The Discrimination of Sleep Dealer
The film Sleep Dealer by Alex Rivera uses the discrimination against migrant workers to both critique and warn his audience of the effect of current day politics. Well written science fiction often juxtaposes the politics of the present with futuristic societies and technologies, to further engage the audience and add significance to their work. In Sleep Dealer, migrant workers no longer can cross the border due to the construction of an enormous wall, yet still work across the border by the use of advanced virtual reality technology. Working in these “sleep dealers” isn’t much a choice for the poverty laden workers in Mexico, similar to how the current illegal immigration situation exists. By creating a fictional world with discrimination that so accurately embodies current politics, Alex Rivera engages his audience to realize the social and ethical consequences of our practices, and makes you think whether such a society can exist one day in the future.
Yet the society in Sleep Dealer isn’t as far off from reality as some science fiction tends to be; being set in a near future filled with the capitalistic tendencies and social structures that we share in the present. Today, much of Mexico is in poverty due to a poor economy and plentiful cases of corruption. This is what causes so much legal and illegal immigration; they need to support their families, and America is full of low-skill jobs. Sleep Dealer explores what would happen to this situation if the border became impassable. The implications of the United States’ closing of the border would be extensive, but most importantly, no longer can you legally or illegally immigrate there. Closed borders manifest unfriendly rel...
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... corporations or the Pentagon? Will there be new social movements that we can’t imagine, new solidarities that we’ve never seen before, or maybe a new labor movement that we never envisioned? (Leib)” -Alex Rivera
This technology, however, is used to prod at the underlying issues that are detached from technology, the same issues that manifest in our reality whether obvious or not. By the use of science fiction, Rivera exemplifies the social and ethical consequences of the discrimination we give migrant workers in terms more easily identifiable. The similarities drawn from the fictional reality created by Rivera and our own reality add a lot of power behind these concepts, as such a society is revealed to be entirely possible. This message facilitates the audience to realize that these issues exist, and without proper intervention, a similar society isn’t far away.
In today's world there is kids in child labor and many people struggling with poverty. It is important that Francisco Jimenez tells a story of migrant farm workers because many people don't understand the struggles the workers go throw.This is relevant to our lives because people who aren't struggling with poverty or are in child labor take most things for granted and those who struggle would be more than grateful for the most slightest
Recently illegal immigration has become a very pressing issue among people. Many people around the borders are being greatly affected by the issue and think immediate action needs to be taken to put a stop to the issue. The Documentary Border War: Battle Over Illegal Immigration takes a stand on the issue using many examples of pathos, ethos, and logos to try and persuade people that illegal immigration is a very serious issue and we need to put a stop to it. This documentary follows the lives of people who have been affected by illegal immigration, and explains how they feel about the issue. Another way that people can look at the issue of illegal immigration is through the eyes of the immigrants, and the reasons why they might be trying migrate to another country. The documentary Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary focuses on the issue from this point of view. This documentary uses pathos and logos to show the lives and hardships of those people who are trying to migrate to a new country. Although Wetback used many examples of pathos and logos to show the struggles of the migrants, Border War did a better job showing pathos by following the lives of people who were affected by the illegal immigrants they were also very persuasive with ethos by following credible people.
...th authors as is nearly always negative. Both authors take the reader within the very small, limiting, and confusing world of migrants, a world defined by an overall physical and emotional segregation. But their separation from Anglos is counterbalanced by their intimacy with their family and community. In both book and article, the families wash, eat, sleep, and work together; in fact they work tremendously hard. Also, the characters value education, although this theme is better developed by Rivera, since his narrative spans a full year, while Bacon is limited only his experience he remembers throughout his interview. In particular, Rivera's historia "It's That It Hurts" presents the complex dilemma faced by migrant children entering racist school systems while carrying the high hopes of their family that schooling will be the children's ticket out of the fields.
Ten years have passed but nothing here has changed on the ranch. The scenery is different; the grass is dull and dead, starting to turn brown and shrivelling over, starved from water. The weather is miserable just like my mood I suppose; the clouds are black and full of rain, ready to rupture just like a car tyre. I hear the rumble in the atmosphere like a lion roaring, the wind was howling, it is as if a zoo is being created by the dreadful weather, with the howling and roaring. The wind howling so much it is manipulating the leaves of the brush to make soundless movements. The people may be different here on the ranch but the way in which they treat each other is much the same. As I walk onto the premises’ of the ranch I can smell burnt wood. I notice that the immigrant workers are still doing the worst jobs such as being stable bucks. The only consolation, I suppose, is that the pay is equal no matter what job you do.
It involved the analysis of data from 90,000 individual surveys conducted by the Mexican Migration Project to establish the presence of social effects, and the analysis of qualitative data from 120 in-depth interviews with migrants and their family members in Mexico to reveal the underlying mechanisms. Firstly, it confirmed the hypothesis that “having prior migrants in the household or community increases individuals’ likelihood of migrating net of economic and political context effects” (2013:19). Secondly, through its qualitative research, it found that tough immigration policies among other things, reduce communication channels between migrants in the United States and their families in Mexico. The flow on impact of this is a break down in the feedback loop on what is often, a hard life as a migrant in the United States. Within the context of increased restrictions on border crossings, Garip and Asad (2013) argue that restricting these communication channels simply acts to perpetuate the myth of a glamorous life in the United
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.
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.
This agency creates a complex self-realization that readers find in both of the characters, however both shows different approach that differentiate their character from one another. As a result, both characters manifest a sense of victimization, but somehow in their hope for upward mobility, negate that. The power of this purpose is retrospective to all migrant workers because that is all they have---it’s rather success or failure.
Ngai, Mae M. 2004 “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America” Publisher: Princeton University Press.
Juan saw injustice as he perceived it, and so with only two friends and all of the bravery he could possibly muster, he set off on a journey that not only defied the laws of their own government but ours as well. Together, they overcame some challenges, only to be hurt in the most gruesome ways. Often, the price of non-conformity is so minor to us at first glance, that a great deal of individuals think it is a simple matter: “Do I d...
Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton, N.J. [u.a.: Princeton Univ. Press, 2004. Print.
The documentary El Contrato follows the exploits of Mexican migrant workers as they find themselves being exploited. In particular, it follows one man, Teodoro Martinez, a father of 4 who has worked many seasons in Canada. Teodoro returns year after year. He does not return because he enjoys it, he returns for the pay. The migrant workers are chosen with certain criteria in mind. These ‘desirable’ traits are that they have minimal, if any, education and a family in Mexico. The workers chosen are typically quite poor, many not owning a house. The pay is better than what they could get in Mexico, so they must make the decision to desert their families for two thirds of the year to support their loved ones. They are brought to a town where most
Mexican immigrants in the United States are willing to work hard and long hours throughout the day regardless of the amount of sleep or rest they may get. Conversely, this is not how Efren Mendoza, a public city bus driver, views Mexicans and he believes they are not motivated to achieve things in life. One would assume that he would understand how difficult it is for immigrants to assimilate in a new foreign country without knowing anyone or anything here, but he is not on their side and it is somewhat hypocritical of him because he himself is Mexican. It is as though Efren sees his own people as invisible individuals because he does not acknowledge all their hard work and sacrifices they may have gone through in order to arrive in the United States. He further proves his insincerity when he mentions that the “new wetbacks [are] picky about what jobs they’ll do [and that they] half-ass [the] work” that they are given to do (77).
In The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail, Oscar Martinez comments on the injustices that occur while migrating from Central America. Central Americans are forced to leave their countries in fear of the inevitable consequences. The systematic abuse Central Americans endure while migrating is founded on that fear which results in more repercussions for migrants. The psychological effects of migrating is used by Martinez to give insight on the atrocities that happen in Central America. The corruption involved while migrating in Central America is against human rights and should be brought immediate attention internationally. Martinez uses the experiences of migrants to expose Mexico’s passivity on the subject and to expose readers’ to the hard truths that occur while migrating.
de la Garza, Alejandro. "From utopia to dystopia: technology, society and what we can do about