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Opinion: The voyage around the world, getting around the facts
Filipino netizens were outraged after the poster-trailer for “Elcano and Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World” was released this November. It is a Spanish animated movie about the journey of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Elcano, and their arrival in Cebu in 1521.
At first glance, there is seemingly nothing wrong with the movie. It might even seem appealing when one sees the part where it says, “with Philippines' very own hero, Lapu-Lapu.” One might think “Wow, a Filipino hero in a cartoon movie!” But taking a closer look at the details of the poster and watching the trailer, it can be seen that things are not what they seem.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net
The poster for the animated movie shows Juan Elcano front and center with Magellan behind him to his left. To his right, a woman named Samar, presumably a pre-colonial Filipino woman, is staring at Elcano affectionately. Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu is featured in the lower half of the poster with a villainous look on his face.
From these details of the poster, one can already tell that something is wrong. In the history lessons taught to us in school, Magellan and Elcano colonized Cebu and converted Filipino natives into Christians, and killed those who didn’t agree to convert and swear fealty to Spain. There was no mention of a native Filipina falling in love with Juan Elcano either. History books also show Lapu-Lapu to be a patriot who defended his people from foreign invaders, but his face in the poster shows him to be akin to some generic villain.
While some netizens argued that the movie was made by a studio from Spain, and thus, in their point of view, Juan Elcano was the hero and Lapu-Lapu was the villain, it still doesn’t change the fact that Magellan acted like a brigand, slaver, and maritime pirate during his brief stay in the islands. And to be fair, there is nothing heroic about pillaging, kidnapping for ransom, enslaving, or murdering people.
Sure, it could be claimed that these are over-exaggerations, but take a look at Magellan's official chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta. He writes multiple times of "heroic" Magellan and his crew engaging in what would now be called piracy and banditry. He mentioned an incident where a local chieftain was invited on board their ships to trade. When they were unable to reach an agreement, the crew held the chieftain and his companions hostage and demanded animal goods for their release. Fearful for his life, the chieftain ordered that their demands immediately be met. In another instance, they signaled and demanded that a Filipino ocean craft salute them with their sails. When this demand was not met, they pursued, boarded, and pillaged the craft. Here, they captured on board a local chieftain and his family, who were then held for ransom. Pigafetta's journal is filled with many more similar events that are "heroic" indeed.
To add insult to injury, a particular short scene from the trailer shows Juan Elcano marveling at the wondrous nature of the Philippines, with Toco Toucans and Scarlet Macaws flying around the trees. Nothing wrong with showcasing the beauty of the Philippine Islands, right? Well, no. Those birds are normally found in South America and not the Philippines.
The abundance of historical and factual inaccuracies could potentially mislead unsuspecting viewers into viewing Magellan as a hero, instead as a thug. Fortunately, no amount of false perfume will completely drown out the stench that is the historic facts of Magellan's role in establishing Spanish domination over our islands and the atrocities that came with it. To deny Magellan committed any wrongdoing would be akin to saying there were no human rights violations during President Marcos’ Martial Law or to say the Bataan Death March did not happen. To deny that certain historical events happened or were not really as bad is to encourage them to happen again. George Santayana said it best with, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Additionally, if one looks at the characters properly, one will also notice that some of them resemble the characters from a certain Dreamworks movie titled “The Road to El Dorado.” To be specific, Juan Elcano resembles Tulio, The King of Cebu is to Chief Tannabok, Samar, who is the designated romantic interest, looks like Chel and disappointingly, Lapu-Lapu is to Tzekel-kan, who was the antagonist in the movie.
This is an animated movie for kids that contains historically misleading and inaccurate information, the romanticizing of colonizers, a villainous portrayal of a national hero, and character designs ripped straight off from another animated movie all packaged into one! So, what are you waiting for? “Elcano and Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World” colonizing Philippine cinemas this upcoming 2020! //by Simon Delfinaldo and Gabe Ulanday
hi simon
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