Antagonists abound in ‘Mira Bella’
NEWCOMER Julia Barretto plays a cursed teen
The new drama series, “Mira Bella,” has attracted more than the usual interest due to the fact that its title player, Julia Barretto, wears heavy makeup to look like—she’s made out of wood! That’s right, her skin bears lines and whirls indicating its “wooden” essence. Is she supposed to be the female version of Machete?
We caught the initial telecast of “Mira Bella” late last month and learned that the new series’ title character ended up looking that way due to a sumpa (curse) related to an incident in her birth parents’ youth, where a car crashed into a big tree, unleashing “evil” or at least punitive forces that impinged, in some bizarre way, on the love child that their union produced.
It’s also relevant to note that Mira Bella’s mother (Dimples Romana) came from a family of wood carvers, hence her affinity to trees, wood and such.
In any case, the series’ first telecast focused on events before the “wooden” baby was born, especially on Mylene Dizon’s character, the spurned fiancée of Dimples’ faithless lover (James Blanco), and how outraged she was that her fiancé betrayed her for a sweet but gauche probinsiyana!
IN THE series, Mira (played by Julia) will transform into stunnning Bella, much like the real Julia in this photo
Fact is, everybody else in the new series’ introductory telecast performs so nominally that the more committed Mylene ran away with the show. We can expect her character to be one of Mira Bella’s principal nemeses when she’s finally played by Julia.
Other prospective antagonists include the nasty character played by Mika de la Cruz, a matapobre student who keeps razzing the “wooden” girl for her “unusual” appearance.
On the side of the series’ “good” characters is the young man portrayed by male lead player Enrique Gil. His eyesight is severely compromised, so he and the weird-looking Mira make the perfect pair—two unfortunate youths who end up caring for each other, because what others perceive to be serious “drawbacks”—are really not all that important!
Even as we support this upbeat thematic “message” we wonder why the series didn’t opt to answer some nagging questions in advance: Like after Mira went to school, why didn’t her supposedly more enlightened teachers seek medical assistance in determining the reason—and remedy—for her weird complexion, instead of just accepting it as “paranormally” produced?
And, why did they allow the harassed and ridiculed girl to be bullied so seriously? Isn’t an educational institution supposed to protect its most vulnerable wards? Of course, “realists” will answer that, if Mira isn’t made to suffer as much, the series’ “sadistic appeal” will be negatively affected. But, there are other, more logically viable ways to produce pretty much the same effect, so why helplessly ascribe everything to superstition and “tradition”?
A final puzzler: If it was Mylene’s car that hit and killed the spirit-harboring tree in the story, thus triggering the “curse” that grievously affected Dimples and her innocent baby, why wasn’t it Mylene who bore the brunt of all the paranormal fury and punishment? Just politely asking.
