Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I Need My Freedom!

"I am an old man worn down by years of infirmities, a man who has dedicated the rest of his life to his loved ones... can't you see that this is not my body? ... I am not Salvador Sorenzo, I am Pedro Jose Donoso from Rio Clara, ... I am an accomplished industrialist, not a peasant, ... I am not suffering from amnesia, my memory is with me always, you cannot help me... the only one who can help me is Me! let me go now..."

With these torrents of pathetic words, the misunderstood Pedro Jose Donoso filled his audience of Medical Specialists with both compassion and terror at the same time. Medical science failed to acknowledge things of the spirit. The doctors thought he was suffering from split personality disorder, the religious reverend father thought he was a demon possessing the body of another person, the single ladies thought he was a powerful seducer whose personality cast a romantic spell on them... to the people, he was the supernatural saint, sent by God to bless them.

From the cemetery where he escaped from being buried alive, ... to the police station presided over by an egocentric Sheriff, ... to the hospital with a dose of daily sedation to recover from his shocking mystery, ... to a sex-starved widow's house, to escape the prying eyes of investigative journalists, ... to the private quarters of the Catholic church, under the spiritual guidance of a religiously proud Reverend father, ... and finally back to the hospital as a medical specimen and guest of scientists and psychiatric specialists. The full circle of the adventures of Salvaped is complete.

He craved to return to where he had come from. He knew that the mystery that surrounded his metamorphosis would be unraveled there. For him, that would be his ultimate freedom. To appear to people whom he knows, ... but did not know that it was him, whom they have known before.

If Only I Knew...

If you have a milk of compassion in you, you would be near to tears for Don Pedro Jose Donoso. He was like a man who woke up to find himself inside a strange prison, ... the prison of a new 33-year old body, and environment, different from the one he had been accustomed to for 70 years.

That deep mystery has caused an uproar in the serene township of Rio Clara(?). Everywhere he was taken to, he was revered and worshiped as a saint that resurrected from the dead. How could an unlettered poor peasant called Salvador Sorenzo wake up from the 'dead' and exhibit traits of excellence, which only the cultured rich industrialist could manifest?

Nobody believed him, at least, nobody believed he was Pedro Jose Donoso. Since nobody understood the mystery of his metamorphosis from Pedro to Salvador. Not even him understood the mystery that he represented. He fell down at the foot of the cross and cried unto God, saying: "... If only I knew what happened to me..., help me Lord to understand what happened to me... Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name..."

You may not wish this calamity to befall your worst enemy. To slump into slumber one night and woke up the next day in a different body and different village where everybody knew you as a different person from whom you used to be. He could not argue with them because, when he looked at his image in the mirror, it was a complete stranger he saw there.

Great is the mystery of SALVAPED (Pedro-turned-Salvador).

Joined By Desire...

One of the most profound lessons that el-cuerpo del deseo (second chance) telenovela sought to impart was that of, the haste and greed of a promising young man, called Adre Korona. His was greed hastened by impatience. He had it all with a rich industrialist who saw in him, the son he never had. If he had waited, he would have fully reaped the benefit of a true heir.

His first mistake was to be 'yoked-in-greed' with an equally ambitious lady called Isabel. His second mistake was to craftily smuggle his lover and criminal accomplice, Isabel, from the office to the marriage altar and bedroom of his rich benefactor, Don Pedro Jose Donoso. His third mistake was to hasten the death of Donoso with a deadly poison he gave to Isabel to administer in doses to the old man.
His fourth..., he genuinely fell in love with the daughter and only heiress of Donoso, Angela!

It is this last one, the fourth, that imperiled his greed and undermined his ambition because, it set his erstwhile lover, Isabel, against him, on a rivalry and warpath that eventually consumed Andre Korona.

In the absence of Isabel who traveled to Brussels for the burial of her mother, who died in a ghastly air crash, Adnre made two reconciliatory and romantic visits to Angela to express his true and fervent desire for her. Unfortunately, the second visit ended in a debacle, because Isabel arrived unannounced from Brussels and found (caught?) Andre in Angela's bedroom.

Desperate efforts by Andre to twist the incident was rebuffed by Isabel, who drew a fast conclusion that Andre was not in love with her, and was only manipulating her to achieve his bestial goals. She gave him a sharp piece of her mind saying: "... we are joined by desire and interest, and that could end any moment..., because you trample upon my feelings, manipulating me to get your satisfaction..." She dismissed him from her room until another right moment.

They were bound by treachery, deceit and conspiratorial murder. It would be interesting in future to see how these two romantic villains turn against each other using the same weapon of deceits, blackmails and greed to tear themselves to shreds.