Harry Potter in Deathly Hallows: Circa 1972

Harry Potter in Deathly Hallows: Circa 1972

One of my friend remarked: “ I became too exhausted after watching “Deathly Hallows Part 1” because of the chases.”

Another friend remarked, “It was like martial law.” I thought of it as an over simplification.

Well, if people became exhausted in watching Harry Potter’s last book, what more if you experienced fourteen years of martial law under the dictator Marcos in the Philippines, a topic relived in the film. It relived the time when the world of magic fell under the dark lord Valdemort whose name in the Philippines is Ferdinand Marcos.

The chases, well there was a lot both in the cities and in the countrysides. In he cities where the dark lord dominates, it was a hell of the time. In the provinces where there are thick forest, high mountains and a lot of peasant supporters, the chases were at first one-sided in favor of the “death-eaters” but later when the movement gained roots, with or with magic called "people's power" - it became bearable and optimistic.

I've read the book, so I am expecting the next film will feature an EDSA like uprising and I am expecting it.

It was both tragic and coincidental that in the film-there was a portion that shows a wedding and the dark forces attacked it. It also happened during martial law.

Once in Laguna, when a comrade was going to be married. Then the military get wind of it. But before they were to attack, a good guy told the crowd about it. And all the guest comrades with their resplendent barongs went awry and got away with dirt, dust and mud on their shirts just to get away,

But in another incident, the commander of the NPA unit in Davao was arrested in the affair. He chose not to fight it out in order for people not to get hurt. He was salvaged by the marine unit of now a Senator Pong Biazon and Col. Laudemer Kahulugan.

Deathly hallows lesson was about friendship. But martial law lessons taught us more about comradeship and devotion to the cause. The film mimics the search for a solution and the collective hope in one person- Harry Potter.

Martial law taught us how to hope and change the society.

Although it fell short later in EDSA 1  and 2 at least it gave us hope that 14 years of darkness and another 14 years of hopelessness can be overcome. It also showed family sacrifices like the Weasley’s fighting for a just cause.

Although highly simplified in the film, the ministry of magic under the rule of Valdemort showed how a fascist regime works. But honest and democrats inside it worked hard to blunt it fascist fangs as shown how the friends entered the ministry in stealth. These are a lot of men and woman who fought the dictator in their own little ways.

One of them Horacio Boy Morales  and other DAP were real wizards during the dark days of martial law. We can remember wizards like Fr. Zacharias Agatep and other fighting wizards for God.

Others in the academe and the likes of Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal in the film industry did their fair share.

But the real things are not magic like the film.

I enjoyed the film because it subtly showed how resistance became possible under an oppressive regime and I sigh because for fourteen years we did just that. Yes, there were a lot of chases. A near death or an almost death experience. I had a lot of them and it will be a novel to write about them.

But as my sister said ‘A lot of prayers from mama saved you from all the hazards and bad incidents that befell others.” I can just smile. What she said was true.

I remember that I shudder when she said: “ a lot of people went to our house. And a lot of them, I never saw again alive.” yah, a lot of them!

Deathly Hallows was just a movie. But at least Harry Potter films like “The Order of the Phoenix” and this one showed us that when there is oppression, there is resistance.

And in the end, like in the movies --  we will find the “deathly hallows” no matter how hard it is.

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