A critically-acclaimed documentary Cartel Land, (2015) directed and written by Matthew Heineman is a gritty, and daring tale documenting the lives of Tim Nailer Foley, and José Manuel 'El Doctor' Mireles, 2 men on 2 different fronts of the war on cartels, hell-bent on doing what their respective governments won’t and that being stopping Mexican drug cartels from plaguing their communities.. This award-winning documentary goes on placing the viewer on the frontlines showing the rough everyday lives of Mexican citizens and their fight against Mexican drug cartels.
Matthew Heineman’s use of the Canon C300 allowed for him to capture angles he otherwise couldn’t with any other camera, and made the viewer feel as they were directly on the battlefield with the fluid movement and angles that he was able to provide. The use of the Canon C300 handheld camcorder allowed Matthew Heineman to purvey to the audience an in-depth view of the horrors of the Mexican drug war. Matthew Heineman begins his saga by interviewing what appears to be a group of meth cooks in a remote location in Mexico, these meth cooks would begin to detail how they were the main meth producers in the state and they had been taught by a man and his son coming from the U.S. From the outside looking in one would begin feeling anger and
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confusion on why these men could be morally ok with pushing these drugs into the U.S and Mexico knowing their effects, that is until they share with Matthew how that wasn’t how they pictured their lives going yet they had no other opportunities to make a living. There reasoning is very similar to what may go on in low-income communities around the world, no means of income so turning to the underworld for quick and easy money. Cartel Land makes use of multiple perspectives as it displays the background of multiple victims of the war on cartels and how it has impacted them in an array of ways. It gives one disturbing detail of the Knights Templar a cartel based in Michoacan, Mexico and how they killed an group of lime pickers and kids because the owner of the lime farm couldn’t pay for the protection so the cartel killed the workers and smashed the workers babies into rocks. This being a graphic reminder of what life is like in Mexico, and giving rise to the formation to the Autodefensa a vigilante group founded by Dr. Morales. Matthew Heineman ability to capture the emotion of the film the way he does is something rare and not seen as much these days, when the Mexican military had clashed with the Autodefensa the emotion Matthew had captured from the townspeople really stood out, you could feel the anger as one woman stood in front of the crowd calling for the military to allow the autodefensas to stay and keep their guns. From her voice you can feel her pain and figure that she had been through so much, and for matthew to capture that the way he did was extraordinary. The one thing that was off putting in the documentary was Tim Nailer and his crew, while they had good intentions for wanting to fight the cartels and illegal immigration their philosophies came off as extremely xenophobic and racist.
One of the men helping tim on the arizona border had made a statement asking “Why would you put two races in the same nation and expect them to get along?” This completely takes away from the fight as it gives the the nation a reason to go against them and their fight as their ideology are completely immoral. The release of the insight of Tim’s border patrol group showed the polarity of the fronts between the Tim nailers crew vs. Dr.
Morales. While Cartel Land tells of the positives that these 2 factions present he also allows for the evils of the factions to come to light. Matthew depicts the the radical, xenophobic, and racist mindset of Tim Nailer and his crew and the corruption of the Autodefensa, this allows for an unbiased view of these two groups and shows that all thing that glitter isn’t gold. He presents the viewer with information that many would fear to show, he sheds light to political corruption of the mexican military, whom would release cartel members when they would be detained and also shown that the Mexican government included Cartel members into their government agencies. For Matthew Heineman to be able to shed of any fears of backlash and stick to the truth and not sugarcoat anything was simply amazing in itself. Matthew Heineman may was completely deserving of any accolades that he had received for cartel land, for him to be able to capture almost every aspect of the Mexican War on Cartels and shed light on the horrors that mexican citizens face on a everyday basis as result of this war is incredible, but to be able to be unbiased and take documentation while being shot at, and under immense pressure and fears of being murdered from gunfire, or retaliation is simple awe-inspiring. Cartel land is an documentary that is simply before it’s time, and gives an insightful look on the dangers of the War on Cartels.
There are many situations in the modern day where too many people cause controversy about paying college athletes. They see this as the coarse issue, but paying the athletes will not solve the big problem that you do not think about at first. Although, there are many college athletes that are struggling to get through life and a salary for their hard work will be appreciated, it just will not solve the big issue. This issue would just become worsened.
Ruben Martinez was fascinated with the tragedy of three brothers who were killed when the truck carrying them and 23 other undocumented migrants across the Mexico – United States border turned over in a high-speed chase with the U.S. Border Patrol. “Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail” is a story about crossing and life in the United States.
In Bartow Elmore’s book, “Citizen Coke: The Making of Coka-Cola Capitalism” Elmore postulates on the harm that the Coca-Cola empire has caused through their shifty rise to the dominant power they are today. Pioneered by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola has established itself into one of the most popular positively branded names across the globe. Due to lobbying as well as strong marketing ploys the Coke business has developed into a ruling presence on a foundation which has been subsidized by exploitation and disregard for natural resource. Elmore employs various explanations regarding the rise of Coke and puts together pieces of the Coca-Cola empire’s fame through a side that is often not shown. Citizen Coke provides the reader with a viewpoint behind
In Borderlands, the realities of what happens by the border instill the true terror that people face every day. They are unable to escape and trapped in a tragic situation. After reading my three classmates’ papers, I was able to learn a lot more about this piece than I originally encountered just on my own. I was able to read this piece in a completely new light and expand on ideas that I did not even think of.
One, he gives us a point of reference for someone in his difficult and turbulent time period. He was a (presumably) rich Mexican that saw the injustice of how the white American settlers treated the Mexicans that lived near them. He shows us another side of the story, beside the story that the victors would’ve shared.
The basic want for many individuals is to have a better life. Regardless of our socioeconomic status, family background, ethnicity, and so on; we are all trying to improve upon at least one facet of our current situation, in some aspect. Yet, some of toughs who live in the United States take for granted the vast opportunities presented to them. The extreme obliviousness of these individuals, gives them negative biases about immigrants, especially the numerous that cross illegally. In Crossing Arizona, it opens your eyes to the struggles of those crossing the border. Told from both sides, those effected by the illegal immigrants and the illegal immigrants themselves, you can see where the many problems lie. When watching this movie, I was appalled
The arrest of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was a victorious circumstance for the Mexican government, who have been closing down on his presence for the recent past years. Mexican authorities began taking down high ranked members of the Sinaloa Cartel including two of Guzman’s main associates. On February 22, 2014, the world’s most wanted man had also been captured. Although the biggest drug lord has been captured, the crime and violence left behind cannot be forgotten.
“The House I Live” by Eugene Jarecki is a documentary that sheds a light on America’s ongoing battle with drug abuse by encompassing multiple viewpoints from all walks of life ranging from both sides of the law and everything in between: the police officers, politicians, drug dealers, inmates, grieving parents, authors and journalists about how the war of drugs affect their lives and the lives of others. The overall purpose of the documentary was to show the war on drugs and how it has failed in the United States.
Philadelphia is the heights rat of crim in the USA over 30-40 homicides crimes per month and drug related crimes. This links in with the other text that we are looking at, the novel “Damage done” and how is shows that sometimes facts get in the way of a good story. This all promotes the current view Australia has one drugs, the way that there is supposably an ice epidemic happing. This document follows Theroux around Philadelphia’s drug action streets while he does interviews with the criminals and follows the police around finding out what is really happing out on the streets of Philadelphia. Some events that where selected to promote this view to the audiences was the interview with the street boys, showing just how carpeted Philadelphia is how they talk of “code of silence – never snitch!”. There was all so the confronting images of the dead body left in the abandoned house, from a suspected over does on ice. The drug issue in Philadelphia is represented in way that it controls the streets nothing ever happens unless its drug related. These parts have been purposely highlighted throughout the documentary to get the most dramatic message across to the views, as dose the novel. Tis representation achieves the goal of getting the message across of how street gangs and drugs are becoming to rules the streets. This message impacts and effects the way the audients sees this type of action and making them believe that it is taking place all around them. This documentary is to inform and promote the understanding of these types of actions, this is all so done with some help of filming
Martinez, Oscar. Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1994), 232.
The author is using personal experience to convey a problem to his or her audience. The audience of this piece is quite broad. First and foremost, Mexican-Americans just like the author. People who can relate to what the author has to say, maybe someone who has experienced something similar. The author also seems to be seeking out an audience of white Americans who find themselves unaware of the problem at our borders. The author even offers up a warning to white America when she notes, “White people traveling with brown people, however, can expect to be stopped on suspicion they work with the sanctuary movement”(125). The purpose of this writing is to pull out a problem that is hidden within or society, and let people see it for what it is and isn’t.
...litary group and the Zapatistas at bay, and the true power of the media becomes as glaringly clear as the conflict it can spur. On camera, the “Peace and Justice” party accuse the Zapatistas of violence. Off camera, they threaten to kill the Mexican members of the film crew.
To show how everyone can get involved in this business, it presents people from every social level in one of the world's biggest market. For example, it goes from poor Mexican cops trying to sell confidential information about the some drug dealers and risking their own lives just for money. This information was about a supposedly legit businessman Carlos Ayala. Ayala, a very well known businessman in Los Angeles, but whose only business was drug dealing and money laundering. It also includes as example the case of the anti-drugs czar's daughter, in which it represents how even the most unthinkable person can be using drugs. She is like the ideal daughter, third in her class, member of a lot of clubs in school, part of the volleyball team and volunteer in an old convalescent home. At last it concludes that the complete American society is pretty wrapped by the drug theme and it is becoming a more harmful problem.
Beith, Malcolm. (2013, September 24). The current state of Mexico's many drug cartels. CTC Sentinal
Using both English and Spanish or Spanglish the author Gloria Anzaldua explores the physical, cultural, spiritual, sexual and psychological meaning of borderlands in her book Borderlands/La Frontera: A New Mestiza. As a Chicana lesbian feminist, Anzaldua grew up in an atmosphere of oppression and confusion. Anzaldua illustrates the meaning of being a “mestiza”. In order to define this, she examines herself, her homeland and language. Anzaldúa discusses the complexity of several themes having to do with borderlands, mestizaje, cultural identity, women in the traditional Mexican family, sexual orientation, la facultad and the Coatlicue state. Through these themes, she is able to give her readers a new way of discovering themselves. Anzaldua alerts us to a new understanding of the self and the world around us by using her personal experiences.