An Ode to Humanity: What Unites, Not What Separates

It surprised me to see that she cried because, first, my running translation wasn’t that good. Second, I only translated what I think were important parts of the film. Lastly, she told me that her knowledge of the Filipino language was only rudimentary. Most of the time, I allowed her to just understand the dialogue from the images on the screen, and from the context of the story.

For all we know, the crying probably came from an identification with the mother and daughter issues being presented in the film (which leads us to dangerously psychological paths). But I’d rather see it in an altogether different way.

I’d like to see it this way: that we all share something in common. That there is something so human and therefore basic, in each and everyone of us, it transcends our familial, national, racial and cultural backgrounds. There are different cultures, yes, but one humanity.

And we see all this everyday. We watched Miss Saigon which is basically a story of a Vietnamese mother’s love for her son (I’d give my life for you!) and we are not surprised at all because we Filipinos would have done the same for our own sons. We saw the movie Dad, and we cry with this American son who has made it his mission to be there when his father dies; and we know that Filipinos are so much like that- we also want to be there when our own family members die. We know the story of a British (or Italian- wherever Verona is…) Romeo and Juliet falling in love, dying together and we know it could happen to us- we can love and die for our loved ones.

And it’s not just in literature and movies and plays that these things happen. Motherhood. Sonship. Hope. Joy. Loneliness. Inner Peace. Sadness. Love. They happen to us everyday. In our own lives. In our own little cultures. Wherever we are.

And this we share transcends not only place, or culture, or background, it transcends time as well. The story of Lapu-lapu fighting for what is rightfully his is the story of William Wallace in Scotland is the story of thousands who fight for their lands, property, families. The life of a Rizal dying for motherland in Bagumbayan is the life of a Lincoln assassinated in a theater is the life of a Ninoy Aquino killed on a tarmac is the life of Benazir Bhutto killed in Pakistan.

Motherhood. Sonship. Hope. Joy. Loneliness. Inner Peace. Nationalism. Sadness. Love. These transcend time, and place and culture, and even age.

We may not totally understand, but the challenge may not lie in striving for that day when we will totally understand each other, but in striving everyday to look into ourselves deeply enough so that we touch base with what we share in common.

Then we can begin to see that in our being truly and fully human, we are really breaking down what divides us. There may be different cultures. But there is only one humanity.

*photo credit: from Habitat for Humanity