Seven Sundays

By: Mikayla De Guzman

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” — George Bernard Shaw

Family: the foundation for society

Family is the basic unit of society. It supplies an individual with the basic characteristics and traits of its members. The attitude of a person is an effect of the background of the family. According to George Murdock, an American philanthropist, his definition of the family “is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction; it includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, owned or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults” (Murdock, 1949). However, the scope did not include the variety of families that society has, such as single parenting, cohabiting arrangements, domestic partnerships of homosexuals, families constituted by second marriages, also known as stepfamilies or blended families, and married couples without children.

Since our traits reflect on how we treat the family, the Philippines has a unique way of having a family. Each household has its own stories to tell and struggles to fight. The movie Seven Sundays showcase the overarching themes of a Filipino family.

The Portrayal of the Filipino Family

Seven Sundays is a Filipino-heartwarming movie directed by Cathy Molina-Garcia. It was released in 2017 and has garnered the attention of the public. The story talks about a widowed father who learns that he is dying of cancer. The news caused his busy children to spend his remaining seven Sundays with him. On those Sundays, it celebrates the challenges and success of a family. The movie shows how each family member has their own battles that affect the basic unit. Their lives present the common hardships of a Filipino family. Watching it both in the cinema and on the television made me realize that it was the epitome of the Filipino Family. There were some themes that reflected my own family.

The Single Relative as the responsible guardian

Jun, played by Ketchup Eusebio, is the nephew and lives with Tatay Manuel. The movie did not mention any family of Jun. He even tried to flirt with the assistant of the second eldest. In the Philippines, single relatives have the responsibility to take care of sick or old family members. A recent experience of this happened within my family. My grandfather had major brain surgery and needed someone who takes care of him, especially during dawn. My relatives did not want to hire someone because it was a waste of money. Luckily, they remembered my Tito or Ninong, who is fit for the job. He did have a family; however, bad things happened, and they cut ties. My Ninong works and is also addicted to alcohol. They wanted him to do this job so he would lessen his alcohol intake and stop wasting his hard-earned money. Now, he does two things, a “nurse” and his work.

The Busy Parents

In the Philippines, OFW parents sacrifice themselves for their children to have a better life. Most of them do not see the growth of their children because they are busy working hard. Aside from OFW parents, we have parents who busy themselves with work also, for the same reason. Tatay Manuel is an OFW that returned to the Philippines knowing the death of their mother. He became a barangay captain that was well known to the people. He became so busy protecting the barangay that he forgot about Dexter, who was young and still growing.

Besides Manuel, Allan, the oldest of the four children, was persistent with his dreams of dancing. He became an OFW in Japan to pursue that dream. However, after knowing that his wife is pregnant, he went back to the Philippines for various reasons: one, to take care of his family; two, so that he could see the growth of his children.

Family Business

The family was able to establish a convenient store named ABC Store. The store name came from the initials of the children: Allan, Bryan, and Cha. Sadly, the youngest was not part of the name because of the age difference. I resonate with this a lot. When I watched this at the cinema, I cried so hard at this part because I had the same experience. My father’s business is named E.A.Z Manufacturing. When I was young, the establishment’s name made me sad because I was not included in the name. I thought that they did not love me that much. It may be a simple name, but it hurt me when I was young. We talked about it and understood that the business was constructed when I was not born. At present, we joke about it and tease that next time will be a Mikayla-centric name.

The Act of “Bigayan”

When Allan went back to the Philippines for his pregnant wife, Tatay Manuel asked Bryan to give the convenience store to the eldest because he has a family to support while he only has himself. Sadly, the family was not able to know that Bryan did not have the courage to step as the father of his son. He stepped aside and let his brother man the ABC Store.

After Allan was managing the store, problems occurred, such as near bankruptcy and the interest of competitors to purchase the lot. When Tatay Manuel learned of this, he secretly asked Bryan to help his brother. The second child was willing enough to help his brother save the family business to keep the legacy alive.

The Presence of Family

Dexter, the youngest, was not able to feel the presence of the family because each of them was occupied with their lives. Dex had no one to hold onto; therefore, he found his own family in other people. Seeing the scene of Dexter and Tatay Manuel buying ice cream presents the child inside of the youngest. He may look tough in front of other people, but when it comes to the simple moments with the family, he longs for it.

Cha and her husband Jerry, played by Kean Cipriano, endures an unhealthy marriage. She knows the affairs of Jerry but chooses to turn a blind eye for the sake of their children. She does not want the kids to experience life without a father. Her brothers tried to warn her before; nonetheless, she did not listen and married the guy. Cha knows that it is her fault, that is why she kept it a secret from her brothers.

The Mother Who Binds the Family Together

After the passing of the mother, the family was separated and distracted by their responsibilities. Tatay Manuel had a hard time fixing the relationship between the children and even said that it was better if he was the first one to be gone. He was not able to learn the mother’s touch that kept the family together.

Throughout the movie, the mother leads the family to take one step to fix their relationship. The simple memories with her are alive in their hearts that pushed them to make amends with each other. The simple tin can filled with letters made them remember the time when they bonded like a complete and real family. Though dead, the mother became the mediator between the father and children by communicating near the grave.

The Movie to Society

Bottled-up problems and emotions will spill over time. The lack of communication and openness crumbled their family apart. With the burial of their mother, it felt as if they also buried their relationship with the family. The whims and grievances did nothing but pent-up anger to release whenever they saw each other. The Bonifacio Family had to learn the hard way. They could have done so much with their family only if they brought their differences to the table to talk about it and create solutions. Their honesty brought by the wave emotions was both a positive and negative outcome. Despite being a single parent for his children, Tatay Manuel became a catalyst for the children to discuss and make amends with each other. They lived happily and were enveloped with love from each other.

Each family has every right to live in the faith of others. We all have individual lives: each one of us is not stuck by the hip with our families. However, their traits and beliefs mirror what they experience in their families. There might be differences with one another, but we have a choice to respect their insights. In effect, sympathy and understanding will propagate within society.