Major Arcana - (III) The Empress
The artist named Empress came into spotlight when she told her story of living during the Japanese occupancy of the Philippine islands.
It was the year 1955 and the Japanese are in full control of the countries' army, government, the media and religious groups. The end of World War 2 is still yet to be seen and the destructive effects of the war were still being felt globally.
Yet in this small corner of the world, in the border of the Pacific theater, war is unheard of. The Japanese came to the country in talks of financial, military and infrastructure aid. And the citizens accepted them open-heartedly.
Elsewhere, battles were being fought by foot soldiers, tanks and fighter planes. But here, the frontlines are composed of entertainers--singers, artists, magicians and theater performers. Their torch bearer is the actor named Yusuke.
Yusuke is a dramatic superstar in Japan. He usually portrays the role of an underdog who rises through the ranks and becomes the hero. He rose into stardom because of his work ethic of not being choosy with the role he plays.
In their latest production, Yusuke takes the role of a man living in the garbage dump of Payatas. Typical of any dramatic film, he needs a leading lady. But no Japanese actress wants to take the part of a leading lady who lives in dirty garbage dumps, eats nothing but rats and wears smelly ragged clothes.
So, for the first time, they auditioned the role to the locals.
Empress was born into a high profile family living in the comfort of a mansion in the Forbes Park. Although they are rich, they were confined to work 8 hours a day in a factory in Makati because of Japanese rules and regulations. At that time, no local is allowed to have high profile positions like in the government and media.
When the Japanese announced that they will hire a local woman who lives in the dumps to be Yusuke's leading lady, Empress saw an opportunity. Without telling anyone, Empress left her job, her family and her comfortable mansion to live in the Payatas dumps.
Empress found some abandoned shack in the dumps and started to settle there. She dressed herself in dirty clothing and ate all the disgusting food she could think of although her stomach is grumbling in protest. She began to ask money from pedestrians. She lived like that for a few weeks.
At last, one fine morning, the casting crew arrived at the dump for the audition. Many women fell in line for the audition but the casting crew still didn’t find the right one.
"Too small!"
"Too dark!"
"Too ugly!"
"Too...uhmm... smelly!"
When it was Empress chance to audition, she gave her all and did her best to emote. But she too was rejected by the casting crew.
"You might be a good actress, but you are too beautiful!" And the crew left without picking their actress.
With their comments, Empress had an idea. With a broken piece of glass, she cut her long, black hair until it became an uneven mass of hair and bald spots. She took a burning charcoal and burned parts of her face. Then she took a pair of pliers and plucked her two front teeth.
A few weeks later, the casting caravan came again. Flocks of women arrived again to audition but the crew didn't picked one.
When it was Empress chance to audition, she gave her all and did her best to emote. When the crew saw her, they were awestruck.
"We found our star!" The crew shouted in celebration. Even Yusuke, who was always inside their van, came out to look at her.
So they packed up, brought Empress with them and proceeded to the studio to start shooting.
When they arrived at the studio, which is located inside the Japanese headquarters, Empress saw Japanese soldiers hurrying back and forth.
Yusuke and the casting crew went to the main office to check what is happening. Empress was left in the van waiting.
After a few hours, the casting director went to see Empress.
"We were told the war is over. We will now return to Japan. Get out of the van please. You're too smelly!"
30 years later, some Filipino reporters went to the Payatas to document the state of the poor people after Japanese withdrawal from the country.
They learned of the woman named Empress and her tragic story.
The reporters decided to make another documentary to focus on her struggles. She is now on spotlight.
The story of Empress will air on Monday from 12:00 to 12:15 in the evening.
Yes, a 15-minute spotlight.
