Love. Forgiveness. Change. Transfromation. (Sort of a movie review: It takes a man and woman)

Due to the gloomy days we are experiencing lately (add to that the incessant attack of my hormones brought about by my monthly visitor), I decided to curl up and watch a Filipino movie entitled "It takes a man and a woman". This movie has been on my list of "to watch" since forever, not because I really wanted to see it, but because one of my bestfriends said that the movie is really incredible, and that I could relate to the leading lady.

And right off the bat, she is.

Instead of writing a traditional style of movie review, let me just take quotes from the movie that really struck my inner being, and probably construct a few sentences that explains why it does so. Alrighty? (And I warn you, yes we will kind of have an itty bitty sneak peak into what I've been through -- lovewise.

"Love is a choice. Ganun din ang pagpapatawad. " (Love is a choice. And so is forgiveness)

 Yep. Love is indeed a choice. You always have a choice. I don't believe it when people shrug their shoulders and say that they don't have any choice. No matter what the circumstance is, you are always left with at least two options. The problem is, we are so biased with the other end, that we try and reason out that it is the only available choice we have, and disregard the other. Yes, love is a choice. You can't control whom you can fall in love with, true. But what you can control is how you react to the feeling. I mean, just because you're in love with somebody doesn't automatically mean that it is right. Sometimes, or well, most often, love comes at the wrong time, the wrong place at the wrong opportunity. That's why you have a choice at the beginning, you can't control what your amygdala and a series of neurotransmitters and chemicals in your brain will make you feel, but you can definitely control WHERE that love will lead you.

Forgiveness. Oh boy, I'm not one with a saintly record when it comes to this one. I know that I can't forgive easily. Forgiveness has always been a hard matter for me. I have quite a threshold of patience yes, but once I get hurt, it'll take a long time for me to heal. However, when you do love a person so much and that person is truly important in your life, you CAN forgive them. Maybe not immediately, but you eventually will. And that's because you CHOOSE to forgive them because you LOVE them and you just can't affford to LOSE them; and your LOVE is greater than whatever mistake they've made. It just takes time to heal.

I've loved a person who used to incessantly tease me to no end, and he's done things which greatly hurt me. But in the end, I always chose to forgive him. It's just the way the world goes. You might not speak to him for a stretch of time, but you always end up forgiving him.

"I've grown. This is Laida Magtalas Version 2.0. Wiser, braver, stronger, bolder, fiercer."

 "People change. Nothing stays the same forever. Change is bound to happen."

"Transformation is about becoming the better version of the old, into becoming the people they wanna be, and still keeping something within. It may look different, but it feels right. Because inside that woman, is still heart of a girl. Look through the pages, something inside has transformed: and the transformation came as a surprise."

 These quotes are all about "change" and "transformation". And this is probably the main reason why my bestfriend recommended this movie to me, because apparently I could definitely be a definition of change. According to a guy friend, if there's one person that they can associate change with, it'd have to be me.

I've changed -- drastically for the past a year and a half. And yes, I'm talking not just about physical change, but it was and still is a holistic change. It was like I was reborn into a whole new different person, just like Laida is from the movie.

And yes, I have to admit, my change was brought about by love as well. Love gone wrong is such a potent thing; it could either make or break you. And for me, it hit both. Well, of course, it broke me to pieces but it made me who I am today. I used to be meek, shy, afraid, overweight, immature, overly sensitive, and yada yada yada. But due to circumstances, I've grown and changed SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!

I can't even believe the change I've been through. Looking at old pictures, I don't just see the "physical" aspect of change, I can also feel and think the emotions and the thoughts that I used to have back in the days. It's true you know, that whatever transformation you go through, you'd always be able to remember and feel and think like you used to. You'd always remember who you are before morphing into this new person.

It sort of came as a surprise for me too. I never knew that I could ever be who I am today just because I was broken by love. I never intended the change to be soooooooo drastic. I never intended to have a 360 transformation. And at that time? All I could think of was to do things just to forget the hurt. And I just woke up one day, looked at the mirror and saw the changes. I spoke to my friends and they'd always say "my my my, you've totally matured".

And I couldn't be happier.

Well, I stand firm of my belief that everything does happen for a reason. I can't regret what happened to me back then, no matter how painful it is. If I have to go through the same thing all over again, I would, if it means that I'd get to be who I am right now.

I'm a far cry from the me that I was 2 years ago.




Anyhow, I do love the movie! Sarah's always been a very comical actress and she pulled that off impressively! What I loved about the movie was that it wasn't too dramatic and too full of cheesy lovey things, it was the perfect mix of fun, drama, sarcasm, and heart-tingling scenes.

So, yeah, I do recommend the movie. You can definitely learn a lot from it. :)