Remember, remember...

Before pink fences were placed along Edsa-Ayala Avenue, people crowded the sidewalk. Not bad, considering that’s where pedestrians should be.

Now they crowd the street, meeting buses head-on, while the designated waiting areas nearby stand deserted, utterly ignored by commuters.

We certainly have a way with control, be it structural, verbal, or non-verbal. What is it with us and following regulations? Are we too ingenious and innovative for our own good, or is it in our genes to constantly bend and break any rule in place?

Today, I attended a public presentation by the Communication Research students of UP-CMC entitled “Sino si Ped Xing?”

It was an interesting and well-executed study about road safety practices of schoolchildren and parents, considering the limitation in resources. I salute the students and my former professors for a job well done.

***
Speaking of control, the last three films I’ve watched seem to fit this certain theme, and somehow coincided with the events this country is going through.

Aeon Flux is hell bent on bringing down a man whose intention is to help mankind but was sorely misunderstood because of the deeds of people he held close to his side.

Erap now stands to testify to the numerous allegations of plunder and corruption. For all he knows, his intentions were good, and it was the people around him that spelled his downfall.

Hou Yuanjia (Fearless) fought for his country and suffered a painful end from those who seek power. The Jedis suffered the same fate, as my future brother-in-law aptly pointed out – the very empire that they struggled to protect will be the one to exterminate them (“Oh, Order 66 already? So this is where we kill all the Jedi, right? Copy that Sir.")

Does that sound like PP 1017? Randy David, Satur Ocampo, and others who marched along the current president some years ago now become targets of arrests and charges. Even as the order was lifted, the tension continues.

Finally, V for Vendetta, the best of the lot, left some of the most memorable lines in my head:

We all wear masks. Life creates them and forces us to find the one that fits. – V.

I don't know who you are. Or whether you're a man or a woman. I may never see you or cry with you or get drunk with you. But I love you. I hope that you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better, and that one day people have roses again. I wish I could kiss you. – Valerie

Happiness is the most insidious prison of all, Evey. – V.

You see? You cannot kill me. There is no flesh and blood within this cloak to kill. There is only an idea. And ideas are bulletproof. – V.

Twenty years ago, V’s from all walks of life gathered to bring down the one in power. If the idea lived on to this day, perhaps one day, when all the blocks are in place, all it takes is a flick of a finger.