Breaking the Silence: A Textual Analysis of Kiray Celis as the "Other"
Breaking the Silence: A Textual Analysis of Kiray Celis as the "Other"
ABSTRACT
This research study aimed to determine the implications of Filipina actress Kiray Celis’ makeovers to her career – to examine the link between adopting the traits described in the “beauty myth” and the roles Kiray gets and to analyze the possible relation of her makeover/transformation to the number and nature of projects she has been given.
The study used descriptive textual analysis of the episodes of Mara Clara, Growing Up, and Luv U – her shows after Goin’ Bulilit, where she used to be a mainstay. The films where she appeared in were also used in determining the connection between her transformations and the development of her career, namely: The Mommy Returns, Born To Love You, Kimmy Dora and The Temple of Kiyeme, and I Do Bidoo Bidoo: Heto nAPO Sila.
The guiding theories used in this study are post-colonial theories on the subaltern by Joanne Sharp and Gayatri Spivak, as well as Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of hybridity. The study is also guided by Shank’s phases of data analysis.
The study revealed that Kiray Celis’ career indeed advanced after undergoing evident makeovers. The roles she got also progressed in terms of her characters’ way of living. However, her habitus is still the same, she is still oftentimes the butt of jokes. Yet even though there are still instances that illustrate her being the “other”, Kiray breaks the silence of a typical subaltern and twists it to her advantage in order to be heard – in her own way.
This study can further be improved by conducting a contrast analysis of Kiray Celis’ projects from that of other more Western-looking actors such as Julia Montes or Jane Oineza applying the same methods used in this thesis, or by using the Theory on Political Economy to give the study another perspective.
Angeles, R. (2013). Breaking the Silence: A Textual Analysis of Kiray Celis as the “Other”, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication
Keywords: subaltern, post-colonial, Other, representation, textual