Vilma Santos — "Librarian"

Vilma Santos plays a stereotypical librarian in In My Life, which will begin its run in the Philippines on September 16. Santos describes her character as "“irascible and rather comic—isang masungit na librarian who feels na hindi siya mahal ng mundo [a cranky librarian who feels the world doesn't love her]."

Shirley, the character played by Santos, apparently has two distinct facets – the traditional and old-fashioned librarian and the modern and transformed one in New York City. According to Santos, "The old Shirley doesn’t like computers. She doesn’t even like her library computerized." Her eventual transformation, courtesy of her gay son and his partner, seems to imply a correlation between her acceptance of her son's lifestyle and the new technology she learns to embrace.

I will reserve judgment on the impact her portrayal might have on the image of Filipino librarians until after I've seen the movie, but the trailer below looks very promising.