Baka Bukas2016

This film is being reviewed harshly here at Letterboxd. Yes, I get that the filmmakers focused mostly on its visuals rather than the story and it feels very safe and weak due to its lack of kissing scenes between the two actress. But that's the whole point. Just like Alex's work where she wanted to create something edgier for the millennials, her producers restricted her from pushing the envelope and forces her to make her work "straight", "viewer friendly" and very "Kim Chiu-esque". It's ironic because one of the producers of her show is obviously gay, but was repulsed by what she's trying to accomplish. I'm not even a lesbian to defend this film but I get the idea why Samantha Lee has to tone it down because I think that's how the main character feels about herself. She's been a lesbian her entire life but she's the one afraid of truly "coming out" in the open. This movie also tells us how the Philippine entertainment industry, although accepting of its LGBTQ community, are still a little unprepared, conservative and narrow-minded when it comes to screen portrayal of gay relationships. To most, kissing and exchanging of liquids between the same sex poses a lot of risks and it could only be done when made by an independent film production. Filipino audiences loves the idea of their favorite actors and actresses—what they see on the screen—hoping that it's the way they were in real life. Let's face it, even the couples who play pretend are being marked as real just for the satisfaction of the masses. The studio and the management who packaged them can't afford to shatter the illusions of their fan base for fear that the career of their talents will be over. If Jess was not an actress, she and Alex could have had a flamboyant relationship. But this was not the case. That's where the "Baka Bukas" (Maybe Tomorrow) comes from. This is a movie about image conscious celebrities, concern to keep their career status quo, and simply prohibited from outing themselves publicly because the mainstream doesn't want them to—all because they have to keep up with the perfect illusion perceived by the world.