The Iron Butterfly Flies Again

Saw Imelda, the “controversial” documentary by Ramona Diaz. The former first lady is a fascinating study. I fully agree with her children’s assessment of her towards the end of the film.

Imelda is a naïve, earnest and ambitious woman from the province who, thanks to the shrewdness of her brilliant husband, was transformed into a creature of politics of the most insidious kind: she is an instinctive creature, devoid of the pressures and hesitations of self-awareness. Her husband early on knew he had an instrument of mass destruction in his hands, molded her, and unleashed her to an unsuspecting Kadafi, various US presidents and government officials, and onto the Filipino people. Marcos knew that these male leaders would underestimate her being a woman and all, and she’d charm them to bend to her will.

That’s why her children stated in an interview that they find her the smartest woman in politics right now. This may sound ironic after hearing Imelda’s theories on the true, the good and the beautiful, but her children are spot-on. Honed by years and years in the political limelight, Imelda is a force who shouldn’t be underestimated. Because her motives are in her assessment good and noble, it makes her all the more dangerous.