Big Boy
Abstract
Jamon, J.A.M. (2016). Big Boy. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.
Big Boy tells the story of Kulas, a 10-year-old boy who is constantly bullied in school. Living with his auntie, he is surrounded by his filmmaker parents’ old movies and memorabilia. One night, he decides to take revenge: he dresses up as a monster from one of his parents’ films to scare his bullies away.
The film aims to explore the effects of bullying in young boys using gender studies and Filipino Aswang mythology. Through the protagonist’s fascination with fictional monsters, the film uses this monster as a representation of a popular stereotype of masculinity to problematize it and therefore reconstruct the concept of masculinity.