narda... darna... whatever...

i've seen and heard a lot of commentaries about the effects of television and movies on impressionable children. my favorite tv show was sesame street and the electric company. not only were they entertaining, they were also very educational. in fact, i continued watching them even till i was already a mom. but then, i was just seventeen.

but the movie that probably had the most influence on me was DARNA-- now who played the immortal character on film? rosa del rosario, liza moreno, eva montes, gina pareno, vilma santos, nanette medved, & anjanette abayari (other actresses portrayed the same character on tv, though). the ones i vividly remember as a young girl were those of liza moreno's and vilma's. darna's character had to contend with arch enemies such as valentina, babaing tuod, babaing lawin, impakta, & planetwomen to name a few. i would always watch them with awe, my face glued to the television screen.

our old house was then under a major renovation, hence--abundance of gravel and sand in our yard. i was eight.

coming out of the house with a smirk on my face, i felt confident. i just saw darna at ang babaing lawin on tv. i went straight to the gravel mound, eyes searching for something very definite. i ransacked the pile looking for a small round, smooth stone. having found one that met my requirement, i quickly got a fine-tipped pentel pen and carefully inscribed the word "darna" onto the stone. voila!

having completed my mission, i ran towards the backyard, stone in hand. i swallowed the stone and to finish it off, whispered "darna...!" nothing. it must've been because i whispered. this time i shouted with all the volume my vocal chords could muster, "darnaaaaa!!!!" i waited for a moment. still nothing. no smoke, no transformation. no nothing. disappointed, i sat down on a rock and wondered where my talisman could be. i figured it must've traveled to my large intestines by now.

to this day, i'm still wondering if that could have been because of impressionability. or was that a symptom of early psychological incapacitation? or perhaps a tinge of narcissistic personality disorder with traces of anti-social behavior?

but wait...! the stone could still be inside me. who knows, it might work this time.