Poster Girl

For those who are old enough, remember this?

In the Philippines, you were not considered a beauty parlor if you didn’t have this poster hanging on your wall or on your window. At the height of her poster’s popularity Phoebe Cates was every Pinoy guy’s crush, even though she had no hit movie at that time (Gremlins wasn’t released then). She was “favorite actress” in many a slum-book despite no cinematic or televised evidence of her acting talent. Her visage of innocence, complete with virginal flowers and clunky earrings, was enough to fuel many a teenage girl’s fantasies and teenage boy’s wet dreams. She was a ubiquitous presence in every beauty parlor. It’s as if having her on the wall or window was a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that certified, “Here, we know beauty.”

For those who are as old as me or even older, the precursor of Princess Caraboo is Farrah Faucett in her red one-piece bikini and flowing golden locks. Now that poster appeared not just in parlors but everywhere else—as in, everywhere. Sari-sari stores, restaurants, movie houses, department stores, locker rooms, security guard posts, you name it, it’s there. But at least she had the TV series Charlie’s Angels, and she was the most popular of the angels.

But why Phoebe? For her poster to reach that level of popularity one can only wonder what affected the collective consciousness of parloristas all over the Philippines. Maybe it’s the fact that she has a Filipina mother—that would explain why people developed an instant affinity with her. But perhaps more than affinity, her mixed race made her the beauty ideal at that time, the best of Pinoy and western features combined.

Maybe the explanation of her parlor popularity is simple. Beauty in the time of colonial mentality meant Phoebe. Beauty is Phoebe, Phoebe beauty—that is all they know, and all they need to know.