Motorcycle Diaries

There are many scenes in the film Motorcycle Diaries, that you can see how the experiences shaped the personality of Che Guevara’s future as a leader.  A couple of scenes that stand out to me are when they visit the mine.  Che sees people suffering when waiting to be selected to work in the mine.  He yells at the mine’s foreman for not recognizing the workers were suffering.  We later find out that Che gives the $15 to the couple, after holding onto it for so long, and sacrificing his own well-being to help others.  When they visit Machu Picchu, Che encounters many native people who are poor and are suffering.  You can draw parallels to how he bought into the communist ideals, creating an all for one, one for all mentality.  When they are visiting the leper colony, the amount of human suffering they encounter, really draws out the compassion in Che.  He listens to their stories of government mistreatment and dreams of a united (South) America.

Taking such a long journey, experiencing the different parts of the world and class wealth, went miles to shape Che’s attitude and his direction in political leadership.  The experiences that he had while on the trip, truly made him the leader that he came to be.  The communist sympathy and allowance of a US enemy into a close proximity to our country ultimately sealed the fate of Che. 

Celebrations in the Spanish speaking world have some definite differences when compared to celebrations in the United States.  The first, and most glaring, is how our capitalistic society, along with the media, have made holidays in the United States very materialistic.  I can think of no better example that Christmas.  The “Christmas Season” starts before Thanksgiving now, trying to squeeze every holiday dollar out of the consumers.  In many Spanish speaking countries, the over-abundance of money and food, found in the US, are just not present in Spanish speaking countries.  Some of our holidays, are day, or a couple of days long, where not everything shuts down.  In other countries, the cities basically shut down for time of the holiday.  Here, you can still buy and do many of the things that you can on normal everyday life.  For both, holidays are meant to be spent with family and close friends, but Spanish speaking countries tend to allow for more community involved celebrations.

El Mariachi

Chris Pappas

El Mariachi

                The movie El Mariachi, by Robert Rodriguez, is the prequel to the movie Desperado, starring Antonio Benderas.  There are many stereotypes of Mexicans portrayed in this movie.  From the beginning we see a jailer paid off to let the hit-men into the jail, so they can kill.  The jailor is paid off to look the other way, and then when they fail, the jailor is paid off by the other side, without any repercussions.  The Mariachi symbolizes a stereotype as well; he is hardly in a scene without his guitar case, even when you really don’t believe he needs it.  The Bandito-violence stereotype is present in the character of Azul, runs around the city like he owns it, shooting anyone who gets in his way.  The character of Moco shows the cartel stereotype, wearing all white and running his criminal operation from his home, using intimidation and all other harassing tools to get his way. 

                The statement, “All he wants is to be a Mariachi,” shows that he doesn’t really care about all that is going on around him, the music that his father and grandfather taught him, is all that matters.  He’s forced into defending himself from the men who wrongly confuse him with another Azul.  His new found love for Domino makes it difficult for him to the Mariachi, when she dies, he seeks vengeance.  (As represented in the next movie). 

                Music plays a huge role in this film, one, because a Mariachi is a musician by trade, two, to set the tone for each scene.  The use of sound effects is very prevalent also. 

Machuca

Chris Pappas

Machuca

                Machuca portrays the story of two school aged kids, growing up in Santiago, Chile, during a time of national turmoil and political unrest.  Gonzalo is a boy from the rich side of the river, while Pedro is from a shanti town on the on the other.  They meet in prep school, where there is an effort to communize an elite school.  From the beginning, they both share a common problem; a bully in the class targets each of them.  They develop a friendship that began with looking out for each other.  Their interactions are pretty awkward at first; neither really knows how to treat each other, or just where each is coming from.  There is a real, unavoidable fact that they are from different parts of the world, even though it’s only separated by a river.  They develop an inseparable friendship, along with a neighborhood girl; spend all their free time hanging out together. 

                Definitely, the kids see a distinction between their skin color and social classes.  This is very apparent by the clothes they wear and the reaction to the possessions each other has in their house.  Though they learn to look passed those distinctions, they are always present, right down to the end.  The film shows the classes in the city pretty clearly.  The poor have to wait in food lines, whereas the rich have access to black market goods, not available to the people who don’t have money. 

                The main message that the film shows, is that no matter where you are from, people are not as different as it seems.  Though Gonzalo’s family has all the money and items to make their lives easier, money doesn’t buy happiness.  Gonzalo’s mother has an ongoing relationship with an older man, his father seems to be disconnected with the family.  So much so that he takes a job in Italy.  The film sends a powerful message about government forcing ideals on public.  The communist versus democracy, versus military rule.   

La Misma Luna - Under The Same Moon- Chris Pappas

La Misma Luna

Under The Same Moon

                In the movie, Under the Same Moon, the main character, Carlitos, illegally crosses the United State/ Mexican border to be reunited with his mother.  The story is one of several cultural plots that many illegal, as well as legal immigrants face today. 

                Carlitos’ mother, Rosario, leaves him behind in Mexico, to find a better life for herself and later, Carlitos, in the United States.  She leaves him with her mother, in Mexico, and illegally crosses the border.  The film covers several characters, and their adjustments living in a country that hasn’t fully accepted the rights of illegal immigrants.  During one scene in particular, Carlito is saved from a terrible situation, by a women named Reina.  Reina takes Carlito to her house, where she provides board from several working, illegal immigrants. 

                I’m sure the decision to leave her son behind, in order to provide for a better life for him, was extremely difficult.  To most cultures, family and religion are the most important aspects of life; it’s all that a person has in this world.  This is especially true in areas such as Mexico.  Rosario makes the dangerous trip across the Rio Grande River, and into Texas, all for the future of her family.  When Rosario discovers that Carlito has run away to find her, she is obviously torn on what to do next.  She decides to board a bus to go back to Mexico, only to get off the bus, ultimately finding her son in the place she’s described for years.  There are also scenes where she looks at pictures, and up at the same moon that Carlito is also looking at.  This moon is symbolic, as it represents, though they are far apart, they can find comfort knowing that the moon is still high in the sky. 

                Carlito faced many problems living in Mexico, away from his mother.  He had the pressures of his Aunt and Uncle, from his father that he’d never seen. They wanted to take him, no doubt only because of the money that his mother sent home every month.  Not having either parent in his life, was a tough issue for a nine year old boy to handle.

                Rosario faced a couple of different problems.  She struggle with not having her son, as well as not fully being accepted by the citizens and culture of the United States.  She loses her job as a home keeper, working for a lady who clearly exploits the fact that Rosario is an illegal immigrant. 

                Mothers in the United States do make similar choices, like the one Rosario did.  Many mothers make daily sacrifices for the well being of their children.  Going without the time and possessions they could have, if they were not putting their children first.  If the United States had an overall condition and financial state that Mexico has, and if Canada offered the same opportunity that the US does, yes, we would see similar plights.  Most of us are extremely fortunate to have the upbringing and optimistic futures that we experience here.  This is a reminder, that not everyone has the chances that we do.

Chris Pappas