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Jo Koy Celebrates the Importance of EASTER SUNDAY: ‘This Is Art Imitating Life’
By Movieguide® Staff
Comedian Jo Koy and actress Lydia Gaston recently discussed their new comedy movie, EASTER SUNDAY.
Based on Koy’s Filipino family, he hopes the movie can shed light on Filipino culture and family’s chaos, love, and joy.
“This is art imitating life,” he told Movieguide®. “It’s loosely based, but it’s highly relatable for all the Filipinos. Filipinos can relate to this big time, heavy. But not only that, people that aren’t Filipino can relate to this because if you look at it from the outside, it’s just a family being a family. And it’s a mom being a mom, and a son being a son. That’s it.”
Gaston, who plays Susan in the movie, said that the role revealed a lot about her role as a mother in real life.
“Well, I have to admit certain things that I didn’t want to admit,” she laughed. “I do have a temper, and I’m very demanding and I nag. So now I accept those things. But there is definitely a lot of the mom, that’s already me because I’m a parent, I have a 24 year old daughter, I have a husband that I nag all the time. So it reminded me a lot of my own family growing up in the Philippines.”
“Most of us are here now. But there’s that dynamic,” she added. “We’re also immigrants here, we have our own friends, but we always try to get together for food, for church. So very relatable.”
A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
EASTER SUNDAY is a funny, silly movie with some redeemable qualities. The movie has several hilarious scenes. EASTER SUNDAY has a strong Christian, pro-family worldview. There are comments about loving each other and about Jesus saving us from our sins, plus positive references to Church and prayer. However, EASTER SUNDAY has 36 obscenities and 18 mostly light profanities, including one “f” word and two Jesus profanities. EASTER SUNDAY also makes some jokes that teeter on the edge of being sacrilegious. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.
Despite the foul language, Koy said that the movie is inspired by his mother’s insistence on going to church and the large family gatherings he remembers on Easter Sunday and other holidays.
“Easter Sunday, it was a very significant part of my life,” Koy recalled. “Especially for my mother, being an immigrant coming to this country, not being recognized anywhere, her voice not being heard anywhere, she can’t go to TV and see anything that looks like her or talks like her. So, church was the only time that she felt that she had an identity.
“You can go there on Sunday, and everybody in the room, no matter what color you are, they were all the same, because they all believed in Jesus,” he added. “It was also her opportunity to find other Filipinos that lived near her or in the community. She ended up building this huge Filipino community… and Easter was a big, big part of our life.”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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