Cocalero

Cocalero follows Evo Moralez during his 2005 campaign for president of Bolivia.  This movie highlights the evolving political situation in the Andean nations.  Coupling a young democratic government with oppression and depravity gives a proportionally large group a great chance for success.  In Cocalero, the coca farmers of the Andes region are in the face of US eradication support, but rally together in coca unions.  This movie has a sense of retaliation, perhaps revolution albeit tame, by the coca growers in an effort to gain rights and representation in government.  Coming from a cocalero background, Evo Moralez aims to improve coca farmers’ rights in Bolivia. 

The 1990 and 1992 Ecuadorian Indian movements are similar to the 2005 movement in Bolivia.  In the 1990 movement, as in the film, the Indians employed simple measures to halt all transportation and logistics within the country.  Les Field comments that this action “[revealed] the country’s dependence on native farmers” due to “certain spot shortages of certain products” (39).  This kind of tactic emphasizes the unexpected intelligence of Latin America, which recognizes its logistical dependence on agricultural production.  Just as the other large trends in Latin America have followed, Ecuador followed a different venue for the issue of workers’ rights.  In Ecuador in 1992, concern over land, particularly the forests, stemmed from a belief that all of the contested lands belong to the Indians. 

The cause of the uproar among Indians in Ecuador, as in Bolivia, revolves around the land, partially related to oil.  Beginning with seismic petroleum exploration in a region of the rain forest and n indigenous blockade of the single airstrip in the area, which prevented the explorers from leaving, indigenous people feared colonization and petroleum development on their land (Sawyer 69).  The indigenous sought political means to their communal ownership of land.  They argued that their agricultural production, on their ancestral lands, was in the best interest of preserving the rain forest (Sawyer 71).  Sawyer’s article quotes unidentified indigenous people saying, “We manage…the lungs of the world and the patrimony of all living species on the planet” (71).  This kind of mentality is used by Evo in the film to justify his background as a coca farmer.  He says the coca leaf is, according to a Harvard University study, one of the healthiest substances on the earth.  Using an American college’s study to promote his political agenda to end American imperialism and capitalism is odd, to say the least.

            The political urgency seen in the farmers in Cocalero is one of fear, fear of losing that which supports their livelihood.  In order to avoid the same oppression in other Andean countries, such as the events outlined in Les Field’s article.  Indigenous farmers sought to prevent the influx of mestizo farmers and stop the attempts of American missionaries, who sought to “civilize” the indigenous (43).  It makes sense that Evo Morales and his campaign “team” chose to wear traditional indigenous clothing and listen to the wishes and needs of the people.  

La virgen de los sicaros

La virgen de los sicaros takes places in what is presumably the 1990s in Colombia, a country reeling from the drug cartels’ influence.  The film occurs after the cartels have left; this absence has an unexpected inverse consequence.  Whereas the reduction of criminal organizations should reduce crime significantly, armed conflict persisted.  The 1990s mark a distinct transition in Colombia.  In general, the conflict changes from drug trafficking, and the search for greater profit, to political killing aimed to influence voting results as well as maintain order.  The two articles by Ricardo Vargas and Forrest Hynton relate these ideas. 

            While the film provides a posthumous view of the conflict, Ricardo Vargas’s article highlights the cultural phenomena of life among drugs cartels.  He writes, “…there is the strongest development of private armed groups that act parallel to those of the state” in areas of agricultural production (110).  Their actions primarily involved killing or displacing individuals.  One instance, which took place in the Santa Marta area, involved the displacement of 4,000 peasants and the disappearance of 20 others (115).  These kinds of large scale crimes send a message to all of Colombia quickly; violence is not a bad thing, but a means to achieve success.  There is also a shift in norms among citizens of Colombia.  “When a trafficker attempts to ‘legalize’ his situation but buying land and acquire legitimacy by supporting those who promote ‘order’ in the community” as Vargas states his illicit activity is overlooked and accepted (123).  Ricardo Vargas even proclaims one drug trafficker, Jose Cuesta, “as someone willing to resolve disputes, filling the void left by an absent state” (113).  The results of years of economic benefit from drug trafficking are evident in the apartment left to Fernando by his relative who used to do drugs.  It is also evident in the number of out of work hired guns remaining in the streets of Medellin.

            Much of this drug trade killing was preceded by political killings.  Liberal/Conservative conflict escalated into violence, especially during La Violencia.  After the assassination of Jorge Gaitan, a president from the Liberal Party, the face of the police changed greatly.  Forrest Hylton’s writing states “that Conservative ‘civil police’ replaced Liberal police in 1947-48, and were then organized into a professional force of political assassins in 1949-1950” (43).  It is amazing that Colombia’s democracy survived for so long.  They elected presidents for years amongst assassinations and revolutions.  The election process stemmed from the electoral division of Colombian land.  The “conquest of territory – the accumulation of land, livestock, and coffee – was the goal, and killing obeyed a sinister calculus of pain and cruelty” (44).  This land-war translate into the 1980s and 90s as cocaine exporters take a informal control of Colombia.  To be blunt, the complete absence of any social power in La virgin de los sicaros is astonishing.  One would expect some police to intervene at some point; therefore this element is hard to believe.  

A Clear and Present Danger...to my grades.

Cocaine Cowboys, the story of cocaine trafficking from Latin America to Florida, details the techniques, reasons, and effects of the influx of drugs to Miami.  Now, this film only popularizes the drug dealing/trafficking lifestyle sought after by audiences.  Scarface falls into the category of this movie, but it offers a grounded, on-the-streets view of these criminal organizations.  The movie only mentions briefly action taking place in Latin America.  There lies the root of the issue of drug trafficking. 

During the early 1960s, the cocaine trade “consolidated itself into more systematic growing processing, and smuggling circuits” (Gootenberg 135).  The United States saw a shift from marijuana importing to cocaine.  In response, Washington began a “war on drugs” with the assistance of local armies.  The United States falls under criticism of “collateral damage” in Coletta A. Youngers’ article.  She says, “the counternarcotics mission provides the military with a task that is likely to lead to human rights abuses, and the “confidential” nature of counterdrug programs further exacerbates patterns of impunity” (127).  The United States’ method to combating the drug trade was to train and equip military groups.  Youngers highlights the issue of American-trained soldiers enacting tactical maneuvers, but the greater need was for human-rights training, as well as maintaining criminal rights and following proper investigative procedures. 

Delving further into the drug trade, we find heavy involvement by United States’ agencies.  The Department of Defense and Southern Command were creating stronger military control in these Andean countries; the same countries which were once under oppressive regimes.  These countries also relied heavily on the economic success of the cocaine trade.  This national view extended towards the drug cartel and counternarcotics.  In the film, we see reports of Colombian social order, specifically in regards to the Medellin cartel.  The narrator says towns in Colombia are filled with drug traders and facilitators.  Delegating the “war on drugs” is like leaving a child to babysit infants.  Combining the view of corrupt policemen from Cidade de Deus and the under-funded police from Bus 174, there seems to be a negative view of police in Latin America.  It seems causal that the U.S. was forced to enlist the assistance of Latin American militaries, as well as other gray line methods. 

The article “The Contras, Cocaine, and Covert Operations” addresses instances of CIA involvement in the counter-revolution in Nicaragua, including funding through drug money.  These seemingly “guerilla” tactics are reminiscent of the Cold War era analyses.  There is an instance that a National Security Council aide wanted to use money from a cartel to fund the contras but failed to gain permission.  It is possible that the boom in drug traffic was allowed to progress for some time.  A tipping point, just as in the movie at the Dadeland Mall shooting, caused it to attract violence and further, more publicized control.

Bus 174

            Bus 174 is a documentary about a hostage taker in Rio de Janeiro and his life up to his death.  While the film seems a straight forward storytelling of a street kid and the horrors of his youth, adding historical context provides a glimpse into the reasons and social situations of Latin American cities in general.  The readings complementing Bus 174 are The Heart That Bleeds, which provides a cultural view of the arts in Mexico City during the late 1900s, I Saw a City Invincible, which steps back and views social change in major Latin American urban centers, and The Drive-by Victim, which tells the story of a theft in the streets of Bogota.

            The Heart That Bleeds is written by a traveler in Mexico who provides commentary on social issues.  Some of the essay may be utilized to explain the situation Sandro faces as a street kid in Latin America.  While there is little direct relation between the events of the film and Bus 174, the two timelines are contemporary and serve to generalize a social environment.  The Heart That Bleeds depicts living conditions of the, distinction here, renting people, who stay in “old-fashioned, high-ceilinged rooms…crowded with bunk beds stacked as many as five high” (241).  These cramped spaces are exponentially worsened in government funded spaces, such as the jail in which Sandro lived.  In addition to living quarters, the author’s study of mariachi and the impact of a modern subway line in Mexico City attributes itself to the life of a street kid.  Shown in Bus 174, a major source of income for these kids is performing on the streets of Rio de Janeiro for commuters.  This impact of modernization further restricts avenues for success just as the mass urbanization of the early 1900s did.

            I Saw a City Invincible’s greatest complement to Bus 174 is the social impact of the arts on inner city kids.  Capoeira, a form of martial arts similar to dancing, is mentioned in the film alongside the epidemic of huffing.  These two activities are far different in their purpose.   The author writes that dancing, in general, is “also one of the most inclusive activities in societies that for so long and in subtle ways have segregated the rich from the poor” (23).  Sandro’s participation is explained by a school teacher, who plays a drum in the instrumental portion of capoeira.  Accompanying this urban form of dancing is the practice of huffing glue.  These street kids are included in capoeira, yet they distance themselves from the wealthy involved through their addiction. 

            The Drive-by Victim is an alternate story of criminals which manages to pull at one’s heart strings.  Sympathizing with the criminals is a leap most are unwilling to take.  Bus 174 on the surface is a theft gone wrong and a lunatic seeking an audience.  Only through a deep history of the life of Sandra do Nascimento is insight gained to the horrors he has experienced.  The life as a street kid, including the Candelaria Massacre, his time in juvenile detention, as well as the cramped corners of prison, and the murder of his mother lend reasoning and justification to his actions, especially in Latin American, where the social structure does not provide as much assistance to the poor.

Industrialization and Urbanization in Cidade de Deus

Cidade de Deus reflects enormous sociopolitical change in Rio de Janeiro.  During the Cold War, as U.S. attention focused internally, Latin American countries began to produce formerly imported goods.  Industrialization, and more pertinently urbanization resulted, causing many former slaves to migrate into Rio de Janeiro.  Although, as Oliviera writes, “the concentration of blacks in Rio de Janeiro preceded industrialization,” urbanization was already occurring (75).  As richer white Brazilians migrated outwards to the suburbs, rapid black urbanization filled the residential areas in Rio (Oliviera 75).  The film’s creators casted all African-Brazilians; some were straight from the acting programs of urban Brazil, for its cast of favelados (Hart 205). 

After centuries of conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the former established low-income housing in an area proximal to a new industrial center, rapidly increasing population density in the favelas.  Cidade de Deus’ plot is told on two timelines, the 1960’s and the 1970’s, and the backgrounds of the two times are remarkably different.  Urban areas have gotten larger and denser, and criminal, as well as drug, activity has increased greatly.  Unfortunately, not all migrating blacks gained employment in the city.  Julio Cesar Pino’s work indicates the amount of available labor producing economic input declined as urbanization increased (20).    Leaving many immigrants unemployed, similar to Chicago and New York at the turn of the 20^th century, creates a dominant subculture insistent on financial success by criminal means.  Now, Cidade de Deus’ depiction of life in the favela in Rio de Janeiro is contrary to Pino’s opening argument that the “notions of the favelado as street urchin, hustler, scavenger, and criminal have persisted for at least a half century.  The truth is more complicated but no less dramatic” (18).  Pino’s final argument is a matter of honest employment among three major favelas in Brazil.  This notion of honest employment is de-emphasized in Cidade de Deus.  Only a handful of individuals work honest jobs, and the movie’s creators position these few to become victims to the street crime in the favelas. 

Knockout Ned’s conversion from his (only spoken of) life in the favela of the 1960’s to working the bus fares in the 70’s and then his life of crime in Carrot’s gang represents the effect of gang activity.  It is possible to draw a causal pattern  beginning with the urbanization of the 20^th century, to widespread unemployment (or lack of), and finally to a criminal culture in the favelas, like Cidade de Deus.  Stephen Hart’s analysis of the film addresses the societal structure of the favelas and the gangs’ impact on Rio.  Hart writes that the “other side of the tracks” viewpoint of the city signifies the alternate governing body within the favela (205).  Li’l Ze’s rules, compared to those of Knockout Ned, portray him as the ruler of the shanty town.  Ned’s rule for no innocents to be killed is an ill-fated one; his best laid plans are ruined and result in his death.  Li’l Ze’s choice to accept the life of a criminal prolongs his existence, and only upon overthrow from those he abused does he fall from power. 

“Fight and you’ll never survive. Run and you’ll never escape,” said the narrating Rocket.  It rings true for all except a small minority.  A government decision to relocate all those seeking low income housing coupled with boundaries against advancement, such as unemployment and economic inequality, created the environment for Cidade de Deus, an environment where an honest dollar was harder to gain than a dirty one and a gun was easier to get than a camera.

Che and His Big Dreams

Che Part 1 presents the tactics of the guerrilla fighters of the Cuban Revolution appropriately.  This movie depicts the beginning of the revolution in its smaller stages of fighting to the later urban conflicts.  One main notion that Guevara emphasizes in his writings is the existence of the revolution.  He writes in his Guerilla Warfare: A Method that it is not necessary for all conditions to be present for a revolution to succeed.  There is something at work far beyond the capabilities of men or the number of guns.  Che writes that a combination of circumstances in Latin American countries leave them prone to revolution, and he says, “The dictatorship tries to function without resorting to force so we must try to oblige it to do so, thereby unmasking its true nature as the dictatorship of the reactionary social classes.”  Che: Part 1 portrays this idea when the fighters are strategizing an attack plan.  Fidel decides against attacking a supply truck, because the army can, without show of force, deny its existence and the existence of guerrilla presence.  Che of the film goes further with his plan at his UN speech.  He essentially calls out other Latin American countries for their atrocities possibly in an effort to stir feelings around the continent. 

What this film fails to show is Che’s revolutionary ideology in nations outside of Cuba, such as his actions in Bolivia and his thoughts toward other nations.  Che Guevara’s Message to the Tricontinental begins by analyzing the situations of Vietnam, Africa, and other Latin American countries.  Even before the Cuban conflict, as depicted in the film, Che asks Fidel if it is possible for his revolution to be taken to the rest of Latin American.  The distinction between Fidel and Che’s goals and means spells the difference in their ideology.  Fidel, as in the movie, recognizes the importance of the politics in a political-military conflict.  Che, opposed to the Cuban native Fidel, was against affiliation with other nationalist groups, if their views differed from those of the guerrilla group.  The largest disparity between Che’s and Fidel’s ideas is the breadth of their revolution. 

Che, through his travels, is empowered to take the Cuban Revolution to the rest of Latin America.  The movie shows this in the sectioned balcony scene.  His Message to the Tricontinental summarizes his hatred of imperialism and capitalism, labeling the existing social structure of Cuba as feudalism.  Consisting of indebted laborers and few landowners who each own large parcels of land, Che aims to redistribute land to all Cubans.  Che’s Message fulfills his previously written Guerrilla Warfare: A Method.  He, just like the gun-battles in the jungle, attempts to unmask the horrors of the ruling bourgeois, but this cannot be done without the lower class and their ingrained hatred of the upper class.  In Che: Part 1, we see the final evolutionary stage of the lower class.  The Cuban revolution gave each poor Cuban an opportunity to better himself, a situation he or she had never once had. 

Che’s final words before his death, summarized to mean: this revolution is more than a man, and killing me will not end anything, affirm is established tactics.  He required his column in the jungles of Cuba to be educated  This is purposefully done in order to build a fighting force which understands what it is fighting for and does not confuse it for the person in command.  This mindset, which Guevara seeks to instill in his fighters is to be the driving force of their will to fight and die for Cuba.

            Motorcycle Diaries details the onset of Ernesto Guevara’s revolution.  The historical messages to leave this film with are the reasons for Che’s revolution and his overall view of life and equality.  Coupled with the readings for this week, the movie Che, initially portrayed as an middle class medical student, who lies his way across Latin America, witnesses the atrocities of his continent. 

Throughout Diaries, there is a disparity between the wealthy and the poor.  What would a Marxist revolutionary film be without it?  Alas, due to the United States’ influence over Latin America’s production and policy, the Marxist ideals of the growing middle class emphasize opportunity and equality above all.  Diaries displays this in the mining company and the leper colony.  Guevara recognizes an immense problem in Latin American society.  He tries to fix it with whatever is at his disposal, for example the fifteen dollars and his asthma medication.  It is apparent that Che realizes that these issues are larger than him and he does not have access to the required solutions. 

Paulo Drinot criticizes Diaries’ Peruvian oil company scene.  She states that the larger problem in Peru at the time of Guevara’s trip was “the deep racial prejudice that underpins the country’s entrenched inequalities” (118).  Drinot declares the movie Che’s line, that the Peruvians believed the Indians should live and only just, as a “melodramatic device” to show Guevara’s changing social view and the beginning of his anger at the bourgeoisie. 

Eduardo Elena parallels the Peronist era in Argentina and Guevara’s trip.  If memory serves, before Che leaves his home, he mentions something of his father and a revolution, in a mocking manner.  This may allude that Guevara’s father was a Peronist, a political group which favored nationalism (Elena 22).  In contrast to his father, who wished for him to stay and finish his medical schooling, Che leaves on his continental journey.  This presents us a new stage in Latin American history, one from nationalism to revolution.  Eduardo Elena argues that “the guerilla-traveler attempted to lead a revolution among a largely indigenous population about whom he knew almost nothing” (48).  This is entirely possible; Che’s migratory lifestyle may have expanded the reach of his message but it would also reduce the efficacy.  

Marxist Ideology in Cuba

The movie, Soy Cuba, was first released in 1964 and known for its unique camera movements.  It, like Que Viva Mexico, is told in a set of stories.  Whether these stories connect is irrelevant, but this method allows a filmmaker to present his or her message across place and time more easily.  Soy Cuba shows viewers the impact that the United States had on Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution in 1959.  Since the film was initially released five years after the revolution, it most likely was intended to be a voice for pro-socialism in entertainment. Loosely, each story is another telling of Americans taking what is most cherished by the Cubans in different facets of Cuban life, while Cubans are left with nothing but growing hatred

Prior to revolution, the United States consumed 3/4^th of the export revenue of Cuba (Chasteen 268).  In addition to importing Cuban products, the United States also invested in many sugar mills, farms, and communication companies (Chasteen 268).  This influx of money and power created an elite, richer class of Cubans.  In fact, the United States supported the dictatorship of Batista (Chasteen 267).  In Soy Cuba, the United States’ presence is blatant in the first story, through the Americans in the club; the second story, portrayed by the landowner’s deal with the United Fruit Company; and the third story, through the U.S. sailors.  An increasing social desire for equality and redistribution of wealth begins to shape in Cuba around the time of this film.

Causing this inequality of wealth is the structure of Cuba’s economy.  Susan Eckstein’s article describes the trends in the Cuban economy as expanding and contracting with export opportunities (503).  Soy Cuba’s second story highlights Cuba’s monoproduct export dependence.  This dependence on a single export coupled with the United States’ need for inexpensive sugar cane resulted in corporations, such as the United Fruit Company of the film, purchasing land from farmers.  Realizing his already poor future has been nullified, the farmer burns the new property of the United Fruit Company, thus enacting a no-win scenario, a very Cold War feeling. 

The third and fourth stories show two sides of the Cuban revolution.  Growing popularity of Marxist, and Leninist, ideology in Cuba was most prominent among “outspoken students” in Cuban universities (Chasteen 264).  These ideals apply themselves to the economy and wealth of Cuba as well as the social disparity common to Latin American countries.  Instead of segregating themselves by color or race, Cubans were looking beyond this and discovering large disparities between the powerful and the poor.  Revolutionaries, and most likely all Cubans, recognized the ties between wealthy Cubans and the US-backed imperialism and sought to stop it.  

Que Viva Mexico

                Latin America, in the early 1900’s, was a land of fighting and revolution.  Latin America experienced its revolution as a natural link to progression.  Sergei Eisenstein’s unfinished film, Que Viva Mexico!, presents Mexico’s progress.  The progression from primitive to revolutionary remained centuries behind the United States, but the cost was more severe.

                The plot of Eisenstein’s film traces the progression of Mexico’s liberation as a unified people.  Eisenstein filmed snapshots of architecture and a funeral ceremony by indigenous, supposedly, Mexicans to begin the film at the roots of Mexico’s history.  The viewer is led to believe this solemn scene represents the exploitation and sorrow of many indigenous Latin Americans.  The scene is drawn out for cinematic appeal, perhaps in an effort to emphasize the dying out of indigenous race/culture and the introduction of a mixed mestizo race, the middle class. 

Eisenstein’s second novella develops political intentions of Mexico further.  The dowry scene alludes to a happier, more optimistic life.  Full of love, and European tradition, Concepcion finally obtains her last gold coin and will be able to marry Abundio.  This process, essentially a woman buying her in-laws’ permission to wed, signifies a point in Latin American history when women were devalued and devoid of status.  Whether Eisenstein intended to portray this scene as true love or something less romantic is unsure, but it stands as a prevalent moment in Latin American history.

                The third novella features Catholic-themed or inspired events.  Festivals and bullfighting, all in the honor of the Holy Virgin, are a continuance of religious and gender conflict in Que Viva Mexico.  Chris Robe’s article points out that religion in this film is portrayed as being used as a fuel for revolution.  He makes note of participants in a supposedly Catholic holiday dressed as pagan gods and conquerors and believes this to be subversion of the Catholic tradition, of which Eisenstein sought to mock its function in oppression and subsequent revolution.  While it is true that religion plays a small role in the entire film, Eisenstein’s unfinished work fails to connect the symbolism of the novellas. 

                The fourth novella is the most substantive and analogical of the five that were filmed.  It captures the oppression of the lower to middle class and its result.  This novella was shot in a straight forward manner.  It told a story from a single perspective, and therefore was the easiest to follow and analyze.  Stephen M. Hart surmises that “a highly choreographed sequence of shots [compares] the sap from the maguey cactus with the workers’ blood” (21).  The sap is seen as the lifeblood of a, as revealed later, revitalized Mexico; it is fermented by the poor and given to the rich.  Both rich and poor, Iberian and native, Mexicans died for it to become a reality.  In this novella, generalizing the characters and points of significance, the film suggests an oppressed, over-worked middle class seeking basic rights and privileges from the wealthy landowning elite.  The elites, in turn, respond with disdain, rape, assault, and harm toward the less fortunate, all the while reaping the fruits of their labor.

                Eisenstein’s final novella features a post-revolution look at Mexico.  The novella not filmed, Soldadera, in conjunction with the final, The Day of the Dead, feature both women and children, respectively.  Both of these novellas show the remains of years of fighting and conflict.  Mexico leaves behind a younger mixed, mestizo, population, the kind which is devoid of race and class conflict.

Gabriela and Sociology

            Gabriela, a Latin film about a young working girl and her relationship with her boss, provides a scene for the study of criminology in Latin America during the early 1900’s.  Prior to the turn of the century, crime, especially adultery, was explained as the work of demons, witches or otherworldly happenings.  Any offender was sentenced to death, similar to Camila in last week’s blog.  As medieval criminological theories waned, several theorists found a trend in physical characteristics of criminals.  Using measurable data of the human body, criminologists developed a theory of crime called positivism.  In Gabriela, the social environment of Brazil is a complete contrast from any other before positivism. 

            In Gabriela, the filmmaker provides a social setting with a before and after contrast.  The before is that of female promiscuity punished by violence and is commonly accepted.  This changes as Latin America pushes for modernization and progression as a people.  Caulfield writes that Latin societies sought “to resemble those of white, industrialized Europe” (149).  Specific emphasis is placed on “racial improvement,” and there was a lack of importance on politics and desires of the population (Caulfield 149).  Gabriela depicts the women of the film to be full of lust and passion, seeking the admiration of men all around.  Susan Besse says in her article, that women had their eyes open to the hypocrisy of men, and now that they were opened, they resolved to take justice into their own hands.  Not in this movie; in Gabriela, Gabriela takes her life into her own hands.  She experiences her freedom through sexuality, innocently at first and more serious later. 

            This push for freedom and progression leads to Latin America’s version of the flapper.  In the 1920’s in Latin America, Caulfield writes, “young girls and matrons frolicked shamelessly on public beaches in scandalous attire” (146).  These new women portrayed in the movie through Gabriela, as well as others.  Gabriela enjoys her beauty and her freedom in the bar, whilst flirting with the patrons.  Nacib becomes jealous, and in trying to keep her caged up after a lecture, she flees into the bed of her lover.  A response to behavior like this, the Vida Policial argues, is “vigilance over female activities by male authorities”(Caulfield 153).  Like all peoples, freedom is highly sought by those under close supervision.

            Gabriela is a great sociological movie, offering a parallel to movies such as The Great Gatsby.  Frivolous women and over-bearing men, as well as love scenes and their crimes of passion, consume this time in history.  Women finding their sexuality and their place apart from the role men prescribe during this time had huge impacts on both American and Latin American culture.  

La Ultima Cena

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s film, La Ultima Cena, tells the story of a sugar cane farm’s owner recreating The Last Supper with twelve of his African slaves.  This film gives a glimpse to the rights of slaves in the Americas.  They were treated just as machinery and equipment are today.  The idea of “run it until it quits, and then get another one” applies to the African slave population of the Americas justly.  If more output was needed, then it was purchased and employed.  In La Ultima Cena, the count intends to purchase a new horizontal sugar mill, which will increase the farm’s output.  When the sugar mill “manager” mentions that more raw sugar cane is needed to match the new mill’s production, the count simply mentions that he can always buy more slaves. 

La Ultima Cena touches on the topic of slaves attaining freedom.  Kirsten Schultz’ essay addresses the introduction of freed slaves into society.  During this time, citizens held debates over the citizenship of slaves, stating that a slave seeking citizenship and the right to vote should possess a trade skill or occupation (Schultz).  Similarly, in Alea’s film, the elderly slave, Pascual is joyful when he receives his freedom, but soon sours.  He comes to realize that the only life he knows is slavery, and his freedom carries with it, poverty and despair.  The hope for a future life outside of slavery caused despair for many slaves.  It was only compounded by those behind the whip.

John Mraz makes a distinction among those in power on these farms.  “The owners were usually absent, and mayorales were commonly white and sadistic…”  This is a truth in La Ultima Cena.    La Ultima Cena is a story of a slave-owner turned savior who, very tongue-in-cheek, treats his slaves to a foot washing and a large meal.  The count’s behavior contrasts that of Don Manuel, as well as historical Cubans.  In the film, Don Manuel is ruthless in the performance of his sugar cane fields.  Whether it is to meet the demand of the sugar mill or a general lack of concern for his labor force, Don Manuel disobeys the priest’s request and the count’s orders and wakes the slaves for another day of work.  Don Manuel ignores his boss’ command concerning Pascual’s freedom, dismissing it as a drunken mistake.  This move would seem to be foolish, but slaves were regarded as dispensable and replaceable.  Any laws concerning slaves was ridiculed and ignored (Mraz).  The count initiated the hunt and murder of the twelve slaves involved in the dinner, seeming to banish all emotional ties and assuming the role of the deceased Don Manuel.  Historical accounts suggest a slave in Cuba had precedent to repel his/her treatment.  Slaves’ rights and legal protection of those rights were very common in Cuba and other Iberian colonies (de la Fuente).  These rights are not to the level of rights citizens in the U.S. are given, but they were simple matters of survival and treatment.  In John Mraz’ article, he agrees with the punishment of the slaves during and after the rebellion.  

Week 1 The Mission

The Mission, released in 1986, tells a story of Jesuit missionaries sharing the gospel with an indigenous tribe, the Guarani. A group of Guaranís, in an effort to escape forced labor, flee to the highlands of a plateau in the area where Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet.  In director Roland Joffe’s movie, Father Gabriel is inspired by the Guarani within his community and their love for music and seeks out the Guarani of the plateau in order to spread the word of the Lord and bring culture to the natives.  Historically, Iberian culture impacted groups such as the Guarani both spiritually and economically.  The Guarani were self-sufficient, but their lifestyle was not made easy by slave traders.  The missions set up by the Jesuits, such as San Carlos in the movie, provided a sanctuary for the Guarani.  In The Mission, the Jesuits brought with them only the gospel and love for their fellow man.  Their induction into indigenous culture proved to be quite simple.

With a simple oboe song, Father Gabriel is able to avoid the Guarani’s wrath, which sent a Jesuit colleague of his to his death.  In a second act of kindness to the Guarani, Father Gabriel orders Rodrigo Mendoza, a Spanish mercenary, to leave the Guarani alone, further making this of a loosely historical film, but solidifying a character arc and a prime conflict.  Nevertheless, this conflict between the Jesuits and Indian hunters is quite grounded.  Tribes like the Guarani did seek refuge from oppressors in these missions.  Protected by the Catholic Church, a mission protected Indians from forced labor, but work was still in demand.  The Mission deviates from historical accounts pertaining to economic production in indigenous communities.  The Guaraní’s’ religious affairs were no less simple.

                In The Mission, the Guarani, in their perfect world, appear to accept Christianity wholly and quickly.  This is the film’s largest inaccuracy.  The Guarani believed in magical spirit powers, and their clergy consisted of native religious practitioners, or shamans.  In some cases, their religious leaders taught against Jesuits, encouraging the Guarani to leave the missions and flee.  Historically, Jesuits employed persuasion and rewards to gain Guarani followers.  The indigenous people were in need of iron tools to improve their agriculture, which the Jesuits were glad to provide.  In The Mission, the Jesuits almost immersed themselves into the Guarani culture, contrary to the historical opposite, providing little to no improvements to the indigenous way of life.  Only in the final battle scene did we see European warfare employed by the Guarani.  As seen in the movie, real missions did subject their residents to economic regulation.  At San Carlos, the Guarani gave back ninety percent of what they earned, and at San Miguel, their earnings were split evenly among everyone.

                In the end, the introduction of European religion and technology to the indigenous people of Latin America brought with it both success and substantially more conflict.  The constant change of power across the Atlantic impacted life in the highlands of South America and caused many indigenous people to lose both their homes and their lives.  Director Rolland Joffe’s film, The Mission, accurately emphasizes the impact of Europeans on the indigenous, but erroneously depicts the difficulty involved in mixing two opposite cultures.