Y Tu Mama Tambien

I was not exactly thrilled with this movie or sure what to blog about it. I am not a prude, however, sitting in an auditorium with people and viewing something like this was very uncomfortable at times. I do not know why it is on the curriculum and while I was just uncomfortable, not offended, there may have been people that wereoffended and unable to leave due to this being a required assignment. I have spoken my mind so now I will move on.

Julio and Tenoch were just two young boys who were trying to experience life to the fullest. Tenoch coming from money, he was able to do what he wanted and was use to getting what he wanted I am sure. Julio was just the opposite, he came from a poor family and it was interesting how many of the films that we have screened have had similiar friend relationships. ( one wealthy and one poor). I felt as though Ana took advantage of these young boys even though they had already been into teen sex and drugs, but she led them on and did not try to be a role model for them.

The reality is teen sex and drugs are in every culture and we can try to prevent it or act like it does not exist, but guess what, it does. This movie could have been filmed anywhere in the world and it would have been the same. I am not really sure what it taught me about Hispanic culture except for the fact that they have porn as well!! I wish we could have seen the ending I did figure out that Ana was dying, but I do not know of what and I do not want to have to watch it again just to find out. I do not like movies with no plot or purpose.

I really did enjoy this class more than what I thought I would and I am sorry that it had to end on this note. I would take this movie off of the list to be seen for this class.

El Viaje de Carol

This movie was very interesting without subtitles. Just when you thought you knew what was going on it was not that at all. Carol was such an independent child which was more of her American background. The women of this culture are usually subserviant to men and put up with abuse and I bet learn this at a young age, however, Carol had no problem sticking up for herself when the boys were picking on her in the beginning of the movie. She missed her Americna roots as you could tell she always prayed in English and was not willing to conform to the ways of the culture in Spain as evidenced by not wanting to dress the part for first communion since she was not catholic. She liked sitting up in the trees and just dressed like a tom boy and hung out with the guys. After her mother died she did not want to live with her aunt and uncle ( or whoever those two people were), which is not how their culture usually operates.Family is of the upmost importance and they are always very close, but Carol just wanted to be with her grandpa.

Carol was able to find love in her life in the little boy. ( do not know his name). She had been through so much in having to move to another country, lose her mother and her father was away serving in the military. At the end of the movie the love in her life was killed, but she at least had known how it felt to love. The end as she was driving away in the car was so cool how the boys were riding behind waving and then the little boy who had been shot and killed appeared to her and was waving as well.

This was a very good movie, and I bet would have been even better with subtitles.

Volver

The film is considered to be a tribute to women and demonstrates their resilience because it is about the sexual abuse that is endured by Raimunda from her husband as well as her father and then her daughter that was abused by Paco as well. Once Paula killed him, Raimunda realized that they would both be better off and was able to dispose of the body and continue on with her life for the sake of Paula. She succeeded in the restaurant business and in raising Paula even though she had been through so much in her life. She did not seem to have terrible ill feelings for Paco as she buried him by the river, where he liked it the most. (I would have just put him in the trash where he belonged) Irene, who was thought to be dead, had endured so much as well. Her husband was molesting Raimundo and having an affair as well. She did what she felt she had to do and that was to set the fire that killed him as well as Agustina. Emotionally they had all been through so much from the abuse to losing parents and not knowing what had happened ( in Agustina's case) to her mother.

The one Superstitious thing that really stuck out to me was the fact that the towns people all believed that you come back from the dead and this is what they all thought was the case with Irene. Because they all believed it and had seen her they never asked any questions. The funny thing was is that she was actually alive and being a "ghost " was not really the case. I am not sure if it was a superstitious thing or not, but the women cleaning the graves was very bizarre. We do not do that in our country, but they were very serious about their grave cleaning.

I really enjoyed this movie, I just hate what Raimundo and Paula had to endure, but at the end at least Raimundo and Irene were able to make things right.

Guantanamera

The biggest aspect of Cuban culture that jumped out the most to me is the idea that Cuban men are ladies men or other wise known as "players". It all started from the very beginning when Mariano was in the truck with Marilius and once they were "finished" he was done with her. When Marilius told him that she was pregnant it was really over! I did not catch the name fo the man that Mariano was riding in the truck with, but they had a discussion about how you need to be kind to your wife at home, but basically once on the road you could do what ever you wanted and have different women along the way and that was what Mariano did. The man with him did try to tell him that he should try to settle down and be with one woman. Mariano had women along the way such as the railroad operator, Hilda, who threw herself at Mariano and he was not actually so willing because he had run into Georgina whom he knew from his college days and had feelings for her. Mariano also went to the gas station and the man with him had told him that he had too many girls along the way, but once he got there Wina, the woman that he knew told him she had gotten married. Mariano did start realizing that maybe he did need to settle down and once he had run into Georgina so many times he realized his feelings for her.

Another aspect of the Cuban culture is how along the way to get Aunt Yoyita's body to where it needed to be the caravan ran across many people who needed their help. For instance, the pregnant lady who was on labor and needed to get to the hospital, they took her to teh hospital even though it was back tracking for them. They were not able to tell them no. The people along the street that needed rides into teh next town and were picked up by Mariano and the other man ( whose name I do not know). In a cold climate culture people would have just kept driving and not looked back.

The idea that men are dominate and the women are to be subserviant was evident when Georgina was shopping with Aunt Yoyita and her aunt told her to buy the dress, but Georgina said that she never goes out and that Adolfo does not like low cut dresses. When Georgina begins to realize her feelings for Mariano and wants to become her own person so that she does not allow for her true love to pass by again as her aunt's did, she buys the same dress knowing that Adolfo will not like it. Adolfo calls her a slut and begins to attack her. This is another example of how Cuban culture is represented, the men are the boss. However, with several of the last movies that we have seen, it is apparent how much the roles are changing and the women are feeling more empowered to stand up for themselves and that is what happened in the end with Georgina and Mariano finally being able to be together.

The Official Story was very heart wrenching to watch. All Alicia wanted in life to be a mother and it appeared as though she had gotten her wish by havng Gaby in her lilfe. She felt as though she was providing the best life for Gaby until she began to wonder about the circumstances surrounding the adoption of Gaby and what happened to her parents. Alicia began to feel hopeless regarding Abby once she realized that her husband Roberto may have played a role in the disappearance of Gaby's real parents. Once Alicia found out from Ana what ordeal she had been through with people who supported the Argentine regime for living with a subversive man. Alicia I feel began to worry about the future with Gaby and that was why she began looking into see if Gaby had any family. Gaby almost seemed as though she knew what she had been through in her early years especially how she reacted to the other kids playing guns and war games. She appeared wiser than her years. I believe that Alicia knew that Gaby and herself would not be able to have a good life with Roberto and I believe this is why she sent Gaby off to her grandparents, she knew that she needed to be away from Roberto and that Gaby would also be safe there. I did not really like the way the movie ended because I wanted to see Gaby and Alicia just go on and live their life together because what Alicia wanted more than anything in life was to be a mother and she did what she did to protect Gaby. I do believe that there will be a light at teh end of the tunnel for Gaby because her grandparents loved her very much and will protect her. Hopefully one day, Alicia will get her and they can be together again.

Like Water for Chocolate

It was very difficult to see how Tita was treated by her mother Elena. This movie reminded me a little of Cinderella only with an adult twist! The love connection that Pedro and Tita had was what every woman dreams of and the fact that they could not be together was heartbreaking,but seeing what Pedro was willing to do, by marrying Rosaura was so romantic in an odd way.

The way that Tita matured throughout the movie was so inspiritational because she at first was submissive to her mother and as the time had passed she began to stand up to her and do what she felt passion for and that was to be with Pedro despite what her mother had said. Her mother dying was a burden off of her shoulders as she was no longer having to be her mother's keeper. One can tell that even though Tita had come to disobey her mother she was never able to have the complete closure that she needed even though she may have felt as though she had.

The genre of Magical Realism came in to play many times throughout this movie. The use of the food that Tita had prepared and how it increased the sexual emotion of those that at it. Then there was the scene of Gertrudis being swept away by a Juan Alejandrez, we all would like to be swept away by a man in uniform, but I am not so sure how fun it would be while we were naked!
I feel the most powerful and liberating scene for Tita was when Elena, her mother, kept coming to her after she had passed away. Once Tita was able to tell her mother how she felt and to leave her alone it appeared to free Tita to continue on and express to those around how she felt, such as telling Pedro that she was pregnant, telling off Rosaura, and telling Dr. Brown that she could not marry him. Tita seeing and speaking to her dead mother was also an example of Magical Realism. The end of the movie was sad and happy at the same time. It was sad that Tita and Pedro both had to die, but we can all assume that they were finally at peace with no one standing in their way.

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