Why Joy of ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ is All of Us

Everyone’s talking about how amazing actors Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards are in their roles as Joy and Ethan in “Hello, Love, Goodbye.” But its not just their acting prowess that made the movie a huge hit. It’s the storyline and how many people can relate to the movie in many different aspects.

The more we watch the struggles of Joy while keeping a fun personality, the more we can feel that she is like a representation of every wonder pinay.

So, let’s talk plot. If you haven’t seen the movie and plans on seeing it in the theaters or on an online platform, by all means, skip this part, but, if you do not mind, then read along.

Hello ,love goodbye! #presetbysirmack#happyediting pic.twitter.com/GZlSp19gFQ

— jho (@cuteisko31) August 28, 2019

Joy has a big dream.

Joy thinks that Hong Kong is just going to be her stopover as she works her way to achieve her dreams of being able to move to Canada. She was a nurse in Manila, but in Hong Kong, she is a domestic helper or DH as we call it. She also sells gadgets on the side since she has to save for her Canadian visa and raise funds for her blind father and younger siblings back in the Philippines. When Joy had the opportunity to work as a waitress in a bar, she grabs the job to earn more cash, which ended abruptly since the police had impromptu surveillance in the area.

This shows all the challenges an OFW needs to face. Earning money abroad is not as easy as others think. Many OFWs do different jobs just to earn extra not just to realize their dreams but to be able to send money to their families.

Joy unexpectedly finds love.

She then meets Ethan, a happy-go-lucky bartender who happens to have a reputation of being a ladies’ man. Ethan is only three years away from getting his resident status in Hong Kong. He is known to get his way with the ladies, but it was different for Joy, his charms don’t work with her which made it more challenging for him and in turn, had him smitten.

Joy ventured various jobs in HongKong for her dreams. But she didn’t know that she can eventually find a person who will love her for who she is and is willing to be part of her life.

RT this if you want a part 2 of Hello, Love, Goodbye#HelloLove1Month#ALDENxTheGiftThisSEPtember#ABSCBNBallFanFave Kathryn Bernardo pic.twitter.com/2To3OfkQxM

— TEAM KATHDEN OFC (@TeamKathDenOFC) August 31, 2019

Joy needs to choose between love and her dreams.

As much as Ethan made so much effort in being a part of Joy’s life, she was so determined to move to Canada for a better future. Ethan, on the other hand, was convinced about building a life for them together in Hong Kong.

I would say that the turning point of this movie is the idea that Joy was not choosing to stay with Ethan even if they were in love. Ethan has this whole plan of him creating a bar [which they would eventually call Ethan’s Joy] wherein he would make Joy an investor, so she could change her Domestic Helper visa and eventually marry her when he is already a resident. Then he continued to entice Joy by saying that they would be bringing Joy’s family over there.

It was so moving to see Ethan asking Joy to choose him over Canada as seen on television as a commercial that promoted the movie. All the crying sure did help to make the scene more unbearable and realistic. Then and there, you’d realize that you too, at a certain point in your life were also asked to choose between something you love and something you need. Both Ethan and Joy had a point in their argument saying, if Joy loved Ethan, then she’d stay [as a request by him], but at the same time, Joy had a point saying that, if Ethan loved her, he wouldn’t want her to choose between her dreams and him.

Joy wants to make herself a priority this time.

At this point, all the lines Joy and Ethan were throwing at each other were cliché. We all have seen it in movies, and read them on a book. However, it was so raw and vulnerable that everyone watching it will make them cry gallons of tears.

Joy reminded Ethan that from the beginning, he knew that she was leaving. She constantly reminded him about it. It was her dream to move there and be herself again. She did not want the life she has now. This was after discovering that his father was the one who persuaded her mother to marry her employer for a promise of residency and a future for their family.

Sometimes, we feel this way. No matter how painful it is for us, we somehow need to be selfish and choose ourselves instead of giving in to what others want for us. Whatever the outcome is, we brave to face it as a result of our decisions.

Hello, Love, Goodbye (2019) pic.twitter.com/a5NGDqlLWm

— Movie Quotes (@ohmovielines) August 17, 2019

Joy sacrifice for her family.

Living in Hong Kong as a domestic helper, we see how Joy’s struggles and think to ourselves if she can do what she can do, what all those girls can do – to earn money to send to their families in the Philippines. All these are overshadowed by all the nice things that come in a box, if you know what I mean – the balikbayan box.

Let me list down a few things I think we can relate to Joy in the movie.

1. We work so hard to please our loved ones to the point of forgetting about ourselves.
2. Communications are limited [aside from being expensive], we avoid talking about the most important things – ‘are you happy there?’
3. Unconsciously we rely on others for emotional support and show off a strong front to convince ourselves more than others that we are okay when, in fact, it is the opposite.
4. We constantly stand up every time we fall. The most positive attribute I have known most Filipinos have.
5. We love our families too much.

Need I say more?

Joy is every one of us.

Women like Joy, her friends, and other OFWs, may have different struggles, maybe similar to those that we have. These women, like all of us, try so hard to maintain humanity and happiness left in us amongst the pressure from people around us through love – love of self, love of others, and most especially, through our love for our families.

Joy is like every one of us who wants nothing but a complete family, to achieve their dreams, to fall in love, and to finally be happy. But, because of all the responsibilities that we have in our minds and in our shoulders, we forget that – we work so hard, we forget what it means to be happy until one day someone comes along and changes that.

This movie is a great tribute to the OFWs out there who are young and are faced with responsibilities they didn’t choose. Lives a life that destiny chose for them. Forgets that the alleyways and corners of the city is not permanent – you can leave, anytime, if you’re brave enough, to face the consequences. In life, there is always a choice. You just have to pick one that works for you.

Hello, Love. Goodbye. pic.twitter.com/p8iLPdQJTr

— Joshua Garcia Quotes (@sirjoshuagarcia) August 27, 2019

Yes, the storyline might have been somehow predictable, especially the part where boy meets girl, the girl does not like the boy, in the beginning, boy pursues girl, girl gives up keeping her feelings to herself and eventually boy and girl become a couple. Cliché, but this is a reality that most Filipinos relate to.

We all have this frustration about goals that we have never accomplished, wishes that have never been granted, or dreams that have not become a reality. We just have to remember that everything has its time and place. For Joy, it is not Hong Kong, but we just have to move forward and prepare ourselves for the things to come, good or bad.

Let me cap this off with a quote from Joy that I got at the end of the movie:

“There are some places for forever. Some places are mere stopovers, like Hong Kong. And people, some just pass us by, while others for a long while, and these people will change you..”

That is how I translated the last monologue of Joy while being in the airport looking at the flight schedule of her trip to Vancouver. The montage of the people walking around is like how she said it – that there are those people who just pass us by, strangers.