Why Filipinos Won't Watch Movies Like these.

My friend and I were discussing this yesterday.  I know these movies have brought honor to our country - with Brillante Mendoza - winning the Cannes Film Festival Best Director award a few years ago - but I don't think Filipinos would be lining up for movies like this when they do their theatrical run here.  I guess they're just too real! Even during the time of Lino Brocka - his socio-realist movies often did not make money.  It doesn't mean they're not well-made - it's just that for me - you don't need to pay 150 pesos to watch all that story unfold before you. Just open your window - and you can see real life outside play itself out - very much like the movies of this genre - that you see.  It's a very bourgeois point of view - and in the Philippines - the middle class rubs elbows with the poor every day and we are very familiar with their stories.  The truth is - the Filipino middle class is just one or two steps away from that kind of life - especially if their luck runs out.  It's a nightmare we know all too well - so who needs a movie to preach that to us?