Serbis, Levinas, and Calasanz

by Ryan Racca

Levinas talked about the fear of alterity, the fear of otherness and in some way, it is also the fear of the unknown. Calasanz added to this in his discussion of the film Serbis and he said that the challenge is to keep moving on. The question there is this: but where? Alan, portrayed by Coco Martin, answered this in the film’s ending. He ran away from the Family movie house and into the unknown. The viewers of the film were left to think about where he went but the audience was left with this certainty: he ran away into the unknown.
The film maintained the theme of circles. Literally speaking, there were a lot of circular things in the film and figuratively speaking, the characters in the film were stuck in a loop. Levinas calls this the Law of the I and in it, one is stuck in a form of relating that is cyclical. It always goes back to itself and does not extend to the Other. The film’s characters were stuck in a vicious cycle of living a bohemian kind of life. To break the Law of the I, one has to experience a certain trauma and this shock comes from relating with the Other (as truly an Other). Here the Law of the Other comes in and in this way of relating, it is no longer cyclical. The title of the film is ironic in this sense. Serbis translates as an action of doing or helping the other but the film doesn’t portray the spirit of serbis (for the other). It portrays a Serbis to itself. The loop being repeatedly shown in the film may be likened to the i l ya. The loop prevents one from going out and much like in i l ya where the I does not assert it’s being an I. It is only in the appearance of the Other, a traumatic experience, that the I is shocked and brought out of itself into something else (taking up responsibility perhaps).

Sir Calasanz goes into the topic of the future, which possesses a nature of uncertainty. Future may entail disappointments and breakups and they will hurt. And the hurt will be normal. It’s what one does after the hurt. Then when one has decided to go beyond the hurt, one will be able to escape the loop. The film shows this breakaway when Alan decides to run away at the end of the film.


In the end of it all, one is called to escape the vicious loop. Breaking away from it is never easy nor painless. The Other beckons the I to go out and run. The future is full of uncertainty but letting oneself be trapped in the loop of things does no good. One must rise above this loop or this i l ya and into a being in service of Others.

A Reflection on the Film Serbis

by Patrick Cruz

Until now, the weight attached to the steps of each character in the film Serbis still resounds to my ears-- the heavy steps of Alan (Coco Martin) back when he was very confused at a point in his life, until he made that decision to leave the place, counter flow with the people around him; the uncertain steps of Nayda (Jacklyn Jose) as she began to rethink on things that could have happened had she done what should have been rightly done; and the light steps of Nanay Flor (Gina Pareno) as she chose to make most out of the seemingly ordinary things she has in life.

Ironically, this weight that had pulled these characters down was the same weight that had raised the people watching to moral height, at least for me. A point was emphasized by Mr. Calasanz when he discussed a closed circle—a relationship with the Other that goes back to self, which is actually false infinity. In the film, it can be seen how Alan had never understood not only on how his partner felt for his actions, but also how truly human his partner is. This main character had seen the Other only as a form of nourishment, a tool for his own growth. He constantly went back to himself, alone, assuring his own security and without realizing further the unfruitfulness of the relation. He lay asymptotic to the other person, who seemed near for him, but actually almost at the other end. With all of these, the film had raised an idea about a relation different from what was first depicted at first in the film-- a movement of self for the Other, without returning back to self.

First, this movement is characterized by a journey--  a journey to and with the Other; to as one recognizes the mystery of the other, and with as one and the Other move together. Here, one realizes that the Other is a person totally different from me. A man is much different from a woman, and also with the other men. Each has his own story, his own experience, his own background, etc. Thus, in this relation, the Other is no longer reduced to the Same and the his otherness already starts to flourish. Moreover, the fact that the Other is different to me calls for an extension of self, to respond towards the mystery. In a relation, one risks for the Other, escaping from the security he has created around himself, escaping from that false infinity. It is through this notion that one fully participates in the relation, making him and the Other grow together. Nevertheless, this act has and will always involve a free choice from each person participating in it.

Second, it must be clarified that this movement does not remove the love of self; in fact, it purifies that love. It does so by realizing that it is only through the Other that one genuinely loves himself. A person who relates to people but only in reference to himself does not fully love himself. That is because he hinders the possibilities of broadening more his horizon, by not taking risks to include more people in his sphere and to truly interact with them as humans. Hence, when this person gets into a situation demanding a disinterest of self, he simply refers back to himself, getting stuck in that circular relationship. As risk has not been taken and fear dominates, his love of self is not completely pure. On the other hand, when one journeys for the Other, he expands himself by taking risks for the otherness of the Other. He then realizes his own fullness as human in contact with other people, making the love of self much purer.


To end, I can say that: “Ang ugnayan sa ibang tao ay ang pakikibahagi sa ibang tao-- ang paulit-ulit na pagtataya ng sarili kalakip ng pagpapasyang tuklasin ang kaibahan ng iba, sa pag-asang sa paghahanap nito, higit na mabibigyan nang karampatang kasagutan ang tanong na paulit-ulit na gumagambala sa atin: ‘Ano nga ba ang maging isang tao?’ “