The 1985 Argentine film La Historia Oficial, directed by Luis Puenzo, is truly deserving of its academy award. The film is set in Argentina in the 1980s, during the last years of a military dictatorship that killed and tortured thousands of its own people who did not agree with their radical polices. The film has many underlying themes especially regarding government-sponsored terrorism, classroom politics and the authority of certain texts. However, one theme is represented again and again throughout the film. The theme that “machismo” will reign supreme in the relationship between males and females, and males in political aspect in the country of Argentina. Men had to hold all the authority in the household and all aspects of life, including …show more content…
running the country. There are many scenes in this film that support this thesis, but one in particular that exemplifies this. In the film La Historia Oficial a schoolteacher named Alicia lives with her husband, Roberto with their young daughter Gabby, in Buenos Aires.
Alicia teaches her class the strict word of the government because it is mandated by the schools and her husband, Roberto, is a government agent. The main conflict in the film is between Alicia and Roberto. Their daughter, Gabby is adopted and as she gets older her Alicia continually wants to find her parents. Her husband Roberto does not agree with Alicia’s plans. However, Alicia finds out that more than likely Gabby’s parents were killed because they had differing views than the government and were put to death to be silenced. Throughout the film Roberto must exercise his “machismo” nature over Alicia. In one particular scene, Alicia meets a social worker named Sara, Sara believes that she is Gabby’s real grandmother. When he takes Sara home to meet Roberto, Roberto is furious and assaults Alicia. Just because Alicia introduces him to someone who he wanted to not think about, he assaults Alicia very badly, slamming her hand in between a door. During the assault scene, he is trying to show his dominance over Alicia, because she went behind his back to try to find Gabby’s real
parents. At one point in the film Roberto buys a baby doll for his daughter Gabby. While some viewers might not take much away from Roberto’s purchase of the doll there is symbolism as right before Roberto assaults Alicia, the baby doll is shown. In my opinion the baby doll is shown to symbolize that Roberto will never respect Alicia and Gabby, treating them like babies forever. When he treats his wife and daughter like this he is demeaning them and showing of his “machismo” over them. According to Thomas J. Blommers, “Roberto treats his wife in much the same way he treats a child (2).” At the conclusion of this scene Gabby calls the house, breaking up the altercation. As Roberto picks up the phone, Alicia scurries away into the other room. In his final display of “machismo” he lies to both his mother and his daughter about what he has been doing to his wife. They both assume that nothing is wrong, when clearly Roberto is abusing his own wife. Another display of Roberto disrespecting the women in his life. According to Judy Stone, “It is machismo’s relationship to lies and violence that is of particular interest in La historia oficial because it is used extensively to reveal the character of Roberto” (4). In conclusion, the concept of “machismo” will reign supreme in the relationship between males and females, and males in political aspect in the country of Argentina is very apparent and is particularly apparent in the scene where Roberto assaults his wife Alicia. He assults his wife, treats her like an infant and lies to his very own daughter and mother about what he has done.
One day, Alicia was informed that her brother had been hanged. After Zachary’s death, Alicia was befriended by a woman named Bella. She met many good friends in the ghetto, including a future friend as well as savior, Milek. Months later, Alicia and several other people were rounded up and sent to a prison in Chortkov. Here the conditions were very poor.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
Many countries have the pleasure of celebrating Independence Days. These historic holidays are filled with nationalistic celebrations and delicious traditional food. In Chile, the natives celebrate their break from Spain with Fiestas Patrias. In Mexico, the president begins the celebration by ringing a bell and reciting the “Grito de Dolores” and he ends his speech by saying “Viva Mexico” three times.
The movie La Jaula de Oro, is a life story of a journey of three kids from Guatemala to the United States. In the movie there are three kids Sara, Samuel, and Juan, they first embark on the journey through Mexico. When they first arrive to Chiapas, the kids put on a play to collect money for food, after the play Sara befriends this boy named Chauk. Who is an indigenous boy from Tzotzil, and also plans to get to America, and convinces them to come join the group. This group of kids is put through a lot during the film, it’s a very interesting journey for 4 kids to experience. This film shows the struggles and difficulties immigrants succumb and sheds some light into the harsh realities of what people don’t think about when they hear the word
José Antonio Villarreal’s Pocho does a superb job of dealing with both the common coming of age narrative and the tensions faced by Latino Americans. Richard Rubio attempts to remain individualistic throughout his life but struggles with what that means within the confines that his heritage and society structure him into. Characters ebb and flow through his life, each having certain standards, expectations or ideals predetermined about him. Richard attempts to cast off and ignore the pressures they place on him, and instead forage his own path for what his future is to look like. I believe that the conflict between his family’s Mexican heritage and his American home is what forces Richard to actively pursue, and even fight, for his individuality.
Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is focused on the hyper-masculine culture of the Dominican, and many argue that his portrayal of the slew of women in the novel is misogynistic because they are often silenced by the plot and kept out of the narration (Matsui). However, Diaz crafts strong women, and it is society that views them as objects. The novel recognizes the masculine lens of the culture while still examining the lives of resilient women. In this way, the novel showcases a feminist stance and critiques the misogynist culture it is set in by showcasing the strength and depth of these women that help to shape the narrative while acknowledging that it is the limits society places on them because of their sexuality
History usually forces itself into the present in Juan Jose Campanella’s film “El Secreto De Sus Ojos” (The Secret in Their Eyes). Although it was filmed in 2009, the story is an attempted memorization of the violent reality in 1970-1980s Argentina, an era in which the country was rapidly sinking into military rule-ship. Campanella offers flashbacks into Argentina’s dark days, a period where violence homicide, rape and injustices ruled. Through memory, the film narrate a era in which it was impossible to be an innocent person as the innocents were falsely accused, tortured and even murdered for crimes they never committed, all these for the whims of those in power. Even though, the film is set in the 1970s, it does not call immediate attention to the animosity, the hopeless feeling and the constant struggle between the desire to forget vs. the attempts to remember the chaos and confusion of these years. However, through the use of memory Campanella allow the views to portray an almost perfect picture of what happened in Argentina.
Camila’s father, Aldolfo O’Gorman, represents a more intimate version of Rosas. He brings the terror of the government into her home, reminding her daily that she should do only as a respectful and loyal socialite woman is expected. He is obsessed with moral obligations as outlined by the Catholic Church, and also loyalty to family, church, and state. However, the family’s loyalty is meant for the male head of the house. The first scenes of the film show Camila playing with kittens, then cuts to the servant who is carrying out her orders to drown the kittens. This scene immediately develops the cruelty the film will display within the O’Gorman family and the terror of the Rosas regime. Later, he scolds her at the dinner table, in front of guests, for questioning Rosas’s laws and ideals. Taken to extremes, he even turns her unto Rosas when she elopes. d also represents the order of repression in the movie. Rosas oppresses the men unfairly, and then they go home and do the same to their wives and daughters.
Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these components played an important role in each civilization read, and even over 1,000 years later it continues to be a social topic as well as a large part of the culture. The only difference a reader or scholar could make for this particular piece of literature is its authenticity and how it was based on a true event. Regardless, new views on power and how one obtain it become apparent through the dialogue between characters like Laurencia and the Commander.
One of the issues that was raised is the idea of the relationship between femininty, technology and sexuality. The relationship between all of these qualities converse in one character, Maria. The real Maria has many roles thoughout the movie, including one who cares for the workers children, a preacher of peace for the workers, and one who loves Freder. The machi...
Family is one of the most important institutions in society. Family influences different aspects of a person’s life, such as their religion, values, morals and behavior. Unfortunately, problems may arise when an individual’s belief system or behavior does not coincide with that of family standards. Consequently, individuals may be forced to repress their emotions or avoid acting in ways that that are not acceptable to the family. In the novel The Rain God, written by Arturo Islas, we are presented with a story about a matriarchal family that deals with various conflicts. One major internal conflict is repression. Throughout the novel the characters act in strange ways and many of the family members have internal “monsters” that represent the past that they are repressing. In his article, “The Historical Imagination in Arturo Islas’s The Rain God and Migrant Souls”, Antonio C. Marquez’s implicitly asserts a true idea that The Rain God is a story about repression. Marquez’s idea can be supported from an analysis of secondary sources and a reading of the primary text.
This work is a very influential and educates people on the social and political battles within South America and the world’s issues. It is interpreted solely by the choreographer Christopher Bruce who incorporated meaningful and powerful movement to portray the intended story. It is a magnificent work dedicated to the Chilean Human Rights Committee, may they all rest in peace.
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
In my essay I will discuss the differences between national cinema and Hollywood cinema by using Rio de Janeiro¡¯s famous film City of God. There will be three parts in my following main body, the first part is a simple review of the film City of God, I will try to use the review to show the film structure and some different new points from this, show the how did the ¡®Shocking, frightening, thrilling and funny¡¯ (Nev Pierce) work in the film. The second part is my discussion parts; I will refer some typical Hollywood big name films such as Gangs in New York, Shawshank¡¯s Redemption, and Good Fellas to discuss the main differences between City of God and other national films. The third part is my summary, I will use my knowledge to analyse why there have big different between both kind of films and their advantages.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...