Don't you just hate local movies for the predictable story line, cardboard characters, bad acting and plot twists suspicously similar to that of another foreign film? But, we have to admit, these are the very same qualities in Filipino films that draw us to watch them.
And, last night, I've discovered another reason to watch local horror flicks: They scare Laila.
It was too early for bedtime so I let Laila sit through 'White Lady' on Cinema One last night. Admitedly, the reason I became interested in the movie was because Laila was stupefied when she saw the trailer earlier yesterday. Her wide eyes were glued on the TV, she stopped fidgeting, and even stopped chewing.
Hmm, I thought, the movie must be promising if it caught Laila's exceedingly short attention. Of course, 10 minutes inot the film I realized that there was a Grand Canyon-wide gap between my expectations and Laila's standards of an interesting film.
But no matter. Laila was sitting still on the couch, placidly opening her mouth to dinner of rice and hotdogs (so shoot me! At least she's eating something) and not running around like some sugar-pumped maniac high on caffeine. She didn't make a fuss around washtime and cooperated getting her pajamas on.
She was still talking about the White Lady this morning, and it was obvious she didn't want to do anything that would displeace the White Lady. Laila agreed to get up from bed because the 'White Lady' doesn't want her to stay in bed too late in the morning. She also allowed Ate to wash her bottom because otherwise the White Lady would do it.
And, last night, I've discovered another reason to watch local horror flicks: They scare Laila.
It was too early for bedtime so I let Laila sit through 'White Lady' on Cinema One last night. Admitedly, the reason I became interested in the movie was because Laila was stupefied when she saw the trailer earlier yesterday. Her wide eyes were glued on the TV, she stopped fidgeting, and even stopped chewing.
Hmm, I thought, the movie must be promising if it caught Laila's exceedingly short attention. Of course, 10 minutes inot the film I realized that there was a Grand Canyon-wide gap between my expectations and Laila's standards of an interesting film.
But no matter. Laila was sitting still on the couch, placidly opening her mouth to dinner of rice and hotdogs (so shoot me! At least she's eating something) and not running around like some sugar-pumped maniac high on caffeine. She didn't make a fuss around washtime and cooperated getting her pajamas on.
She was still talking about the White Lady this morning, and it was obvious she didn't want to do anything that would displeace the White Lady. Laila agreed to get up from bed because the 'White Lady' doesn't want her to stay in bed too late in the morning. She also allowed Ate to wash her bottom because otherwise the White Lady would do it.
I admit, I've developed a new level of respect for the White Lady as a tool for encouraging Laila to be more cooperative.
It's not a tool that child experts would endorse, I know. The resource materials I've read so far all suggest ways how to help children grow out of irrational fears like of monsters in the dark or under the bed.
Nevertheless, if the White Lady helps encourage Laila to eat, take a nap or stop spinning then White Lady will be our invisible Yaya. At least until Laila stops being scared of her.
Laila's tolerance for scary things is quite limited. She used to be scared of Buhok (some hirsute expatriate we saw on the bus from Nasugbu), of Star Wars Moomoo (Darth Maul and Palpatine), the generic monster (until she fell in love with One Eye Monster from Disney's Monsters Inc.). There's still Kuya bates (the neighbor upstairs) but you can only scare her so much using a real person.
So, until Laila grows out of the White Lady--and I'm sure she will sooner than I'd like--the White Lady will be the buzzword at home. After White Lady stops being scary, then we'll just have to come up with something else.
We all have fears. Some of them are perfectly justified some are downright irrational. Young children seem to be more susceptible to scary thoughts because they are beginning to develop an imagination but haven't mastered the skill of determining which is reality and which is not.
Experts have a long list of advise how parents could help children cope with their fears. These materials were written by Western child psychiatrsts and, while I fully agree on the soundness of the results of their studies and will , it just doesn't completely jibe with realties in the house.
I'm not too worried about Laila developing a phobia. Don't they say that small doses of an allergen would help you develop resistance? I'm confident Laila-sized scares would help toughen up my lovey.
We all have fears. Some of them are perfectly justified some are downright irrational. Young children seem to be more susceptible to scary thoughts because they are beginning to develop an imagination but haven't mastered the skill of determining which is reality and which is not.
Experts have a long list of advise how parents could help children cope with their fears. These materials were written by Western child psychiatrsts and, while I fully agree on the soundness of the results of their studies and will , it just doesn't completely jibe with realties in the house.
I'm not too worried about Laila developing a phobia. Don't they say that small doses of an allergen would help you develop resistance? I'm confident Laila-sized scares would help toughen up my lovey.
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