Forbes, Amy (2013) Tropical imaginings and romantic nostalgia: 75 years of Giliw Ko and the colonial gaze. Etropic: electronic journal of studies in the tropics, 12 (2). pp. 171-179.

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Abstract

In 1998, Australia restored the 1939 film musical, Giliw Ko, the earliest extant film ever produced in the Philippines. Through its National Film and Sound Archive, Australia presented the film as a gift to the Filipino people to mark 100 years of independence. Celebrating its 75th year of production next year, the film as gift is ironical as it can be argued that the Philippines never gained independence, at least not from the strong colonizing effects of over 50 years of US rule. Giliw Ko tackles themes of a people's infatuation and confusion over Hollywood images and what it means to be cultured and Westernized. In this essay, I explore American cinema’s historical and cultural constructs as a natural continuation of the colonialist project that is based on binary oppositions of West/East, civilized and uncivilized, conqueror and conquered. Utilising the film Giliw Ko, I examine these constructs that are carried to the present day in Philippine cinema.

Item ID:	32693
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1448-2940
Keywords:	Philippine cinema, colonial gaze, imagination, tropical
Additional Information:	This special edition of etropic contains the extended and refereed verisons of papers first presented at the Third Biennial Tropics of the Imagination Conference, 4-5 July 2013, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Smithfield, QLD, Australia. Freely available from publisher website.
Date Deposited:	28 Apr 2014 04:03
FoR Codes:	20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200211 Postcolonial Studies @ 50% 20 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 2002 Cultural Studies > 200212 Screen and Media Culture @ 50%
SEO Codes:	95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9505 Understanding Past Societies > 950502 Understanding Asias Past @ 75% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture @ 25%
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