NORA AUNOR
by Gilda Cordero-Fernando and M.G. Chaves
"Slowly, the wooden gate of the Vera-Perez compound opened," begins Rustum Quinton's biography of Nora aunor. "There was instant commotion among the countless fans that had been waiting there since dawn, admirers who were prepared to suffer rain and sun just to catch a glimpse of their idol on her 18th birthdday. A car approached the gate and fans rushed towards the vehicle, screaming, shouting, cheering, pushing, crying, clapping, each one trying to talk to, shake hands with, touch or kiss the little movie star.
"So she could be seen by all, Nora was hoisted on the roof of the Sampaguita Pictures bus. Beside her was Pip (Tirso Cruz III) and the famous doll, their make-believe offspring, Maria Leonora Theresa. A fire-truck had disperse the crowd."
The president of a fan club played Nora's songs on a karaoke four times each morning, like the National Anthem, writes Patrick D. Flores in his unparalleled thesis on Nora Aunor. "Pag bakla ka, Noranian ka, pag na appreciate mo si Vilma, tomboy ka," a fan explained. The alliance of Nora Aunor fan clubs had a constitution, by-laws, even an application form and an "entrance exam."
"When Nora moved into her house gifted by a director, it was furnished by the fans with oven, flat iron, plates, glasses and all," relates Baby K. Jimenez. "Fans placed her picture beside Jesus Christ or Mary and put leis of jasmine around it," writes Flores. "Others die embracing Nora's picture, requesting it to be buried with them. "In Bicol there was a pan de Nora with a black mole on it, a puto Nora, a kalye Nora and chapel of the Mabini Memorial University carried the name Nora.
"One late morning, "relates Jimenez," we woke up ahead of Nora. There were many fans in the house and still a long row of cars outside. Pitying them for having travelled so far, Nora's mamay decided to allow the fans to take a peep, single file, of Guy sleeping. It was a hair raising scene. One by one they came in, touched the sleeping Cinderella lightly, as if she were a saint, wiped her face with their handkerchief and made a quick exit while kissing the hanky they had pressed on their idol."
"She never wanted to sleep alone," Jimenez recounts. "One fan slept at her feet on the round bed, others on the floor or on beds around her. Once we woke up and saw three women were naglilihi (conceiving) and would kill themselves if they weren't able to see Nora, " writes Flores.
"She had a hard time putting demarcation line between Nora the private person, but it was this accessibility that made her so popular," he continues.
The object of this adoration was a woman of 4'11 in height, with a shoe size of 3 1/2, dark brown complexion, eyes that turn liquid and a Cinderella story. Aside from her legendary career in film, music, television and theater, Nora is revered by the academic community as well as the mainstream mass media as artist of sterling talent. Her voice, which catapulted her to stardom, is a plaintive contralto that holds its audience in rapture, according to Flores.
Nora's life is colorful, dramatic, difficult and painful -- the never ending story of Filipino masa. She was born sickly, the seventh child of 10, half of whom died. Her father was a porter in Iriga railroad station where, at five years old Nora was already peddling drinking water to passengers. Never having enough to eat, Nora lived in a nipa house with only one gasera to light it, sometimes having to go to school barefoot.
The singing career began with Nora Aunor holding the winning slot in an amateur TV singing contest for 14 weeks and then another 14 weeks. "Superstar," her professional musical variety program, ran for 22 uninterrupted years, the longest running TV show in the Philippines. She won 32 best actress awards for film, some of which were internationally acclaimed.
Her success was unparalleled and phenomenal, but her attainment of staus spawned a host of problems: tax evasion, breaches of contract, insolvency. She raked in money and projects easily but invested badly, often on the brink of walang-wala. "She was conceived of the Virgin Dolorosa and problems are her twin," writes Quinton. "Her traumatic past (Nora bears) like a cross and it bleeds like a stigmata," concurs Flores. She had problems with her family, with her health, with her many lovers, with her studios, with her fans, with alcohol, drugs and appointments. We identify with the superstar's triumphs and struggles, her pains and distresses. But also with her power of transcendence and therefore her myth.