Of Happily Ever Afters.

Yesterday I attended a wedding. The wedding was between an "ordinary" girl marrying into a more powerful and richer family. During the reception, there was a short video re-enactment about how the bride and groom met that kind of bothered me a bit.

I kind of didn't like how they portrayed the girl as someone who was "trapped" in her small town life. There were several shots of her high school, probably during a weekend as it looked abandoned. There were several shots of her sitting on the school steps looking forlorn. Then a close up of her clinging to IRON BARS looking lonely. Then cut to the groom driving in a BMW, with a background of Makati high-rises. A clip of her baking cookies as if she's working behind the counter in a cafe. Then a shot of her working in an office cubicle, the groom in his executive desk sending her a text message asking her to lunch. Then a close up of her smile once she receives his message.

She is from a Chinese family, like myself. She studied in a Chinese high school near where I studied high school. She also graduated from that exclusive school along Taft Avenue where a lot of Chinese end up studying. I don't know her that well but given that very basic information, I would say she's from a family who is comfortably well-off. Maybe something like my family. My parents certainly aren't millionaires, but we do okay.

In the video, they didn't show that she graduated from that exclusive Taft university. Also, as far as I know, she never worked as a store personnel -- she was always a head office worker. Were these omissions a deliberate attempt to make her seem like someone from a much lower class than the groom? It seemed so to me.

Yesterday, during the wedding and the reception, I see no trace of her family's heritage. Everything was about the groom. The wedding was organized by the groom's family, besides the bride's immediate family and her college and high school friends, all special guests acknowledged were all from the groom's side.

And one memory from the church haunts me that they actually included in the video shown during the reception. It was a short clip of the bride walking down the aisle, her expression a little teary -- probably very much affected by the surge of emotions she was feeling. Then a close up of the groom waiting for her at the end, mouthing the words "smile." And she smiles.

I know it's supposed to be a sweet moment, but it gave me a chill. It felt like he was telling her how to behave.

I have a vision of the girl being the perfect wife. She would put her career aside for him (already done). She would attend all the political and family functions his family tells her to (already happening), dress the way they all dress (wouldn't know; I don't know how she used to dress), talk the way they talk (already happening), sit where they tell her to sit (already happening), stand where they tell her to stand. In return, she would certainly never want for anything else in her whole life.

I sincerely hope she NEVER wants anything else in her whole life.