[F2F Book Discussions] F2F46: Monstress by Lysley Tenorio | Moderator: Bennard (+Rhena/Aaron)

[Bennard]

Hello, dear readers! My name is Bennard and I will be your moderator for the discussion of Lysley Tenorio’s Monstress.

Monstress is a collection of eight stories that mostly deals with the clash of two vastly different cultures in the context of the Filipino immigrant experience. Most of the stories from the collection have been featured in several journals and magazines of note like The Atlantic, Ploughshares and Zoetrope: All Story. The title piece has also been nominated for a National Magazine Award and Tenorio himself has been a Paris Review Writer-in-Residence.

NPR’s Alexander Chee describes the collection thusly:

“The first story in Lysley Tenorio's debut collection begins in the seats at the Primero theater in Manila, where "they use a bedsheet for a screen." The last opens in Lemoore, Calif., a suburban town named phonetically for love. Taken together, this is the unique territory in which Tenorio sets his stories, where Filipino traditions meet Californian modernity again and again, each encounter revealing something unexpected about both cultures.”

*****

Reading Plan

October 1 - 3: Preliminaries
October 4 - 10: “Monstress” and “The Brothers”
October 11 - 17: “Felix Starro” and “The View from Cullion”
October 18 - 24: “Superassassin” and “Help”
October 24 - 31: “Save The I-Hotel” and “L’amour, CA”

Discussion

I’ll be posting one set of discussion questions per week. I will also be posting some activities for people to all throughout the month.

Book Copies

Just send me a message on Goodreads or Facebook (if we are friends over there) if you want a digital copy of the book.

Bonus Question/Activity

One of the main character of “Monstress” is a film director known for making what is called a B-Movie: movies with low budgets, poor production value, and nonexistent technique. Name the director who is hailed as one of the “best” B-movie directors of all-time and the movie credites as the best worst film ever made.
Hint: The film was made in 1959 and is credited to be the final film appearance of renowned horror icon, Bela Lugosi, and is about an alien invasion

Three points for the earliest correct answer, two points for the second, and one point for the rest. Another bonus three points for anyone who is going to watch the movie and post a mini-review here in the threads and/or Letterboxd. The film is available on Youtube and is only 80 minutes long.

That’s it for now. My next post will be on October 4, Sunday EST.

[Aldrin]

Ed Wood, "Plan 9 from Outer Space" :p

[Meliza]

Ed Wood, Plan 9 from Outer Space

[Ingrid]

Can I just go ahead and say ditto, haha

[Bennard]

Ingrid: Haha. I guess? I'm pretty loosey-goosey with the rules.

[Kristel]

Plan 9 From Outer Space (Ed Wood)

Review:

A voiceoverrific mess that features white actors attempting to express human facial expressions and largely failing. The premise--that aliens are animating corpses in a bid to take over the earth--is boneheaded from the start, but it's the details that elevate it. My favorite set design was the mausoleum where the grieving folks had to bend over to fit in the door, and the dreidel alien space harbor. A movie made with lots of love and little quality control.

[Mabelle]

Mr. Moderator, may I have a digital copy of the book...? My gmail is dyiokbee@gmail.com.

Thank you! :)

[Tin]

Ed Wood. Plan 9 From Outer Space.

[Bennard]

Week 1 Questions

Point System: First to answer will get three points, the second one will get two points, and all the rest will get one point.

For the bonus question, three points for the best answer. 1 point for all the rest.

"Monstress"
(view spoiler)[

1. Hollywood, particularly its B-Movie industry, is one of the main narrative thrusts of the story. What does it represent to the two main characters, Checkers and Reva?

2. What was Checker's motivation in lying to Reva when he told her that a studio in Manila has decided to let him direct another film? Was it selfish of Reva to leave him alone and not come back despite promising to do so?

3. In the beginning, Reva was the one who didn't want to leave for America yet she is the one who decided to stay. Does it represent anything significant in the immigrant experience of Filipinos who migrated in the US? Discuss.
(hide spoiler)]

"The Brothers"
(view spoiler)[

4. The title of the story is "The Brothers" despite one sibling being a transgender. Do you think that Tenorio was being gender blind when he gave a title to the story or is he saying something significant?

5. Why do you think it was important to Erica's mother to have her breasts hidden? Do you think the mother loved Erica unequivocally despite not accepting her for who she is?

6. What did you think about the ending? What are Edmond's motivations when he returned to Raquel?
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus:
(view spoiler)[

Finish the joke: a dozen drag queens walk in on eighty Filipinos praying on their knees...
(hide spoiler)]

[Tin]

WEEK 1 Questions:
Monstress
(view spoiler)[
1. Hollywood, particularly its B-Movie industry, is one of the main narrative thrusts of the story. What does it represent to the two main characters, Checkers and Reva?

“On film, everything looks real.” This something Checker's once said and that Reva once remembered. And I think to them the film industry represents the life they want, but unfortunately couldn't have. Films are their dreams and longings.

2. What was Checker's motivation in lying to Reva when he told her that a studio in Manila has decided to let him direct another film? Was it selfish of Reva to leave him alone and not come back despite promising to do so?

I think Checker's motivation for lying to Reva was both to save face, and then possibly get Reva back. And no, I don't think it was selfish of Reva. I mean, she couldn't be made to keep on starring in his monster movies if that isn't what she wants. She has her own aspirations. And well, in any relationship, supporting each other's aspirations is crucial.

3. In the beginning, Reva was the one who didn't want to leave for America yet she is the one who decided to stay. Does it represent anything significant in the immigrant experience of Filipinos who migrated in the US? Discuss.

I guess to a lot of immigrants, they'd rather stay in their homeland. But the opportunities here aren't as rosy as it is in the States. And so circustances force them to immigrate in order to give themselves and their families a better life. Same goes with Reva. She might have been reluctant about the whole trip in the beginning but I do think that deep inside she kind of knew that making movies in our country wouldn't be as lucrative as it is in Hollywood. And I think she was kind of hoping that she would get her big break there, as a heroine, a leading lady like Doris Day. And not another one of Checker's monsters. (hide spoiler)]

The Brothers
(view spoiler)[

4. The title of the story is "The Brothers" despite one sibling being a transgender. Do you think that Tenorio was being gender blind when he gave a title to the story or is he saying something significant?

I don't think Tenorio was being gender blind. I think what he was saying with the title was that this represents the aspiration of Edmond's mom, and at one point Edmond as well, that is, for Eric to be a son and a brother respectively, and not Erica, which to them is a completely different person, a stranger.

5. Why do you think it was important to Erica's mother to have her breasts hidden? Do you think the mother loved Erica unequivocally despite not accepting her for who she is?

It was important for Erica's mom to have Erica's breast hidden because she wanted her son back. She couldn't accept this Erica, with her breasts. Not even in death. And I don't know about “unequivocal. This is a tough quesiton! The whole binding of the breasts thing was really harrowing! But it seems like she loves her son a lot. So it (breast binding) could be because the mom only meant to avoid humiliation from Pinoy relatives and friends, because transgender isn't really somehing that's well accepted in our culture?

6. What did you think about the ending? What are Edmond's motivations when he returned to Raquel?

I think what motivated Edmond in returning to Raquel was his need to keep him in the “present tense”. The dead after all lives on in memories. The coming back also signifies his acceptance of him as Erica. (hide spoiler)]

Bonus:(view spoiler)[
Ack! Lolo Mo jokes nalang. Haha. WIll have to get back on this. Iisip pa ako ng hinde corny. (hide spoiler)]

 

[Meliza]

Week 1 Questions

Monstress
(view spoiler)[
1. It represents the couple's dreams.

2. Checker did it to support Reva as well as for Reva to not feel sorry for him. I think it's a bit selfish. She could have visited him sometimes.

3. This represents the uncertainties regarding the lives of Filipino immigrants. Opportunities may come or not. Others could be successful. But there's always this aspect of not knowing what will happen until they take the risks. (hide spoiler)]

The Brothers
(view spoiler)[
4. I don't think he is being gender blind. The story is more about the protagonist's relationship with his brother since the beginning. And this is somewhat compared to Eric's relationship with Raquel as sisters.

2. Their mother wanted to remember him as her boy and because she didn't want their relatives to see what he had become. She didn't want them to talk about him, especially since transgenders aren't that accepted yet by Filipinos. Maybe she really loved Erica despite not accepting her. We can't really judge her in her decision because a person's beliefs and morals are very difficult to change.

3. Edmond returned to Raquel to find consolation. After witnessing his mother's actions of not accepting what Eric became, he wants to be with someone who accepted and loved Erica for who she was.
(hide spoiler)]

[Angus]

"Monstress"
(view spoiler)[
Just letting you know that I've read this months ago and so my memory would certainly fail me.

1. It is both an escape and hope from the dreary lives that they are living. Even if they make a hundred movies here in the Philippines, all of those combined will never have the magnitude of a single Hollywood break. Never mind that it's a B-Movie. It's still Hollywood. It gives any film an extra sheen on it.

2. It's a way to salve his bruised ego. It's a way to make her think that he's doing good, if not better than she is. I don't think it's selfish because she owes it to herself to pursue a better life given her options. Staying in America is a weighty option, although she could have done something to get him back there. This lack of action makes me think that she doesn't love him enough for her to want to live with him, in America or not.

3. What is there waiting for her when she comes back? Staying would allow her to pursue the American dream. There are many people who would trade places with her, and it would be only her sentimentality that would make her go back. Her pragmatism won. It is an immigrant sentiment and that is no fault of hers.
(hide spoiler)]

"The Brothers"
(view spoiler)[
4. He could have entitled it The Siblings but I don't think it's about gender blindness. I think the title is trying to say that the brother and the mom have never really accepted Erica's sexual orientation, that she'll always be a brother, a son, to them no matter what.

5. In her way, she's trying to protect Erica's final image. You can't expect people, especially people from her generation, to be easily accepting of men with boobies. They could all just have a regular funeral and avoid the talk about her son's boobs. It's sort of like hushing what she anticipates to be an issue.

6. Oh he was being sad and feeling shitty for not spending more time with her when she was alive. When people die, that's when you realize how little time you've spent with them. You never really seek out the company of living people to evaluate their importance in your life. Death brings about all these realizations.
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus:
(view spoiler)[
...and one of the queens flicked her giant fan and said, "Mga ateng, si Invisible Man kaya pala niyang dumami!"

Another queen rebuked her. "Bona! Si Multiple Man yan na naging invisible!"

Corny lol.
(hide spoiler)]

[Bennard]

Week 2 Questions

"Felix Starro"
(view spoiler)[

1. The two main characters, Felix Sr. and Felix III, are both practitioners of "faith healing" albeit the latter is a reluctant one. Why do you think "faith healing" has become an important part of the Filipino culture despite overwhelming medical and scientific evidence of its inefficacy? Have you ever experienced "faith healing" first hand?

2. Do you think that Felix Sr. is aware of his grandson's transgressions against him? If so, why do you think Felix Sr. does not act on it?

3. Felix Sr., in justifying his actions, often asks for his grandson's understanding and always tells Felix III that it is the only thing that he knows how to do. Do you think Felix Sr.'s practice is acceptable and is his reasoning sound? Is the comfort that he provides worth it?
(hide spoiler)]

"The View from Culion"
(view spoiler)[

4. In this story, we get a subversion of the immigrant trope. Here, it is the American who is in a foreign land, in the Philippines. Do you think the circumstances surrounding the American's alienation in Culion similar to the alienation that Filipino immigrants feel? Discuss.

5. In the story, people afflicted with leprosy are being held against their will in Culion, a leper colony. Do you think this is an ethical, legal, and/or moral thing to do? Is public health more important than personal freedom?

6. The protagonist of the story has two main sources of alienation. One is her disease which placed her in a place of isolation and second is her lost childhood and family, being quarantined since the age of 10. Which of the two do you think gives her melancholy more weight? Why?
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus:
(view spoiler)[
Google time! Name the world's first leper colony which is also the last remaining leper colony in the US. Two points to the first one to post. No points for the rest.
(hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Week 1 Questions

"Monstress"
(view spoiler)[

1. Hollywood is something they both covet, yet vehemently denying it. It actually represents fame and success for both of them.

2. I think Checkers is simply hiding his shame. I don’t think it was selfish of Reva to pursue what she likes, but it was rather inconsiderate of her to let Checkers still believe she’ll be coming back. The least she could do is be honest.

3. Like any immigrant, Reva wants to make the most of what opportunities offer. Besides, it was a choice between being a Monstress or a Heroine.
(hide spoiler)]

"The Brothers"
(view spoiler)[

4. No, I don’t think so. I believe he purposely titled it this way to signify that the story isn’t about gender.

5. It was the mother’s last effort to hide the shame that Erica brought into their family, without the mother even considering that she is disrespecting her child’s remains and last wishes. The secondary question is quite tough. How do we measure love, anyways?

6. I think Edmond felt that he failed Erica for not being there and standing up for her when things are tough. So, he has a second chance with Raquel to be the big brother that he ought to be.
(hide spoiler)]

[Louize]

Week 2 Questions


"Felix Starro"
(view spoiler)[

1. Faith healing, despite the name, is not about faith. It is about desperation and fear. And most poor Filipinos seem to believe that they have nowhere else to turn to. Yes, when I was small, pinatawas na ako. I can’t remember what came of it.

2. I do think that the old man is aware, but he also knows that he is old. Most old people know when the roads will fork, really. It’s either he loves his grandson too much, or he has too much pride to confront his grandson. Either way, he may be afraid of actually hearing his grandson’s choice.

3. I think duping people is neither acceptable, nor sound. And I don’t see the comfort in their living conditions. Living that way will never amount to anything.
(hide spoiler)]

"The View from Culion"
(view spoiler)[

4. Given the circumstances, the American’s alienation is his own choice. His social snobbery is not limited to having the disease, actually. It’s leaning more on the fact that he doesn’t want empathy from people whom he doesn’t want to understand or associate. I think that given with those arguments, the American is nothing like the Filipino immigrants.

5. Personally, I don’t see the leper colony as isolation from other people in terms of public health. It’s more of isolation from other’s prejudice and mortification. Outside people will not be kind to them. So, in the colony, they’ll have more freedom to be themselves.

6. For a child, it was probably more of being severed from her family. Abandonment is never easy to get over with. It will leave a deeper scar than leprosy.
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus:
(view spoiler)[
Google time! Name the world's first leper colony which is also the last remaining leper colony in the US.


Carville

(hide spoiler)]

[Angus]

"Felix Starro"
(view spoiler)[
1. Seeing something concrete makes something more believable, and I think that's the appeal of faith healing, which is ironic because the act of seeing a faith healer trumps faith, and faith healing has nothing to do with faith faith. I haven't been to a faith healing session but my sister has witnessed something similar: exorcism. Well, it's not a Catholic priest who performed it, but it was the neighborhood fortune teller/witch. My sister was dragged into it as an assistant and she told me that some malevolent spirit inhabited the body of a teenage girl from another town. Recalling that conversation with my sister, it seems like the teenage girl was simply throwing a major tantrum.

2. Probably yes, but how can you confront a person transgressing on your transgressions? It would be seem like a mockery of righteousness, and I suppose the grandfather is beyond that. Also, he's probably not feeling very confident in handling the financial stuff, and so he can just trust that his grandson is doing a teeny bit of his duty.

3. His reasoning is beyond me. Surely, there are other things that can be done to earn a living, eh? But he's too old to learn any new tricks, and so I can accept that faith healing is the only thing that he could do. Still, it's not acceptable, but maybe he should set a limit. I don't totally blame him; people sometimes like to make fools of themselves.
(hide spoiler)]

"The View from Culion"
(view spoiler)[
4. No, because he's not trying to assimilate unlike Filipino immigrants. In fact, he does not even want to stay (if I remember it right). The sad fact is that the community is aware of the American's racial superiority even if he's ketongin, hence, the special attention that he's granted (why should he have his own secluded hut??).

5. I think it's a socially responsible thing that the government has to do. It's for the good of the majority, even if it means sacrificing the freedom of the patients. In modern circumstances, would it not be reckless to leave people afflicted with the ebola virus unquarantined? Would it not put more people at risk?

6. I think it's her lost childhood and family. Diseases can be healed (yes, leprosy can now be cured without having to go to a leper colony), but the wound that her mother's abandonment caused her will never congeal. It will just fester inside her like a bad case of gangrene.
(hide spoiler)]

Bonus:
(view spoiler)[
Kalaupapa, Hawaii. It was first established in Kalawao though. Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic..., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalaupa..., accessed on October 18.
(hide spoiler)]

[Tin]

"Felix Starro"
(view spoiler)[
1. I think “faith healing” has become an important part of Filipino culture because we have always been inclined towards the mystical. Like the dwendes and tikbalang etc. are part of our culture hence we believe in the power of albularios. So yeah, faith healing appeals to the Filipino belief system.

No, I haven't. But according to my mom, my dad did. When I was about three, he was diagnosed with cancer and after a while he was no longer responding to treatment. The doctors told us he onyl had a few months left to live. So my mom and relatives turned to faith healing. Not the kind that Felix does though. I am not even sure if they call it faith healing. I think they specifically call it pray over? Anyway, it's a Catholic priest who did it. He put his hand on dad's head, and dad felt weak. I am sure you've heard of this before or have seen it on TV. Anyway, my dad came home after that, and he was suddenly full of vigor and wanted to eat tons. And yeah, he got cured. Lived until I was 16.

2. I think Felix Sr. is aware of his grandson's transgressions but would rather keep mum about it. Perhaps because he fears that a confrontation might just exacerbate an already tense situation between them. So he does subtler means of making Felix III stay.

3. Felix Sr. knows that what he does is a sort of deception. And deceiving people isn't acceptable. Sure he gives them hope for a time, but it's false hope. On one hand, isn't false hope better than no hope at all? Does feeling hopeful uplift a sick person's spirits, that it can perhaps act as a cure? Not a total cure, but it can have a positive effect on their emotinal and psychological well being, and might just transcend to the physical? Argh. I don't know the answer! Dis gray area. Haha.
(hide spoiler)]

"The View from Culion"
(view spoiler)[
4. I don't think so. The American's alienation is by choice, and partly because he is in denial of this supposed new life for him, one that's completely different from his old one. So he shuts himself out of the colony because he wants no part of it. He doesn't want to be assimilated, he wants escape. Filipino Immigrants however, would more or less, want to belong in whatever foreign country the immigrated to. It'll be easier for their day to day living, and overall well being.

5. I think it is. It's a bit less about public health vs personal freedom. If you are afflicted with leprosy, people in the real world would alienate you anyway. So there might be more personal freedom for you if you are in a leper colony. Plus the unafflicted too, will have more freedom in going around, less fear of contracting the disease. I guess it should be more about the government helping make the colony habitable, and the inhabitants well taken cared of.

6. I think her lost childhood and family has more weight because having someone leave you, more so a parent, is something no child will ever forget. What wound cuts deeper than a loved one lost? (hide spoiler)]

[Ranee]

Monstress

1.(view spoiler)[ Their idea of Hollywood is based on films that has reached the Philippines. It was made obvious that both characters have different movie tastes, Checkers likes Scifi/Horror while Reva likes Romance and since the bulk of films shown here were the romantic ones, she viewed Hollywood with that same dreamy daze. This could explain the initial dislike of Checkers for Hollywood and his eventual love for it because he found a common Scifi lover in Gaz who represents (in his own way) Hollywood. This Hollywood dream is an example of Colonial Mentality. Things made from Hollywood is superior than films locally produced. If Checkers makes a film there (Gazman-Rosario production) it sort of affirms that he is a better director than those in the Philippines. Reva having been blinded by the glamour of Hollywood saw the dirt in the B-movie of Gaz, she saw that Gaz was a misrepresentation of Hollywood. There is no glamour in the basement, no fantasy in how Checkers and her made love in Hollywood and no romantic lines. But Reva is an actress, she has visions of becoming a superstar, and then the opportunity came, she was tempted. Again, colonial mentality, a B-movie made by Gaz is better than a fine film by Checkers in Manila. (hide spoiler)]

2. (view spoiler)["It's unlucky for you that you are not around to star in it". Not the best break-up line but both parties understood it. They were together long enough to know if one of them is lying or if the other's heart is set on a different dream. Checker's Hollywood dream was crushed, Reva compromises that if she makes it big in Hollywood , she is actually doing it "for us". I would want to believe that Checkers brought up the lie about the Dino film to make Reva less guilty, because here in Manila he is making a comeback- she has a career, he too has a career. But when he said the line above mentioned , he was clearly letting her go, so she felt it was ok to let go. (hide spoiler)]

3. (view spoiler)[ The year was 1966. America is rising in power and is beaming with opportunities and Reva is given that opportunity. It was mentioned that the making of Gaz's other films took them 2 years and during that time, her connection with the Philippines dwindled, and she was steadily adapting to America. Immigrant's stories sometimes start that way, they never meant to stay but the longer they did, the more they become used to the place and without really noticing (or maybe denying) they become that place and the Philippines a remnant of the past. (hide spoiler)]