The Perks of Being a Wallflower and my manic pixie (younger) self

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is such a good barkada film. I want to be friends with everyone Charlie made friends with, i.e. "trip" with Mary Elizabeth, talk about boys on random dates with Patrick, go to gigs with Sam.

The movie reminded me of Almost Famous, perhaps because they were both coming-of-age films and music played a crucial role in the re-shaping of the main characters' lives. I saw Almost Famous when I was younger though, i.e. I had just begun college, so I empathized greatly with the coming-of-age-feel of the movie: I was looking for my own heroines and manic Pixie girl Pennylane became, for quite sometime, the epitome of free spirit I had wanted to be. She was a proud groupie. She loved bravely. Plus, I was also trying to "discover" 60s-70s rock music and hippie culture then and Almost Famous was shown when the hippie era was relatively unexplored and not too cool yet (it was the pre-hipster period).

Manic Pixie Girl no more
Watching TPoBaW 12 years after Almost Famous provided an unanticipated evaluation of what happened to the projects Music/Hippie-ness & Manic Pixie-girl-slash-groupie I began when I was 18 and just starting college:
1) The music were ones I already like and have heard of (that's also thanks to the more contemporary playlist) 
2) I'd rather be manic Pixie-girl Sam (played magnificently by Emma Watson)'s ate and friend than her.

It's like seeing Paul Rudd play the teacher: an affirmation that I'm a lot older now, haha. I still love Pennylane's character, would hug her were we to meet in the fictional world and tell her how I did learn to love stupidly and bravely at the same time and take on life somewhat like she had, but I have other heroines now. And I think if I tell her this, she would say she understands where I'm coming from and tell me she knows what I mean. Then we would exchange knowing looks and trade stories about those trips we took, sometimes intentionally, other times because we had no choice, that forced us to stare at ourselves long and hard while asking "What the fuck is wrong with you?" and then learning to forgive and accept who & how we are, and then getting on the bus/ the route/ the journey again, stumbling/learning/struggling/practicing this notion of self-love, and then have a silly laugh and say, "Those manic pixie girl days were fun times, right?"

I know that had my Pennylane-adoring me met Sam earlier, she would probably feel like she found a new bestfriend. To her I'd say Sam is right, things are gonna be better or at least, it could be better if you allow it to. Then I'd tell her to be excited. Knowing the younger me, she'd probably get so anxious and a little scared. I'd tell her it's going to be real, affecting, and world-&-self-changing but oh-so-worth the ride, she should stand up, embrace the uncertainty, and wave her hands in the cold air like Sam does in that tunnel scene.

The Burmese & why I'd like to stay there and teach English

I fall in love with Burma all over again each and every time I browse through the photos. Yes, the landscape is beautiful, but the deal breaker is her people. Always her people. I've never met such a warmhearted bunch who just take the punches thrown their way with such grace. One day, I hope I get the opportunity to stay there (3 or 4 months sound like a good idea) and teach English to kids in the community, to the monks.

While learning English is something we take for granted in this country, I think it would be of great value to a country like Burma. When you have a government that is perennially deaf to your voice/ plight/ desires/ wishes/ needs/ sufferings, etc. etc., getting the attention of the international community is perhaps one way to improve life for your family, your friends, your community. But before you get help, you first have to get heard.

Like any oppressive regime, the junta has made sure to produce only a small group of intelligentsia. When we were there, we were amazed because almost all the college kids we talked to were studying to become engineers and doctors, but so few were studying to become historians, writers or social scientists. According to a Burmese cousin, there's an operating bias in society that "liberal arts are courses for the weak-minded."

Most of the time, we hear about Myanmar when there's news about Aung San Suu Kyi or if a big tragedy has happened. I don't discount that any news about Aung San Suu Kyi is a HUGE DEAL, but I think Burma and the Burmese deserve more. They are a treasure trove of stories, why aren't we more curious?  There has to be more stories about life in Burma told - the small inspiring tales, alongside tragic truths; the quiet everyday life in Myanmar which would clue us in on how they keep it together.

Stories could be game changers; this we know because we have Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.

From my amateur assessment (I'm not any Asian scholar, I was just a tourist), the ordinary citizens we've met are desperate for the world to listen. This is why I wish that more Burmese would learn English. I hope they could have more storytellers. And this is also why instead of asking you to boycott the government, I'd rather that you go there and talk to them.

But that's me. I have lofty dreams of teaching at a Burmese monastery.I daydream that during the short course of my stay, I'd be able to reach out to someone and equip that someone with enough skills to express himself and write a letter that would improve the life of his/ her community. This is really every teacher's dream, no?