The hero and the human that is Jose Rizal

To many, Jose Rizal is a superstar.

 

Rizal, after all, came out with the “Noli Me Tangere” when he was only 26. As if that wasn’t enough, Rizal was also a polymath and reformist who was popular with the ladies. 

 

To use today’s parlance, ikaw na talaga, Rizal.

 

But ironically, Rizal’s rock star status could just be one of his greatest “misfortunes.”

 

“Maybe if he wasn’t our national hero, we would pay more attention to him,” historian Ambeth Ocampo told GMA News Online after his talk dubbed “Doble Kara: Rizal in Art and Monuments” at the Ayala Museum last Dec. 3.

 

Ocampo’s take on Rizal’s stardom is an interesting one, especially in light of all the activities and events being staged left and right to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of “the first Filipino.”

 

It makes you wonder—do we even really know just who we’re commemorating?

 

Reading, understanding Rizal

 

The portrayal of Rizal in different art pieces and monuments, Ocampo explained, is a reflection of how we understand our national hero and ultimately, how we are as a people.

 

“When you think of Rizal, you only think about ‘'di marunong magmahal ng sariling wika’ or ‘masahol pa sa malansang isda’—which aren’t even his. The point is, he’s been oversimplified [and] mythologized,” said Ocampo.

 

Even the typical image we have of Rizal (with clean-cut hair and a black overcoat) is a reflection of how much (or little) we know of the hero. That particular image of Rizal, Ocampo said, was taken from Rizal’s favorite picture of himself.

 

Seldom do people see the different facets of Rizal. There’s a “before and after” photo of him and friends after a night of drunken revelry, another one of him in theater garb, and of him fencing. Apparently, our national hero loved having his photo taken.  

 

“From age 14 to the time he was shot, we have photos of Rizal. Even after he died, we have pictures of him,” said Ocampo, referring to the photo of Rizal’s mother holding his skull.

 

What we know of Rizal is limited by the teachers we’ve had, the monuments we’ve seen, and the books we’ve read. And by books, Ocampo means Rizal’s work and not just books about Rizal.

 

“Virgilio Almario once said, ‘Ambeth Ocampo has been so successful in popularizing Rizal that young people read Ambeth Ocampo but they don’t read Rizal,’” Ocampo said.

 

Back to Rizal

 

That a lot of young people aren’t exposed to Rizal’s work isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, with Ocampo noting that “Rizal wrote a lot for a nation that does not read.”

 

For Jerome Tirona-Bautista, one of Rizal’s descendants, there’s a constant need to remind Filipinos, especially the younger ones, of Rizal’s relevance.

 

“I feel that we are very focused on other things that might not really be important as compared to what Rizal did when he was younger,” he told GMA News Online on Dec. 2 after the staging of “Brindis,” Ateneo de Manila University’s closing tribute to their most famous alumnus.

 

“Brindis,” a two-hour music, poetry, and theater gala staged by the university’s different units, is only one of the many events organized to commemorate Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary.

 

Beyond the pomp and pageantry, however, Ocampo emphasized the importance of remembering that at the end of the day, Jose Rizal was human.

 

“I think the secret to Rizal’s greatness is his humanity. If you are Superman, then the other mortals don’t care because you’re really separate,” he said.

 

It’s not that difficult to see Rizal’s humanity—a thorough scan of his many photos (you can check out Ambeth Ocampo’s Facebook fan page), a close read of his novels, and a dose of beyond-the-history-books history lessons from historians like Ocampo are all you need.  

 

“What I’d like to show is that in Rizal, you see the Filipino capacity for greatness. If Rizal can be great, then I can be great also,” Ocampo said. –KG, GMA News