Narco Cultura Sparknotes

The documentary, Narco Cultura, gives a primary view into the Sinaloa drug cartel and the influence it has on music and Mexico. The film, released in 2013, and directed by award-winning photojournalist, Shaul Schwarz, follows the lives of two people in two societies; one living in the United States, the other living in Juarez, Mexico. The film, Narco Cultura, does well displaying the conditions that face Mexicans in Juarez, like murders and threats of violence, as well as the lavish lifestyle, “El Corrido’s,” experience in the United States, by using music, and interviews, which help to support a basic idea; the cartel is destroying society in one country, while influencing a lavish lifestyle in another. Shaul Schwarz does an exceptional job displaying the opposing lifestyles stemming from the same sinister cartel.

Music is the universal language we all speak.

It is found in every culture, and it is no surprise that it is often used to evoke emotions. Shaul Schwarz uses music throughout the film to convey different emotions. The general tone of the music is slow and somber. It evokes depressed emotions, and creates a sense of sadness towards the film. The film maker does this so that we can quickly empathize with the situation at hand. This situation, at the beginning of the film is the introduction to Juarez and Richie Soto. Richie Soto is the crime scene investigator whose life is at the center of the depiction of Mexican Society. A further example of this is the Corrido’s. When the Corrido’s are shown, they are accompanied by upbeat, light music. The music changes to accompany the exemplification of the lavish lifestyle, of the Corrido’s in the United States. The positive music goes well with the positive lifestyle, invoking a sense of happiness in the viewer. Music is a powerful tool, which enables the producers to evoke the emotions they’d like us to

feel.
Equally important is credibility, when discussing a topic as sensitive as the Mexican drug cartel. Credibility comes from primary sources and interviews in this film. Although the film relies heavily on appeals to emotions, as explained while discussing the use of music, appeals to logic are equally important. This is not to say that the interviews only appeal to logic. Interviews appeal to both. One example is through Richie Soto. It is through Soto, that we understand the dangers surrounding his job, as a crime scene investigator. We learn that three people from Soto’s unit have been killed by the cartel (22:50, Narco Cultura). We also begin to understand the work conditions, which include wearing masks with the purpose of hiding identity. Demographics are also revealed. We learn that some of the killers are as young as fourteen or fifteen years old (13:33, Narco Cultura). Last, we get a look into societies view or the cartel. A school girl stated, “I would like to be the girlfriend of a “narco,” because it’s a way of life, not anything bad,” giving an argument to the original premise, showing that those involved in the cartel are not always seen as a threat, but seen as part of society. Using these interviews, Schwarz adds credibility to his argument about the cartels, while offering an argument against himself.
The film does a fantastic job supporting the premise that the cartels are a danger to society. Likewise, the film is effective in presenting an argument to his own. Schwarz offers a look at society, with the school girl. Furthermore, the film shows how the culture of the cartel is a way of life, and escape from some. This is mostly exemplified with the “Corrido’s.” Edgar Quintero, for example, makes money singing about the cartel, in the United States. Oscar Lopez makes movies about narco culture (40:58, Narco Cultura). Los Twins, the founders of the “Movimiento Alterado,” made the case that for some people, listening to the music of the corrido’s, “…let’s them feel narco for the night.” This makes the case that the culture of the cartel is a social one, as much as it is surrounded by a stigma of violence.