Full Blossom

Do you remember that first crush?

Being in an all-boys school throughout my career with virile classmates teeming the halls, you'd have thought that I'd be falling in and out of crushes almost on a weekly basis. Turns out to be quite the opposite - since after seeing boorish boys snort coke up their noses and cackle with mindless hilarity, it's almost impossible to develop any overwhelming sense of lust towards them. Much of the appeal is lost after you've seen them perform the most disgusting tasks on a dare. And that's even after they eventually grow out of juvenile delinquency ( at least some of them :) ) and develop slick washboard abs.

Almost.

I did have a sense of growing attraction to a select few though. Not that I actually knew they were crushes at the time, didn't even know what to think of these odd emotions at that time. No doubt my first sophomoric crush would have to be Sinful Shawn. Athletic, fair, good-looking guy in the mould of recent heart-throb Korean actors, he wasn't all that gifted academically wise though which is how he always ended up borrowing my scribbled notes.

So while Shawn copied my Math sums ( probably about half that I actually got correct! ), I spent the time wondering what it would feel like to brush my fingers through his glossy black curls. Wondered whether he'd freak if I actually dared to lick the back of his neck as I wanted to. Hey, I was barely 16! Hell, if you think that's bad, I once waited in anticipation all morning just to catch this buff stud changing in the showers.

Then of course my ISO came along to show me that I didn't have to remain content with only gazing with unrequited lust at the objects of my affection.

Balikan ang ganda, tamis, at pait ng unang pag-ibig.

Though I've heard wonderful reviews, took my time catching this particular movie for some reason or other. Just kept putting it aside till this afternoon when I finally saw why everyone raved over the Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros.

Of course Maxi positively revels in being a budding li'l limp-wristed homosexual with added swish, camping it up the only way he knows by being unabashedly and unashamedly fabulous. Not that his doting father and brothers mind since our lil Maxi turns out to be a talented Martha Stewart homemaker all on his own despite the harsh poverty of the downtown Manila slums. Nothing seems to faze our ever-cheerful preadolescent hero, not even the fact that his close-knit clan essentially deals in petty thievery, meth peddling and illegal gambling to make ends meet.


Come play with me, kuya!
Their unorthodox family values are shaken up after Maxi, harassed by some local goons for his effeminate appearance ( both actually get their hilarious come-uppance not long later ), is rescued by a handsome, upstanding knight in blue and promptly tumbles head-over-heels into a tender puppy love.

Just take a look at this voyeuristic scene from the Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros as the flamboyant Maxi watches the object of his undisguised affection, the straight-laced, idealistic cop Victor, recover from a beating.


Don't get any wild paedophilic ideas. No doubt ( the sexually ambiguous? ) Victor knows of Maximo's deepening crush but he never actively encourages it. Being the saintly paragon that he is, the well-meaning Victor never actually pushes the boundaries of their fraternal relationship - maintaining the elder brother role that he was always meant to play hoping to a positive influence for the growing boy.

Albeit that really hunky 'brother' you wanna wrestle around with. Naked. In mud.