"Ang Buhay ng Isang Bayani"

To begin with, Dr. Jose Rizal is known to all as the nation’s hero but prior to that he was
recognized as a scholastic Filipino who really was a great and an intelligent student that gained
enormous awards from different Universities he attended. At a young age, he can write poems,
read, work, and pray because of her mother’s passion in teaching her children. He was also an
ordinary young boy who loves playing with other kids, loves painting with the use of flower
extracts, and loves doing figurines. However, he also experienced being away from his family at
a young age to pursue his education. His love for education and literature made him the most
popular Filipino “bayani” and at the same time gave him a lot of hatred, discrimination, enemies,
and pain from the abusive Spanish government. A lot of challenges occurred to his life as a
student, he experienced being whipped with a stick, being slashed with a sword, and he also
fought bullies but still managed to be a top student and attract women.

Jose Rizal was a loving son and brother, he always thought about his family, and did not
forget to show his love for his parents and siblings. It is also the reason why he studied
medicine, to cure his mother’s eyes. This only shows that he is also a skilled individual and to
fulfill this, he travelled to various countries, like Madrid, Hongkong, Paris, etc. which led him to
master various languages and gain friends who helped him a lot. Being an ophthalmic surgeon,
he still maintains his writings and mission which is to expose the cruelty and injustices of
Spanish officials and give Filipinos independence. His writings, especially Noli Me Tangere and
El Filibusterismo became his instrument to fight against the abusive Spaniards, this implies that
Jose Rizal spent his life learning and writing until the very last days of his life to impose
nationalism to his fellow Filipinos. Dr. Jose Rizal was undeniably intelligent but the undertaking
that made him the greatest Filipino “bayani” was because his life was full of bravery, faith, and
love to his fellow Filipino and the Philippines, his Fatherland.

In addition, I believe that the film represented the life of Dr. Jose Rizal properly, which
makes it a good and acceptable source and guide to students who want to learn the works and
life of our country’s national hero. Even though encoded documents provide more specific and
detailed information, the film still conveyed the important aspects of Rizal’s life and made it more
interesting and less boring. The film may lack other details about his life compared to written or
encoded literatures, but they still have the same context and objective, which is to inform its
readers and viewers that Jose Rizal is our national hero who fought against the Spanish
government using only his knowledge and writings, without making his hands dirty of blood.

Furthermore, the main question the film seeks to answer is, “What is the life of Rizal
before he became our national hero?”, meaning the film seeks to answer and let the viewers
know the life of Rizal in general from his birth up until his death. It ought to give its audience the
knowledge of how Dr. Jose Rizal struggled before he became the national hero of the
Philippines and how he advocates for the education and independence of his fellow Filipinos. In
my perspective, the film wants us to know and learn about Rizal’s evident characteristics, that is
to be a person who values education, gives importance to the sacrifices of other people, a
person who loves his family, a person who have faith in God no matter what happens in life, and
a person who is proud to be part of his nation. The film aims to let the youth love education
more just like Rizal and it also aims to let Filipinos live a life with nationalism and patriotism.

In conclusion, our “bayani”, Jose Rizal, has died but his wisdom and works still remain
alive to us Filipinos. This is because he did not died for nothing, his death awakens the
nationalistic spirit of the Filipino people, especially the will to fiight any battles with
communication or through a more peaceful way possible, and avoids cruel and harsh solutions.
The film and other related literature also taught me that the worst enemies we could have are
people from our own land, wherein instead of helping and lifting us up, they are the ones who
are pulling us down. Further, Jose Rizal, besides Jesus of course, also taught me that the
greatest sacrifice we can do is the sacrifice for the greater good, because it is very admirable for
oneself to know that you have done something good for other people.