Orpeza, Arlyn HUM 3

Ortiz Luis, Charisse Anne

Paculan, Bryan Lester

“Ex With Benefits” is a romantic film which revolves around the story of break-up and

coming together of the lovers Adam Castrances, a sports doctor, and his then former classmate

Arkisha Aragon, now a medical representative. As a romantic film, the movie may depict itself at

first glance as an unconventional Filipino film under the said genre. The film has apparently

focused more of its plot around sex than the common mainstream films on the same genre. In the

film, sex as a part of a “healthy” relationship was directly portrayed than the other mainstream

romance films which limit scenes that can be linked to sex maybe to avoid being called out by

the Media and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and to ensure no age

restrictions in mall theaters. Thus, more audience could watch and pay for the film. Aside from

sexual relationship being blatantly discussed in the film, it also discusses another sensitive

topic—sex trade. Because of the unconventional, modern, explicit and Western approach of the

film, the movie could portray itself as a breakthrough from the conventional “cheesy” and “fit-

for-all-ages” mainstream romance films. However, when looked beyond its sex scenes and

innuendos, the movie still falls on the conventional traits of its genre.

Like the common commercial films under this genre, the movie does not go far beyond

the fairy-tale-like love story. The character of Arkisha, a woman who became poor and has to

stood up as the breadwinner of the family ended up with Adam, a rich, famous, sports doctor—a

portrayal of the usual prince charming type male in fairy tales. The film, though attempts to

divert from being conservative to more explicit, had failed to show maturity and depth in sense

of character and story development. The characters, even after all those years that they were

apart, were still cannot get over with each other—a common characteristic of romance films

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which are loyal to the concept of romantic ideals such as true love. Even the characters embodies

the common protagonists in this genre—young, likeable, apparently meant for each other, and

will be able to surpass different obstacles on their way even when they are kept apart by

complicated circumstances, (Rosseci, 2016). Though the film attempted to challenge the

stereotypes of a womanizer leading man and the “Maria Clara” leading lady in Filipino society

and films (as Adam was portrayed as a loyal stick-to-one man and Arkisha as a liberated

seductive woman), the characters still ended up as the ideal man and woman that its society is

looking for. Adam, though portrayed as a loyal and reserved man, still depicts the epitome of an

ideal man in appearance, profession, social status and as an object of the fantasies of women in

the film—maintaining the machismo of men in films. Arkisha, on the other hand, though

portrayed as a liberated, strong and independent woman, still fell into the pit hole of shame when

the people judged her. At the end, she decided to change and live as a woman that the society

was expecting for her and strived again to be a doctor. Of course, the plot of the film was very

predictable. As expected, the film ended in a fairy-tale-like happily ever after and not to mention

that the title (and maybe the concept) of the film was likely adapted from another Hollywood

romantic film “Friends with Benefits”.

However, the good idea that came out from the film that was beyond expected was the

self-actualization of Arkisha’s character in the end. Unlike the common romance films with a

fairy-tale concept where the strength of the woman, her transformation, and change was

anchored through the help of her prince, in the film, Arkisha changed for her own good without

the help of her love interest. In the film, Arkisha decided to again stay away and tried to fix

herself on her own without being dependent to her man. It is a good portrayal in the film of the

fact that people can grow by themselves without being total dependent from their partners and

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not the usual ideas fed to us by our usual romance drama films where a character was left in

distress, hopelessness, and devastation if his/her partner left and just goes back to life if that love

comes in the picture again.

Another point in the film that is worthy to be discussed is its ideology towards gender

specifically in gender roles, stereotypes, and its view on women. Gender roles are the roles that

the men and women are expected to do based on their sex, (Blackstone, 2003). An attempt made

by the film to defy the norms was on depicting Arkisha as an independent, smart and

hardworking career woman since she works as the breadwinner of her family. Man, however, as

embodied by Adam, was naturally depicted as the common “ideal” man, who is masculine and

can protect his woman (as of the scene where he has to face a disciplinary action because of a

fight with men who degrades his woman).

Stereotypes regarding males and females were also shown in the film. Aside from the

uncommon traits of the personalities of the protagonists mentioned earlier, the film loyally

represented the men and women as expected by the society. Males occupy professional jobs such

as doctors and if not, those high-earning careers such as sport players. Women, if not inside

homes doing household chores, were for jobs that require “pleasing personality”—such as

medical representatives. This representation follows the results of a study by Geena Davis

Institute on Gender in Media (2003), which shows that most films depict males as those with

higher position than women. The film also perfectly adapted the Adam-Eve story, where a

woman is the symbol for temptation of man. Arkisha was the reason for Adam to suffer

disciplinary action, and she seduces men for her own benefit. They also depicted the common

stereotypes for male and female students—with male as those stubborn and happy-go-lucky

students and females as the more serious and studious in schools.

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 Lastly, the sex trade as illustrated in the film is another good point for discussion.

Arkisha uses her ability to seduce doctors and have intercourse with her in exchange of

endorsing her products. At a different point of view, it could be seen as a woman empowerment.

Being able to seduce men, manipulate them, and be under her control can show the strength of a

woman through her sexuality. Arkisha could be the personification of an archetype called the

“femme fatale”, which is a French phrase for “deadly woman” where in literature and film could

be depicted as the seductive woman who lures men to their downfall, (Fortini, 2015).

Nonetheless, if the character and the situation Arkisha is in will be examined deeper upon, it

would be seen as another disguise of commercial media to objectify women. On the shallow, it

could look as seem Arkisha is the one dominant over males because she can manipulate male

doctors under her control through seducing them. However, if it would be looked deeper upon,

Arkisha, on the first place might not need to do that if she was already dominant over males. On

a simple sense, the film just portrays the gender bias favoring males as the dominant since

women still have to do more effort, sacrifice their body, and let their body be an object of

commodity for commercial purposes just to be able to keep up with the men in the society. The

film did not even prove that she enjoys doing it, and in the end, she actually regretted it and feel

ashamed for herself. Thus, it still shows how males overpower women, with women sacrificing

their selves to keep up with men dominated society and to survive, while men easily getting what

they want from women. In the end, men were still represented as those who have the control of

sex and have the power in the society.

Sadly, the commercialized media does not limit itself in objectification of women. It can

also objectify men with male celebrities in the film displayed as topless for long minutes and also

as in Adam’s character described in the film as the “hottest sports doctor”. He was not just

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portrayed in the film as a doctor but also branded as a basis for masculinity and as a sexual

object—a thing which happens not only in films but also in real life.

To conclude, “Ex With Benefits” presents many issues not only in the structure of the

common films under the romance genre but also on issues regarding gender. The film attempted

to change minimal conventional characteristics of the same films under the genre, however failed

to do so since it still do not want to disappoint its audience who are already used and comfortable

with the formula of the mainstream romantic films. The film also suggested some ideas that are

not commonly discussed in films such as issues regarding gender and sex trade. The film had the

chance to discuss gender equality and woman empowerment in the embodiment of Arkisha,

however, because the film may not even intended to do so, it still fell into the list of generic films

which only aimed to entertain rather than to discuss certain issues. The film had its chance to

break the gender roles and stereotypes but sadly, it has become another representation of

stereotyping and objectifying genders in the society.

References:
Blackstone, A. (2003). Gender Roles and Society. Human Ecology: An Encyclopedia of
Children, Families, Communities and Environment. pp. 335-338
Chemaly, S. (2014). 20 Facts Everyone Should Know about Gender Bias in Movies. Retrieved
from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/20-mustknow-facts-about-
g_b_5869564.html
Fortini, A. (2015). When Sexual Manipulation Is The Most Feminist Move of All. Elle.
Rosseci, C. (2016). Filipino Romantic Comedy Movies and How It Began. Retrieved from
http://www.psst.ph/state-of-filipino-rom-com/

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