filmmakers were thinking when they made this thing.

What is the film trying to tell us regarding mental health? Does it offer "just smile" as a solution, which is not only wrong, but also irresponsible? Or does framing these suggestions as delusions negate the suggestions in the first place, with the real solution being therapy and counseling? Why does the depiction of symptomatology feel so wonky and inaccurate? Burn's condition feels more like Schizoaffective disorder. Catatonia is not strongly related to schizophrenia, and delusions in schizophrenics do not work in the way they were depicted in the film, in my opinion (they're more paranoid delusions than confabulations in reality.) Why does the film promote acceptance while making fun of its characters' speech impediment, stature or disability?

Why is the film so wacky in the middle? Does this fact make a statement on how romantic comedies in general are unrealistic delusions of a sick mind? Does it inadvertently make a connection between escapism and mental illness?

It's nice to make a movie that advocates for mental illness (or any illness, for that matter), but it has to be done right. And I'm not completely sure that this one did the job.