Humanities Assignment 1

LITERARY ANALYSIS ON RESPETO
(SOCIOCULTURAL CRITICISM)
Submitted by Alimar Ashali R. Ismael II | STEM 12-2
Submitted to Ma’am Omaimah Omar
Life on the streets is not everyone. Unlike most people, living is not a luxury and everything
has a price. Respeto is a movie that narrates a realistic approach to the current reality of those in the
lower class in the Philippines. We are told the story of Hendrix, an eager and poetic amateur rapper,
going through the struggles to make his way into the underground fliptop industry (Golez, 2017). We
are transported to a time during Duterte’s term as president where our protagonist is found to be
troubled yet hopeful.
It is important that we are able to distinguish that the film’s various characters are all
embodying Filipinos within the street culture. Hendrix a teen drug-runner for his drug dealer
brother-in-law. We also have the notable role model, Dok, who by various flashbacks, is actually a
martial law terror survivor (Arcenal, 2017). These identities established by each character is
important to actually be able to dig deeper through the film’s surface and take these characters and
their experiences to fully grasp the context and perspective of what Treb Monteras II, the film’s
director, has created.
The movie is set in a poverty-filled area where the characters have their mishaps, adventures,
and crime. What we can infer from the atmosphere is that the life they have is a poor life. We were
shown a densely populated area that was actually on the verge of demolition. This also opens another
issue in which the film is rich of which is politics and corruption.
According to Fuller (2015), poverty is an exhausting process where people are not given
options to be able to dictate their lives. This poverty has a toll on their daily living, causing them to
suffer and move according to their human instincts and not on what the societal norms say. In
Respeto, Hendrix is a drug-runner committing crime at a young age. His environment is established
to be poor and abusive (as shown in the film by his brother-in-law beating him up).
We can then identify that the issue of child exploitation is visible in the film. Drug trafficking
is also rampant and also very relevant to the time when the film was set which was during Duterte’s
term as president where the war on drugs was at its prime. Many other crimes were also observed
such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, and even murder. These urban crimes linked to
poverty leads to victimization of abused people to act and involve with crime (Greif et al., 2014).
With consideration to the Philippines’ urban poverty scene, this is actually very rampant and not that
out of character. Although not pleasing, this has been a practice for so long and is an arising norm.
According to Meyers (2024), poverty is significantly a driving force for people to turn to
crime. It is often that poverty sets conditions for these impoverished people to be desperate and be
forced to commit crime. Such as in Respeto, the distinguished impoverished landscape was very
visible and we can clearly infer that this poorness is a direct cause for crime.
Also established in Respeto is the political issues and experiences of the characters. We know
that Dok has gone through the reign of martial law and even witnessed his wife being sexually
abused. A reoccurring mention of the previous president Ferdinand Marcos and his ordeal on being
buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani has been brought throughout the movie. What this tells us is
that these hardships and sufferings are all a part of history and they shall not be forgotten. We have
Dok as a witness for this as he is our moral center for being the reminder of that torment shall pass
but memories remain.
According to Amnesty International (2022), martial law’s impact today is that it remains to
show the truth and justice for all that is abused. It is there to remind us that the government should
always put people first.
Being a child of poverty and growing up in the urban life of Manila, I can easily say the the
film did justice on tackling crime and political issue. As a part of the youth, I try my best to be
educated on these matters, so by watching the movie I was able to learn and at the same time reflect
and also relate.
With all aforementioned understandings, I can conclude that Respeto is an exposition and a
wake-up call to the Filipinos to be aware and to be reminiscent of history. The movie is also a rich
example for what our country is going through, has gone through, and can go through. We were
shown the rich culture of poetry, rap, and arts. Respeto embodies the urban lifestyle of the lower
class and show the reality of their living associated with crime and misfortune.
Respeto truly is more than a movie, it has shown the definition of perseverance, will, and
bravery. This film will forever be etched within the farthest echoes of my soul by the way they
brought to life the taboos and stories of those in despair. Despair of life, despair of chances, and
despair of history.
Works Cited:
Amnesty International. (2022, September 21). Five things to know about Martial Law
in the Philippines. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/04/
five-things-to-know-about-martial-law-in-the-philippines/
Arcenal, V. a. P. B. H. (2017, September 28). Respeto: Film Review. THOMASIAN

FILM SOCIETY. https://thomasianfilmsociety.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/film-
review-respeto
Graif, C., Gladfelter, A. S., & Matthews, S. A. (2014). Urban Poverty and
Neighborhood Effects on Crime: Incorporating Spatial and Network Perspectives, Sociology
Compass, 8(9), 1140-1155. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12199
Golez, A. (2017, September 22). Review: 'Respeto'| Pisyo. Pisyo.

https://pisyo.wordpress.com/2017/09/22/review-respeto-pisyo/
Meyers, L. (2024, October 30). The relationship between poverty and crime. Northwest
Career College. https://www.northwestcareercollege.edu/blog/the
-relationship-between-poverty-and-crime/

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LITERARY ANALYSIS ON RESPETO

Arcenal, V. a. P. B. H. (2017, September 28). Respeto: Film Review. THOMASIAN

Golez, A. (2017, September 22). Review: 'Respeto'| Pisyo. Pisyo.

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