“Sex in Philippine cinema has to be seen as always enmeshed in power: the power to suffer pleasure, the power to address desire, the power of agents to resist both craving and conscription as sexual labor and capital.” – Patrick Flores (2000) In this article, it tackles about the sex-themed films in which it has become the thrilling and interesting feeling among the audience specifically in the adulthood stage. It has the pleasure that gives them random thoughts, ideas, and fantasies enabling them to cause the power discourse. Melodramas focuses on sensational incidents just like what the sex films show to its audience. It features stock characters such as a noble hero, the long-suffering heroine, and the hard-hearted villain. It always ends up having a triumphant ending over the antagonist. Through this, it shows a unique category because its scandalous feeling portrayed to the audience explains that it cannot be comedy nor horror to its spectators. “It would be better to describe sex film genre as sex melodrama. These films deserve to be categorized as a separate genre because they have a familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: setting, content, themes, plot, motifs, styles, structures, characters and stars,” according to Abbas’ essay on “Woman’s Body Power” in Philippine Sex Melodramas. The Male Gaze by Mulvey is being emphasized in this kind of genre where women are made to appear as objects for desire. Sex-themed films in the Philippines usually use female workers who are the long-suffering heroine that give status on their socio-economic-political life or in short powerless in the eyes of the audience. The desire mostly from the male’s perspective give them dominance because they would think, they are the ones who accompanies the woman in such films. As per the female’s perspective, it shows how they desire on the woman’s body features and how seductive they are in doing such. Many actresses gain fame through this kind of film because its pleasure giving to its audience make them known such as Stella Strada, Rosanna Roces, Claudia Zobel, etc. Today, movies like Rigodon and Menor de Edad where the young actresses like Yam Concepcion and Meg Imperial are being known. This explains the “care of the self” principle by Foucault. It is a principle that work to shape oneself to have power over a class.
Rigodon
Erik Matti’s Rigodon is about secret lives, hidden passions, deceit, betrayal, vengeance. It explains the ménage à trios, an arrangement in which three persons (as a married pair and the lover of one of the pair) share sexual relations especially while living together. It revolves around an entanglement of a married couple due to the illicit relationship of the male character, Riki (John James Uy) with Sarah (Yam Concepcion) It started when Sarah (Yam Concepcion) is recovering from a painful breakup when she meets would-be artista Riki (John James Uy). Riki offers her some kindness, and she soon falls for him. The two begin a passionate sexual relationship. Sarah didn’t know Riki is already married to Regine (Max Eigenmann). The movie shifts focus between the three characters. While Sarah grows more admiration with Riki, Regine grows suspicious of her husband. Meanwhile, Riki struggles to keep his lies straight as his career and his life just fall apart. —www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAm7JoxUe2c
Menor de Edad
Joel Lamangan’s Menor de Edad is a film about a minor girl trying to escape the of poverty and marginalized society. Jennica (Meg Imperial), a 15-year-old high school student feels trapped in a poor community in San Juan. Her abusive mother and her lesbian live-in partner causes Jennica not to entrust anyone at home. Not knowing about their child’s misconduct, she was nearly raped by her ex-boyfriend. She joined a girl gang, whose members in pursue her to be in a relationship with her kind teacher, Ariel Basco (Wendell Ramos), who volunteered to tutor her. Her task to have sex with her tutor makes but pushes her away so she felt humiliated. She filed rape against him and let her be a mainstream media attention. Her dreams to get away with poverty failed her to do so because of her own negligence. —www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx4fo37Vvyg Sex Melodramas became a part of the Philippine trending films. It may be because of the pleasure that it gives to the spectators. But behind it, the theories of Mulvey and Foucault explains this kind of film.
Cinema 