Friday, June 4, 2010

Mexico in The Informant

The Informant, starring Matt Damon, talks about a company mischief into price fixing of lisine. In the movie, it is mentioned that they work with Mexico. In fact, the Matt Damon character proposes to his family to leave the states and relocate in Mexico. For the first time we see that Mexico is used as it should, as an important country in international world trade. Matt Damon actually goes to Mexico in the movie, but he only appears in Mexico City's airport.

I think this movie did not portrayed Mexico in a negative way. To the contrary, it was included amongst other countries as part of the whole commmerce with lisine. The movie is supposed to be based in true events.

So for once, Hollywood didn't hate Mexico.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Mexico in Terminator

Towards the end of the Terminator movie, Sarah Connor ends up hiding in Mexico in order to be away from the nuclear primary detonations of Judgement Day.

What struck me was the gas station that appears in the end of the movie. The gas station is portrayed by an old small establishment without name. In Mexico there are no gas stations like that at all. There is no chance such a view exists because in Mexico only exists one sole gas company, Pemex. All gas stations MUST be Pemex. We don't have like in the United States, where basically different companies exist. People can put gas stations, but they have to be Pemex. It's sort of a forced government franchise.

I don't understand why Hollywood does not reflect the reality of things in Mexico. I don't know how come the United States can ignore the Pemex fact especially after how they hate socialism. Americans don't even know their neighbors, how can we expect to portray them in their movies realistically.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Mexico in Sex and the City movie

The intention of this blog is to analyze from a mexican perspective how movies portray Mexico and its inhabitants. It has come to my attention that many movies and television series use Mexico in a demeaning way. There are, as there are movies, many examples where to start but I will start with something simple. Sex and the City movie.

Sex and the City movie relates the story of how Sarah Jessica Parker's character finally marries her boyfriend Big. There is a part in the story where both break up just before their wedding. Sarah Jessicas Parkers character's friends suggest to go on with the honey moon vacation in Mexico.

For me as a Mexican the first thing that struck me was that a New York girl would go on a honey moon to Baja California Sur, instead of other Mexican Caribbean beaches like Cancun or Chetumal. Now this is supposed to be the idea. But it was actually shot in a Malibu residence in California.

First, why do people have to relate Mexico with a peninsula. Maybe of tourism, you could say agreeably. But there are other cities that have far more tourism, and don't even have a waterfront, like colonial cities filled with American expats. But for some reason everything Mexican seems to happen in the peninsula composed by Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur states. One example is Tijuana, the only city apparently known to Hollywood. What would you Americans think if we would only refer to as "Americana" to Detroit or Pittsburgh. But that's another story. We see that Hollywood wants to convince the world that because of tourism in the area the Baja California peninsula is the only place in Mexico with "cities" and "hotels".

But as I said, the movie was filmed in Malibu. Why not Mexico. Costs? Well, good point. But it's not Antartica all the way down! You could see a stark difference with Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which deserves a well-written review. The latter did used real locations within Mexico. What's wrong with showing the real Mexico. If you do not show the real Mexico, you portray it, and that's what I see dangerous. Americans and enhancing their funny idea of Mexico to the rest of the world.

When they visited the said place, a friend of Sarah Jessica Parker's character refused to eat or drink anything Mexican. A fear plausible due to the American paranoia of Moctezuma's revenge, which involves disease because of eating. At the end she ended up drinking drops of water when she was taking a bath and got sick. The result is actually funny, because it reveals how people that want to watch for what they eat in Mexico actually end up sick rather than the foreigners who consume without hesitation. The movies resolves it in a funny way, but the stigma still remains at large. Question. Why do Mexicans don't get sick with their own food and drinking water? Resistance. A biologically logical answer, yes. But how come other countries that have Malaria are actually dying of Malaria. In Mexico a huge problem is Dengue, and Hollywood seems not to exploit it. People, not many, die of Dengue and is a problem for municipalities where the mosquito problem exists. But we don't die for eating a taco, which by the way is not crunchy.

There was a comment in the movie that said that it was ok to drink or eat because it was a five-star hotel. So... outside such hotels Mexicans are sickening rampantly. Not inside the hotels. Ha! If you are an American and come visit Mexico, there's a chance you die by the bullets of the all-out turf war rather than by Moctezuma's revenge.

Hollywood hates all things Mexico, or so I think

For many years I have been analyzing the television and movie American content in relation with their view of Mexico. After careful thought, I decided to create a simple blog relating the different opinions I have in how the United States media outlets view Mexico. Take into consideration that I am a Mexican, writing in Mexico. Even when my opinions may be considered biased, I think in the other hand that it is pertinent to listen to the other side which has been spoken, acted, or portrayed in movies and television programs.

I believe it is necessary to have this because of the importance and all-dominant establishment of the US programs and movies in the rising hegemonic one-world culture we are experiencing. We as Mexicans are not able to express as powerful as the Americans can through Holliwood and Television. Thus, the world can only percieve as Mexican through the distorted American eyes of the media.

I am not talking about news outlets. The way the US inform the world about Mexico is actually lacking far more of the negative side. What I am referring to is to how the US portrays Mexico in movies and television. The United States inform valiantly about thing occurring in Mexico, but is unable to portray it.

What I will do in this blog is to analyze all cases where Mexico is portrayed in the television of the cinema industries. I will refer to the different times Mexico is shown in a specific movie or television episode, and reveal the truth of what is going over here. Several years ago a German penpal thought I was still living in a hacienda with horses and donkeys. I am not saying it does not exist in Mexico, but is not generalized as many overseas might still think. And I believe all of this is caused by how Mexico is portrayed, not informed, in movies and television programs. Again, this has nothing to do with news. I am referring to the portrayal, sometimes racist or intentionally uninformed.