Why "Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 3" is my favorite Asian series

The right side of my brain has been craving for artworks lately because I keep on overexercising the left hemisphere with a lot of science stuff. So in between writing my papers, I’ve been watching episode after episode of different Netflix dramas. I skip Filipino teleseryes for the most part because they seem to be as corny as the ones from my childhood…except Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3: The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken.

Sikolohiyang Pilipino Comes Alive

Translated as The Woman in the Septic Tank 3, this mockumentary series is a sequel of two satirical movies with the same title. They are about a fictionalized version of Eugene Domingo, one of the Philippines’ most accomplished comedians. In the first movie, she got cast into an indie film, in which the screenplay entailed her to fall into an actual septic tank. In part 2, she insisted on becoming the leading lady of a Filipino matinee idol even if she is more than a decade older than him.

Finally, after many years of acting career success, Eugene decides to become a movie director herself. She goes on to produce and direct The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken, a historical film about Josephine Bracken, the Irish-Chinese girlfriend of the national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. Hilarity ensues when Eugene becomes delusional enough to cast herself as Bracken even if her features are that of a native Filipino.

The series is quite innovative because the genre is a mockumentary, which is unusual for an Asian series. It also has a distinct Filipino flavor to it, because the characters convey their feelings towards Eugene primarily through body language. That’s a touch of brilliance, as it correctly portrays Filipinos as non-confrontational. We prefer to keep the harmony by resorting to pakiramdam to gauge how we ought to interact with the people around us instead of verbalizing our thoughts.

What Narcissists Do

Moreover, the series is a hilarious depiction of how narcissists can destroy the workplace. Narcissists have inflated views of themselves that do not match reality. When the truth about themselves rears its ugly head, narcissists cope by forcing the people around them to confirm their delusions because they can’t stand the fact that they’re not superior to everyone.

Eugene does exactly that in this series. She starts by hiring the best actors and production staff because she wants her movie to succeed. But then, she refuses to listen to them. She ruins all their excellent work by micromanaging them in her ridiculous attempts to look like Josephine Bracken. Eugene also miscasts her actors, either because they’ll make her feel good about herself or because she doesn’t want them to upstage her. Thus she brings the worst out of everyone. The resulting comedy of errors is absolutely hysterical!

Propping Up the False Self

The damage that narcissists can inflict in real life is far from being funny though. I remember when this certain narcissistic individual went around accusing me of being an unethical therapist just because I expressed an opinion that challenged their self-perception. I think their intention was to get people to mob me so that I would feel overwhelmed and sabotage myself during patient handling.

Thank God, I went through the hellfire that is the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) when I was an intern. PGH revealed to me many of my psychological weaknesses, so I already had an effective plan for keeping my neuroticism at bay in the event of narcissistic attacks.

Unfortunately, narcissists can worm their way towards leadership positions because of their charisma and competence, as depicted in Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3. Moreover, they’re capable of genuinely loving the people around them (contrary to stereotypes), which everyone finds laudable. It’s just that narcissists love their false inflated selves more than they care about you. They will surely throw you under the bus once you reveal their true flawed identities. And that's what makes them so confusing.