Who’s the real Imelda?

Someone close to Imelda Marcos said the feisty former Superma’am did not like the documentary Imelda because it made her look like a "flirt."

A tearful Imelda said it made her look "ugly."

After watching the documentary a second time, I thought the documentary made her look talkative. And as she talked, she wittingly or unwittingly (with Imelda, you never really know) revealed more about herself than ever – and depending on the viewer’s perspective, damning herself more or endearing herself completely with the audience. As Sen. Fred Lim once said during an interview (I can’t remember now on what issue), "Saan ba nahuhuli ang isda kung hindi sa bunganga?" (How do you bait a fish except through its mouth?)

After much ado over the TRO that blocked the documentary’s public screening, Imelda the documentary turned out to be like its subject: As fascinating and complex as the Rubik’s cube. It is almost impossible to get all sides of Imelda.

"I don’t know why people make a problem of me? I am not a problem," says Imelda, whom filmmaker Ramona "Monina" Diaz and her Caucasian camera crew followed from Leyte to Ilocos Norte for the documentary.

The people who came out of the 103-minute documentary at the premiere sponsored by the Assumption Convent Batch ’79 (to which Diaz belonged) at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt did not have a unanimous verdict on Imelda, the person. If the audience were a jury, it would have been a hung jury.

But the audience was unanimous in its reaction to the technical aspects of documentary. "It had excellent production values and storyline treatment," says banker Jojo Marquez Ocampo.

Another banker, Gigi Montinola, says the documentary was fair "because they let Imelda talk for most of the movie."

Writer Rhona Lopa Macasaet said friends who saw the documentary engaged in a lot of discussion about it (Monina believes a good documentary should arouse discussion).

What shouldn’t be lost also on the audience is that though the documentary focuses on Imelda, it also gives a historical perspective of her era. There is rare footage of the Liberation years, the triumphant first term of the Marcoses (where Imelda dazzled all in the Johnson White House), the turbulent and abusive martial law years and the heartbreaking (for Imelda) years the Marcoses spent in exile.

Finance whiz Ina Ledesma, who handled the premiere for Batch ’79, says the best reaction she got came from a 15-year-old, who said, "I never knew that was how it was like then." This made Ina realize that, "There is a new generation out there who’ll see this recent history."

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Among those in the first screening were nuns from the Assumption Convent and Fr. James Reuter, S.J., who appeared in the documentary to shed some light on the Imelda he knew (He refuses to comment further on Imelda, both the person and the movie).

What struck me as the documentary was unfolding onscreen was the number of times the audience broke into laughter . All instances took place when Imelda was talking. I asked friends who watched the second screening if the audience also laughed, and apparently, they did, too. Were they laughing because Imelda was making a fool of herself? Or because they were amused by Imelda’s crisp quotes ("If I were to die by a bolo, I wish they had just tied a yellow ribbon around it!")?

"Imelda is the only one of her kind in this planet!" explains stylist Eric Pe Benito.

"One may not agree with the causes Imelda espoused, but at least she stood for something and was consistent throughout. I’m not sure there isn’t more hilarity in the affairs of state these days!" says Anton Periquet.

But two people in the audience actually shed a tear or two. This was when Imelda was asked what she would like written on her epitaph.

"Here lies love," she said. And then, very sadly, she repeated, pointing to something (I won’t tell what or who) that changed her life, "Here lies love."

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Some people actually wondered if Imelda filed the TRO to boost, rather than prevent, the public screening of the documentary. There are also unconfirmed reports that she did it to appease the London-based publisher of her memoirs who was reportedly not pleased that a documentary had jumped the gun on an Imelda scoop. A colleague thinks Imelda Marcos and Monina Diaz are actually in cahoots! (This I doubt very much, having seen all the trouble Monina went through because of the TRO. In fact, it was one of our classmates who broke the news to Monina at 3 a.m. Los Angeles time and Monina was shocked to hear of the TRO). As always, whatever Imelda does is hounded by controversy and speculation.

"She is predictable in her unpredictability," Monina says. "One should never underestimate her."

For all we know, revealing her life in the documentary is part of Imelda Marcos’ game plan, part of her desire to make herself forever current in the consciousness of a showbiz-oriented people, thus ensuring she never becomes a "has-been."

"At the end of the day, Imelda may well get the last laugh," says musical director Louie Ocampo.

"The lady is pure showbiz," agrees publicist Boots Moyer. "She’s totally aware of her place in history."

"We all live according to our concept of reality," says Viking Cars’ CEO lawyer Albert Arcilla. "Sometimes, it doesn’t conform to what most people believe to be the acceptable reality. Mrs. Marcos lived her own reality, without judging if it was indeed right or wrong. She showed that anyone could actually live the reality one chooses to have."