Ella Cruz defies racism in ‘Gluta’

Ella Cruz defies racism in ‘Gluta’

CONTROVERSIAL movie director Darryl Yap brings social issues to light in his new movie “Gluta” starring Ella Cruz in the lead role.

The plot of the movie revolves around Angel, an indigenous Aeta, who is determined to become a beauty titlist despite being discriminated against and ridiculed because of her dark skin. Believing that being beautiful has nothing to do with skin color, Angel courageously joins a university beauty pageant to prove her doubters wrong.

Cruz admitted that she was hesitant to accept the role at first when it was offered to her by Yap, aware of the kinds of movies he produces. She was offered a role in one of Yap’s movies before, “Paglaki Ko, Gusto Ko Maging Pornstar,” but she declined the offer. Eventually, after her meeting with Yap, she finally accepted the role for “Gluta.”

It was a bit of a challenge for her to wear makeup to make her look “golden brown” to represent the color of an Aeta, especially under the scorching heat of the sun.

The actress said she has a lot of similarities with her character in the movie and that she has also learned to accept who she is as a person.

“I used to not accept all my flaws, but I’ve recently learned to love them, to embrace them and to be better identified, ‘Oh, here, this is Ella. If I wasn’t small, I wouldn’t be Ella,’” she said.

As the movie also tackles the issue of bullying, Ella wanted viewers to learn of its impact.

“What you’re doing is not good. Mentally, physically, emotionally to the person you are bashing and to yourselves as well. If you see something bad in a person, just keep it to yourselves or confront them in a nice way,” she said.

The movie has earned a mix of reactions from netizens in different social media platforms. Some say that the movie was good as it could spark awareness about racism, but some were not in favor of using “blackface” for the movie.

“Gluta” is now available on web.vivamax.net. One can also download the app and subscribe via Google Play Store and App Store.

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