Racism in Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita

Through our history, we can greatly notice that our motherland was colonized by different
countries including Japan which made us forcefully yield to them for more than three years. In
these events, we can observe racism which is defined by Dictionary.com as “belief or doctrine that
inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual
achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to
dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others”. In the movie “Aishite
Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita” released way back 2004 and was directed by Joel Lamangan, the period
when Japanese people came to our country is where and how the story started. The story tackled
the lives of Edilberto, Virginia, and Ignacio about how they fought for the freedom of the town of
San Nicolas and the country itself from the hands of the Japanese. Racism can be observed when
the Japanese came to the Philippines to seek for refuge from the war between Japan and America
through the pretense that they wanted to ask for the help of Filipinos which were not even involved
in the war their country is concerned with. In the film, Japan is the country being viewed as superior
whereas our country, Philippines, is inferior towards this country. These scenes showing racism
will be elaborated and discussed on the following statements.

As the movie begun, it showed how the Japanese came to the Philippines through aircrafts
without even a prior notice. This scene pointed out that at that time, Japanese either gained
permission to enter our country or they can come and go as they want, making them give the
impression of being superior. Also, this part of the film shows how Filipinos feel threatened just
by the appearance of the Japanese, the outsiders. (11:55-12:13)

The next scene showed how Japanese gained power over the Filipinos as they came to the
Philippines. The mayor, who has a high position in the town, personally accommodated the
Japanese Captain Ichiru who visited Inya (Ignacio) just because he possessed a liking towards him.
This scene as well presented how a Filipino acted high and mighty in front of her compatriot just
because she is backed by the Japanese (since she was cooperating with them), how she supported
the foreigners’ goals and actions towards her own country, and how she even participated in
persecuting her fellow citizens. (15:57-17:10) (37:23-38:28)
 Racism was also present in the segment of the movie where Ichiru was asking for the
Filipinos to cooperate and follow their requests so that they will not be harmed. The Filipinos were
being subservient for they did not show any sort of resistance and just obliged to the outsiders.
(20:03-21:20)

The Filipinos again showed inferiority towards Japanese when some of them became
willing to hand over their comrades who were part of the guerilla. For protection, some turn out to
be cooperative. On the other hand, Japanese showed superiority by utilizing their authority towards
those Filipinos who didn’t showed them respect through prostration. The Japanese even used
violence on both men and women just to show their supremacy in the Philippines. Innocent or not,
if they are alleged to be helping the guerillas, they will still receive punishment from the foreigners
for betraying them and not following their demands. The punishment would be either they are
tortured in a cell, tied, submerged into water, bombarded by gunshots, stabbed, or slaughtered
helplessly. (27:28-30:22) (40:40-41:35) (54:41-56:30) (56:58-1:00:17) (1:35:50-1:38:19)

Finally, the Japanese once again displayed their dominance by showing how they hold the
power over the lives of Filipinos at that time. They can decide whether someone (of a Filipino
citizenship) can continue living and be freed or else remain being tortured. This part of the movie
showed how powerless Filipinos were in their own nation. (1:04:59-1:06:25)

To sum up, racism was present in our country through the domination of different other
countries over us in the past. But, as citizens of our own country, Filipinos showed different ways
on how they stood up against the tyranny of these countries to gain back the control and freedom
we once had in our own land. Well, in actuality, individuals of different nationalities and beliefs
would still require interaction at some point no matter how much humanity tries to split up the
various ethnicities this world possesses. Learning to foster compassion and tolerance for others
who appear different from us is fundamental to prevent discrimination towards other people. Being
able to accept that we are all unique is a great step on the way to achieving coexistence.