Don’t be fooled by the rambunctious laughter and collective groan Marupok AF (Where is the Lie?) produced when it kickstarted Cinemalaya 19 at the Philippine International Convention Center last Friday, August 4. Quark Henares’ latest project, an adaptation of the unbelievably crazy and scandalous viral Twitter thread in 2020, knows how to entertain its audience with the help of a talented cast. Its wonky, messy screenplay, however, executed a dangerous examination of its premise that can contradict the film’s intention.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Filipino Twitter community was shocked to read the long thread of Jzan Tero and how she was elaborately catfished by multimedia artist Sam Morales. Henares exercised creative liberty with the story with more plot and character building and changing the names of the characters. Jzan is Janzen (EJ Jallorina), Bilko Argana/Bill Iver Reyes is Theo/Dennis (Royce Cabrera), and the infamous Sam is Beanie (Maris Racal).
Marupok AF also changed how these characters presented their side of the story. Janzen used TikTok instead of Twitter in exposing Beanie and Theo/Dennis. Dennis showed his face to the public when he was talking in a Raffy Tulfo-eque show (in reality, he was talking to the now-senator through a phone patch). Beanie used Facebook Live to tell her story (Sam never publicly addressed the issues, choosing to delete all of her social media accounts and never resurfacing on the internet again).
Henares had good intentions of raising awareness about the harsh and unfair reality of trans women in the country: the harassment they experience for going to the female comfort room, the vulnerability of being victimized by catfishing, the systemic support of the government for transphobes, and the lack of genuine romantic opportunities. Jallorina, a trans actress, captured Janzen’s desire for love and celebration of her identity. It’s a relevant, nuanced, and needed representation of the trans woman experience on the big screen.
But before the film starts, it had a disclaimer: Inspired by true events…depends on who’s telling the story. From that point, Marupok AF is not just a dark comedy retelling a viral internet story ala Zola (2020); it wants to examine how narratives can be twisted especially on the internet (as what kids say these days: Syempre, kwento mo ‘yan).
But why is that the point Henares wants to focus on? Is he implicating that Janzen might also be lying in her story? Janzen said in her Tiktok video that Dennis eventually had sex with her in the hotel room. Dennis, however, denied this. Henares tried to quiz the audience on who was actually telling the truth but never gave us the resolution. What exactly is the point of that scene? Is the film also implicating that Beanie is not just the villain in this story?
But also, why is Marupok AF trying to humanize Beanie? With Racal’s impressive dramatic and comedic chops, Beanie is an interesting sociopath who plots mean-spirited pranks against Janzen but also helps her with schoolwork and masturbates while having a phone call sex with her (with the help of a voiceover artist. It was a funny moment). She’s also confused as to why she likes helping Janzen instead of just shredding the hopeless romantic trans woman to pieces.
That should be enough, right? So I’m puzzled by Beanie sharing her side of the story through Facebook Live with thousands of viewers that eventually dwindled down when she spurted transphobic rhetoric. Why do we need to know her transphobic thoughts when that’s obvious to the audience from the start? Why do we need to further understand where she’s coming from?
In Zola, Stefani is presented as a crass, careless stripper who got the protagonist Zola into a lot of crimes that could endanger her life. Stefani did not have a sob story or any moment that would justify her actions. She’s just bat-s*** crazy. It’s not rocket science to not root for her.
So Marupok AF doesn’t need the audience to consider who’s telling the story or if we should actually sympathize with Beanie. She deserved to be left by her best friend. She deserved that slap from Janzen. She deserved to be “cancelled” just like her real-life counterpart.
Marupok AF (Where is the Lie) is the opening film of Cinemalaya XIX. It premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in the U.S. in January.
