Introduction

Batch 81 is a Filipino film released in 1982 directed by Mike De Leon released during
political turmoil in the Philippines, the Martial Law era in the 80s. Director Mike De Leon is
known for a filmography that tackles sociopolitical issues through microcosms of political ideals
such as fascism and authoritarianism. Though most of his films do not directly reference Martial
Law, Batch 81 is one of his films that challenges this with violent and controversial imagery, as
well as a direct reference to Martial Law. It is a film that depicts a fraternity as a microcosm of
authoritarian regime that existed during the implementation of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos
Sr.

The film follows neophyte Sid Lucero (Mark Gil) as he participates in various initiations to
gain admission to a fraternity called Alpha Kappa Omega (AKO). Joined with 15 more
applicants to the fraternity, they undergo a 6-month initiation program overseen by “brods” or
fraternity seniors. These tests include physical, emotional, and mental subordination individually
or as a group. Though the brothers faced challenges, including the death of a fellow participant,
they continued with the program in hopes of gaining political, academic, and social advantages
the fraternity provides to its members. Nearing the film's end, the neophytes accept their fate as
newly appointed fraternity members and continue the cycle of control and aggression for new
recruits. De Leon depicts the transformation of the neophytes as a downward spiral that alludes
to characteristics of authoritarianism, such as blind obedience, and absolute subservience to
authoritarian control that is reminiscent of the time of its release during the Martial Law.

Batch 81 uses its narrative and characters to critique the culture of violence and toxic
masculinity, exploring the consequences of such behaviors on individuals and society. "Batch
'81" delves into the psychological and emotional toll of masculinized violence, shedding light on
the complexities of power dynamics and the impact of oppressive structures on individuals
within the context of a fraternity setting.

This essay will analyze 4 scenes in the movie that demonstrate the conflict between the
main applicants and members of AKO to answer the question: How does Batch 81 portray
masculinity and violence as allegories to authoritarianism in the Philippines during the Marcos
regime? Though the film can pass off as just a commentary on interfraternity violence and
hegemonic masculinity, due to direct reference to Martial Law in one of its most important
scenes shows how these aspects are microcosms of masculinity and violence present as
aspects of Martial Law. The aim of this essay is to analyze how the characters display
patriarchal stereotypes through violence, how this portrayal exposes the bare structure of
authoritarianism, and how this system was able to uphold absolute control over the whole
Filipino society.

Fraternities in the Philippines during the Martial Law

 In the Philippines, fraternities commonly use physical discipline to initiate the interested
boys as a ritualistic means of admission into the fraternity. Established hierarchies in the
fraternity include the “brods,” who are superior to the new recruits and soon-to-be recruits.
Among the male heads of the fraternity include alumni who donate to and are affiliated with
even after their membership in the fraternity. Commonly, fraternities exist for academic,
professional, and even political alliance amongst men, with most fraternities being under
universities as they are cultural pots for diverse networks. During Martial Law, fraternities were
specifically targeted as they had the inherent value for being politically engaged, and as a result
started protests and movements against the Ferdinand Marcos administration at the time.
(Gutierrez, 2019)

SCENE 1

"Batch '81" explores how the fraternity leadership manipulates and indoctrinates its
members. This mirrors the political propaganda and manipulation employed by the Marcos
administration to shape public perception and maintain a grip on power.

At the 13th minute mark of the film, the neophytes sit together on the floor in a single
filed line with their arms linked looking up at their fellow “brod” named Vince, who is sitting on a
chair facing them. Before this scene, they had just undergone a humiliation sequence where
they were forced to strip down blindfolded, while the brods played a tape of laughing women.
This scene is the first time they encounter something that physically taxes them to the point of
extremities Through the background chorus that envelopes the latter half of this scene, the
fraternity values are revealed through the different types of tests each individual had to go
through.

As Vince finishes, brods enter the room carrying paddles, bringing the neophytes to a
circle, and hitting each neophyte behind with a series of blows, a practice otherwise known as
paddling. Before they started, they were told to "hold their balls", a representation of protecting
their masculinity from physical affliction. From this line, the purpose of the initiation is revealed
that is to test their masculine toughness and endurance through a series of physical,
non-emotional torture, an aspect of masculine violence. The camera is angled from the floor and
facing the back of the legs of the neophyte. A close up shot of their faces and on the other half
of the frame we see the brods in the background smacking their butts. Given the position of the
brods behind the neophytes that the role of the brod is to discipline and the role of the recruits is
to submit to their authority and endure it.

Moreover, as they are being tortured, they are told to repeat the verses of the mission of
the AKO fraternity per line after their brods have said it. The chorus of their voices haunts the
next section of the scene, consisting of a compilation of shots where the brods test the
members individually. The recruits are helpless in their superiors' hands, showing the first value
the fraternity seeks out: obedience to authority. In this first act of physical contact, all of the
recruits experience the same thing together, implying that all are on equal grounds, submissive
to authority.

These conditions to obey are non-negotiable as based on the AKO creed that is being
recited all throughout the duration of this scene. Without the background recitation of the creed
we see the initiation as purely physical, however, this is not the case with most fraternities
including AKO. Along with it comes emotional and mental turmoil, as seen through the dialogue
and reinforced through the ritual being performed.

The nature of the punishments show the types of violence the neophytes must endure
(and later perform) in order to be accepted into the fraternity. For the next series of
punishments, one brod and a neophyte pair up to perform a type of punishment each. These
punishments consists of three main types: physical endurance, mental endurance, and
humiliation.

Firstly the physical endurance is present to toughen them up physically and reaffirm their
bodies as biological men. All neophytes are stripped to their underwear, completely vulnerable
to physical harm. A stereotype of this ideal figure of a masculine man is the "matapang" filipino
man that is being conditioned through the initiations. Some of the applicants before this were
meek and quiet, much of the qualities that the brods wanted to weed out during this initiation.
The paddling of the behinds of the neophytes symbolizes the values that are physically thrust
upon the bodies of these men. The neophytes are also subject to extreme temperatures and
overstimulating procedures to test not just their bodies but their senses or their avenues of
connection to the world around them. They are not just building physically capable men but men
who possess the mental abilities to assess surroundings and use to their advantage through
leadership and networking. One particular initiation was the scene where Pacoy Ledesma was
on the table completely naked while brods slap his bare butt with a paddle. The paddling
symbolizes the affirmation of his sexuality, as Pacoy is known for being a “virgin”.

The mental endurance they must endure comes from the less direct physical violence
but more of psychological violence. There are scenes where the neophytes are blindfolded and
whose arms are suspended in the air for a sustained period of time, and if they tire out or give in
they succumb to an unknown threat that terrifies them throughout the period of endurance. Just
before they give in, the brods take away the threat, such as the end of a sharp knife or the
blades of an electric fan, so that their arms do not come into contact with them. This
psychological violence conditions the neophyte's ability to follow the instructions of the brods
until the very end.

Lastly another test that is afflicted unto all of them is verbal humiliation as means to
indoctrinate these men to feel united as equals under an oppressive regime. Sid Lucero, a more
well-off man than those of his batchmates is
SCENE 2

“Kaisahan… isang kalooban, isang katwiran.”

“Oneness… one will, one reason.”

The film depicts how loyalty within the fraternity is tested and how betrayal is punished.
This reflects the political climate during the Marcos era, where surveillance, censorship, and
punishment were used to quell opposition and dissent.

The interrogation scene, also known as the electrocution scene, is the very first scene in
the movie where the neophytes are directly involved in the subordination of their friend as part
of the initiation. De Leon has stated that the scene is a recreation of the Milgram experiment
that functioned under the same mechanics as this scene. The scene demonstrates how people
will obey heinous tasks given by authority as long as they know that someone will take
responsibility for the consequences of these tasks. How masculine violence is portrayed here is
through the depiction of two masculine stereotypes pitted against each other: the strongman
authoritarian figure (Father of Ronnie who controls the electroshock machine) and the sacrificial
“hero” (Ronnie).

In this scene, the blindfolded neophytes enter a dark-lit room in a single-file line, their
hands are placed on the back of a neophyte in front of them. Having no literal sight nor foresight
to see what’s about to transpire, they rely on the lead of each other’s backs and the instructions
of their “brods”. They removed their blindfolds to reveal an electroshock machine on a white
table in front of them with wires leading to a chair lit under the harsh light of a lightbulb. Their
fellow friend Ronnie, part of the pool of applicants, is brought in to be restrained to the chair. As
mentioned by Vince, Ronnie surrendered to sacrifice himself for his batchmates and his own
sins, which is to doubt the importance of joining the fraternity.

In comes the strongman figure. One of the brods brings in the father of Ronnie, greeting
him with "Good Evening sir", signaling the film watchers and the neophytes his authority as a
fraternity alumnus. The process that transpires for the rest of the scene is simple: if Ronnie
answers their "true or false" questions wrong, electric shock waves will be sent to Ronnie's body
via the father who presses the button to do so. However, the nature of each question proves to
be a setup for Ronnie's failure as not once was he able to answer correctly or in time before his
father pressed the button. Ronnie is left to take in all the blows as a reminder of his disloyalty to
the fraternity. The demonstration now becomes not just a punishment but a display of torture for
Ronnie, and mental torture for his batchmates, who are watching this unfold in front of them.
Ronnie's father asserts his dominance by ordering Santi Santillan to press the button himself
after Santi steps up to defend Ronnie. His order exemplifies the absolute loyalty that he and the
fraternity require despite the loyalty coming at the cost of consequences. This is the first time
we see someone emotionally motivated to defend Ronnie as his friend. However, Ronnie's
father suppresses and rejects the emotions of Pacoy by transferring the fate of Ronnie into
Pacoy's hands. This action further solidifies the father’s absolute control over the loyalty of the
neophytes to not just the fraternity but also its values.

Soon, the other neophytes are forced to do the same and take part in the torture of their
own friend, thus being burdened with the press of a button. Once they hesitated to press the
button, the brods would assure them that "Kami na ang bahala" or in English, "leave it up to us".
After being told this, the neophytes did not hesitate any further and continued to electroshock
Ronnie. The neophytes in this case have completely submitted themselves to the strongman
figure’s orders.

The scene takes a turn when Pacoy Ledesma steps up and begs Ronnie to wake up
after being shocked several times. Frantically, Pacoy runs to ronnie and shakes him to wake up,
yet to no response. This emotional outburst triggers Vince, and Ronnie’s father reprimands him
and order him to return, yet he refuses. As a penalty of this, Pacoy is forced to replace Ronnie,
as if to suppress his emotional cries at the expense of his fellow batchmate. Arni Rodriguez then
volunteers himself as an act to save Pacoy and Ronnie from the hands of the strongman father
and Vince.

As it turns out, the whole electrocution was fake and Ronnie had been forced to comply
with his father’s orders to be in on the ruse beforehand. It was a set up to test one aspect that
the fraternity requires that is the ability to quickly act upon a decision as an act of obedience and
loyalty to the fraternity, disregarding whether such decisions are right or wrong. As long as they
put their trust in the fraternity, their fate is safe in their hands. Through the interaction between
those subservient to the strong man figure in the scene, we see the clear power dynamics of
how masculinized authority conditions the neophytes to obey and be loyal to the fraternity.

SCENE 3 & 4- The Climax of Hegemonic Masculinity in Interfraternity Violence

1. The scene depicts targeted violence and conflict that arises as a result of
indoctrination of the idea of a gang-like collective in fraternities.
2. akin to a nation having to go to war if invaded.

1. The dynamics between everyone shows the assertion of dominance to suppress and
control femininity. 1st is the suppression of the sister, a representation of femininity, 2nd
is the dynamic between the Sigma fraternity and arni & sid, shows violence as a means
of dominance. The use of improvised weapons such as the spade.
2. Control over femininity. Sigma controlling his sister as a form of dominance over the
almost ast if they are fighting for ownership of the sister? What is happening to the tina’s
voice is the most bone chilling sound, her vocal delivery pierces the ears and. Femininity
is aggravated shes not holding back
 3. The setting in where it happens exposes the nature of these rumbles, and in effect the
underlying motive that Where does the rumbling happened?? Setting- is dark and covert.
Interfraternity violence is secret and its also CLAUSTRAPHOBIC. The covertness gives
a sinister atmosphere, implies that sister? This is a conflict that is the catalyst for the
4. The use of sound to show How targeted violence administrated by the opposing frat
depicted? They target one of the members and
5.

Narratives from fraternity men showed that they tapped into hegemonic
masculinized scripts attuned to the legacy of the intellectual class: the political,
economic, and cultural leadership of the nation required a sense of military
preparedness. Rumbles are assertions of dominance over rival fraternities
and are expressions of defiance to authority figures drawn from the backdrop
of idealized masculinity for UP students and alumni. While harsh initiations
rehearse young men to foil patriarchal judgment that blocks access to adult
manhood (Gutierrez 2019), the current study suggests that rumbles allow
them to rehearse postures of dominance in power claims within the campus
as projections of overcoming blocks and preparations for conflicts in the
future. Rather than acts of sheer hooliganism (situation-induced and
directionless), rumbles are psychic and emotional rehearsals that simulate
leadership and subordinate roles in conflict situations, sensitizing young men
for warfare drawn from lessons in national history. Violent encounters and
engagements—explained as testing out roles and status claims at the microlevel—
draw from the larger cultural scripts of masculinity and
hypermasculinity and of crafting collective defiance in the context of national
political projections. The hypermasculine socialization also taps into a
subterranean cultural justification that men can turn to unconventional
measures in dire straits (‘pag nagkagipitan) akin to a nation having to go to
war if invaded. It is during a near-battle or the circling around a war that
young men in a fraternity rumble could feel closest to how men in the real
world might face threats to defend one’s community or nation.

Interfraternity rivalry can contribute to violence on campuses. Competition for

recognition, influence, and prestige among fraternities has, at times, led to conflicts,
brawls, and violent incidents. These conflicts can disrupt campus life and pose a threat
to the safety of students.

In one scene of the

In this scene it shows (focus) then (why am i focusing on this)

1. Summarize in two sentences in relation to the

2. THEN GO INTO DETAILS AS NEEDED
First write the critical evidence
SCENE 4 - The rumbling