6 days ago
What the sport rhythmic gymnastics symbolizes in the movie 'Sunshine'
"Sunshine," which is now on its third week in Philippine cinemas, tells the story of a rhythmic gymnast named Sunshine (Maris Racal), who dreams of becoming an Olympian. But then she gets pregnant.
The movie is being hailed for its courageous effort to tackle abortion and teenage pregnancy, topics that are considered taboo in the country.
Incidentally, "Sunshine" features a sport also rarely talked about the country: rhythmic gymnastics.
So why rhythmic gymnastics?
In a talkback session, "Sunshine" writer and director Antonette Jadaone said rhythmic gymnastics is one of the two events in the Olympics that are female-only.
"Ang ganda lang na merong sports na pambabae lang talaga at walang puwedeng lalaking makagawa noon so in that sense, pasok siya sa overall na gusto sabihin ng pelikula," Jadaone said.
According to the Olympic website, rhythmic gymnastics uses apparatus like ribbons and balls, to showcase skill, flexibility and musicality. It is different from artistic gymnastics — Carlos Yulo's sport — which uses equipment like a beam or the floor to showcase their skill.
Along with artistic swimming duet, rhythmic gymnastics is a female-only event, the Olympic website said.
(In the 2024 Paris Olympics, men were allowed to participate in the artistic swimming team event, though no males were included in the teams, according to a report by NPR.)
But there's yet another important factor in Jadaone's pick for Sunshine's sport: According to Jadaone, age is also a factor in rhythmic gymnastics, making it more appropriate to the film.
"May taning ang isang atletang gymnast, lalo sa Olympics, dahil habang tumatanda ka, nagiging mas mabagal ka or magiging weaker ka tapos may papalit na mas bago, mas agile, stronger na batang gymnasts. Dahil doon, ticking time bomb 'yun for Sunshine dahil gymnast siya," she added.
"'Pag gymnast ka, dapat makuha mo 'yun by 22 or 24. 'Pag nanganak ka, puwede ka siguro bumalik sa pagiging gymnast pero 'yung katawan mo, hindi na siya 'yung best para sa sport na gymnastics."
In the earlier drafts of her screenplay, volleyball was supposed to be in the spotlight of the film, Jadaone shared. She made the change when she realized "dapat isang sport na individual, which is rhythmic gymnastics."
More than the sport, however, Jadaone aims to empower women, especially after hearing the stories she gathered while doing research for 'Sunshine.'
"Lahat ng nakuha kong kuwento, most of them, if not all, were chilling stories. Kapag makarinig ka ng ganoong kuwento, ang gusto mo talaga gawin ay ituloy siya kasi it would be a disservice to the teenagers na [kung hindi,] parang walang kinapuntahan ang pagiging matapang nila sa pagshe-share ng kuwento," said Jadaone.
"Lagi ako sinasabihan na 'Ang tapang po ng pelikula' pero sa totoo lang, 'di ko siya nakikitang matapang na ginawa siya dahil kailangan maging matapang. Parang 'pag may kuwento na lumapit sa'yo na ganyan, tingin ko kahit sino, especially 'pag babae ka, gagawin mo talaga siya, hindi dahil gusto mo maging matapang, pero kailangan talaga siya. 'Yun ang marapat gawin dahil may kapwa babae na weaker or younger than you na walang boses at kaya mo namang magbigay ng boses, gagawin mo 'yun para sa kaniya."
Jadaone is also the director behind 'That Thing Called Tadhana' and 'Fan Girl.' — LA, GMA Integrated News
