Judie Mae T.

Español BSA-1 ARTAPRE 177

For the past few weeks, the performance of a drag queen named Pura Luka Vega becomes
the talk of the town. A viral video shows the said drag performer dressed as Jesus Christ. It also
contained a punk rock version of Ama Namin and a crowd of people singing and dancing along
to the remix of the worship song. However, this performance, attracted the ire of netizens, the
Catholic Church, and senators, he even got warned with criminal charges by Senate President
Juan Miguel Zubiri. Pura Luka Vega addressed the issue, stating that this is his way for bringing
Jesus; it is his way of bringing honour to the Catholic faith
"I understand that people call my performance blasphemous, offensive or regrettable.
However, they shouldn’t tell me how I practice my faith or how I do my drag." This statement by
Vega is an example of a personal function of art, in which an artist creates art to fulfil a need for
self-expression. Another function of art is called Social Function wherein it addresses aspects of
life rather than one person's point of view or experience. In relation to the prior lesson, I can say
that the statement "That performance was not for you to begin with. It is my experience and my
expression of having been denied my rights." is a perfect example of social function.
In my opinion as a Catholic, freedom of expression requires no disrespect towards
catholic symbolism or any other beliefs. We always seek respect from others; thus, we should
apply it to ourselves. Let us be respectful. It is simply wrong to use faith for entertainment and
use art to express oneself in an irresponsible manner. I have friends who are members of the
LGBTQ community, and I sincerely appreciate and respect them; but, I do not believe this is a
reason to generalise that the entire religious community is homophobic just by calling out
something that we think is disrespectful. I am all for freedom of expression, but we must know
when to draw the line, especially when a conduct offends faith and religion.