Today I saw Once Upon A Time In Mexico. A horrible waste of a film -- mainly cliches and guns and out-of-place Depp -- but what's really getting on my nerves is how all these movies are exactly the same.
I mean, really. How many movies that go to a Mexican setting don't have the usual old man lazing around in the sun? More often than not, a sleazy-looking dark Mexican who hey, jefe, offers to sell drugs. The usual pueblo setting. But, most annoying, the Dia del Muerte.
WHY is this thing in every Mexico-set movie ever made? Is Mexico so inanely boring that you can't have a setting in the place without showing their quaint little ritual of carrying around paper-mache skulls? Are Mexicans so dull and offensive to watch that you need to see them painted up so gringos can have gun chases through the middle of the slow-moving crowd?
Now, granted, I hear there have been good films shot in Mexico. Amores Perros and Frida, though I've seen neither, come highly recommended. And this Once Upon A Time In Mexico crap did have Antonio Banderas, which should've warned me from the start (and was that disgustingly pretty Iglesias boy in there, too?). But the number of films that portray Mexico as a dusty, dirty collection of dirty pueblos and obsequious servants (hey, jefe) seem so much more widespread than any film glorifying Mexican culture, such as it is. Granted, that's made more than a little hard to do by Latin America's strict Catholic monopoly and Mexico in particular's corrupt political system, but is it so hard to make a film about Mexicans without making the women fiery-eyed spitfires, the old men lethargic, the working class greasily subservient, and the towns more than just pueblos?
I'm just so sick of the cliches. I mean, they apply here in the States, too -- I believe I know of one film of poor inner-city Latino teenagers who aren't drug dealers. Maybe I'm seperated from the mold by my half-white background and my gringo upbringing, but I can't imagine that other people are blind to this.
That's it. When I become king, I'm going to make a movie with a cunning woman anti-hero -- and she will not toss her hair, roll her hips, or blow a kiss whenever she makes a kill. The old men will be razor-sharp warriors, the young poor men idealistic scholars, and THEY'RE ALL GOING TO LIVE IN MEXICO CITY AND LISTEN TO ROCK AND ROLL. Then they'll all cross the border via the ways Mexicans know instinctively, march on Hollywood, and publically execute whoever directed this crap.
[This post was edited to get rid of gratuitous profanity. And face it, people, ALL profanity is gratuitous in Hatrack River. Next time I see a post with it, the entire post will be deleted.]
[ September 15, 2003, 08:14 AM: Message edited by: KathrynHJanitor ]
Posted by Lalo (Member # 3772) on :
I'll give this for the film, though. Electric-guitar mariachi. It's much better than the title would suggest, and I'm very tempted to buy the soundtrack.
Posted by Risuena (Member # 2924) on :
Eddie, I don't know where you're looking for movies, but I know of plenty that don't fit the stereotypes you're talking about, but the problem with movies is if they're not set in a small town, they're in Mexico City. To me, that's almost as big a cliché.
Also, I'd suggest you watch movies made in Mexico (although Rodriguez and some of his cast are Mexican, the movie's from hollywood, obviously). Amores perros, Y tu mamá tambien, Amarte duele (if you can find it), and El Crimén del Padre Amaro are all good movies (and most of them star Gael García Bernal...hmmm).
And I agree it's hard to come up with good movies about innercity teenagers - I can only think of two - Almost a Woman, about a puerto rican girl growing up in NYC in the 50s or 60s and also Raising Victor Vargas about a Dominican family in NYC.
Posted by Erik Slaine (Member # 5583) on :
Isn't Halloween the only holiday in Mexico?
You didn't mention Under the Volcano. At least that film had Albert Finney being the most convincing drunk I've ever seen....
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
It's because 90% of Americans who have been to Mexico have only been to Tijuana. OK - maybe Mexicali, but nowhere else.
(Cancun, PV, and Cozumel do not count as going to Mexico. They're just satellites of America where you can buy Cuban cigars)
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Television and the movies never lie. Clearly, Eddie, you just don't know the real Mexico.
Also, Taco Bell is authentic Mexican food and all Mexicans drive slouched back in the driver's seat of their bouncy cars with only the top buttons of their shirts buttoned.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Well, at least Grim Fandango was cool.
-Bok
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
Mexicans are good for something besides kooky festivals and drunken stereotypes?