Up until recently filmmakers have tried to branch out from this style of film making to create a real to life story with passion. Enter Mosquita y Mari, a film that focuses on the building relationship between two teenage girls. Written and directed by Aurora Guerrero this film is an honest representation of life for a teenaged girl struggling with identity. This essay will give a brief summary of the film and characters while depicting an example of form and context as well as personal thought of the film and director.
The film focuses on Yolanda whom we will call the Student and Mari whom will be known as the Rebel. Yolanda, is a young and focused daughter of two Mexican-American parents. A hard worker in school she continuously out does her class mates and fulfills the expectations of her strict parents (posting A+ grades on the fridge of her household) seeking the best for her life. Though Yolanda (student) has her friends at school she constantly feels little connection to them. Though life happily drifts by for her everything changes when she meets her new interesting next door neighbor Mari. Mari (rebel) is a rebellious young girl who makes herself the interest of Yolanda. However, hardship falls on Mari constantly due to her living with a younger sister and single mother who must work 24/7 making very little. The is clearly seen when Yolanda sees Mari stealing from a local store as well as searching for a job to help just pay rent for their small apartment. Yolanda and Mari first meet after Yolanda shares her text book with Mari whom rejects Yolanda at first. It is not until Yolanda saves Mari from being caught for smoking in the school bathroom that their friendship begins to blossom.
As the film progresses the viewer ...
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.... However, up until recently filmmakers have tried to branch out from this style of film making to create a real to life story with passion. Mosquita y Mari succeeds in doing so but more importantly Aurora Guerrero succeeds in creating a story of two young girls finding each other in a complex world and building a relationship from the ground up. Also, the film builds a true form and context relationship by having presenting itself in the form of a coming of age story with a context of identity. I personally was honored to meet the director of this film and listen to her life story of wanting to create such a true to life representation as well create something that even her father whom is a passionate critic would like. Mosquita y Mari is truly something to marvel at and should defiantly but seen by those who struggling with growing up as well as finding themselves.
“Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel, is a beautiful romantic tale of an impossible passionate love during the revolution in Mexico. The romance is followed by the sweet aroma of kitchen secrets and cooking, with a lot of imagination and creativity. The story is that of Tita De La Garza, the youngest of all daughters in Mama Elena’s house. According to the family tradition she is to watch after her mother till the day she does, and therefore cannot marry any men. Tita finds her comfort in cooking, and soon the kitchen becomes her world, affecting every emotion she experiences to the people who taste her food. Esquivel tells Titas story as she grows to be a mature, blooming women who eventually rebels against her mother, finds her true identity and reunites with her long lost love Pedro. The book became a huge success and was made to a movie directed by Alfonso Arau. Although they both share many similarities, I also found many distinct differences. The movie lost an integral part of the book, the sensual aspect of the cooking and love.
The relationships between mothers and daughters is a topic that authors often call upon to tell a story. It is an important part of every culture, which makes the topic relatable to any reader who picks the book up. Junot Diaz understood the universality of mother/daughter relationships and incorporated it in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Although the book is mainly about Oscar, an overweight Dominican boy from New Jersey and his quest for love, the book also spends a lot of time exploring the relationships between Oscar’s sister Lola and their mother Beli and Beli’s relationship with her mother figure La Inca. Junot Diaz does not write mother/daughter relationships in an honest way and focuses on the conflict in the relationships
Julia Alvarez in her book, Once Upon a Quinceañera, explores the quince tradition from cultural, historical and personal angles. Herein, she seeks to clarify some of the myths and ideas that surround this tradition from the notion that quinceañeras are from old Aztec traditions to the idea that this rite has been passed down from one Latino generation to another. She discovers that most contemporary quinces are firsts for many families and are different from those of the past. Consequently, the tradition depicts a group that is experiencing transformation who seek to establish their roots in a past that is somehow bleak. Many have often described the US has a melting pot of cultures. Therefore, Americans from different cultures find themselves amalgamating their values with those of the American society, thus affecting the overall culture of their communities. In Once Upon a Quinceañera, the author demonstrate and applies the cultural myth of melting pot.
A debutante’s life came at a price; for the 16 year-old Dolores it was an arranged, loveless marriage to lawyer Jaime Del Rio. Jaime was 18 years her senior, his family one of the oldest and most influential in Mexico. Their wealth allowed for a European honeymoon, where they were invited to dine with the Spanish Royal family. The honeymoon morphed into a three year romp, with Dolores delighting in voice and dance lessons at stately Madrid and Paris schools. In 1921, the couple returned to Mexico City, Jaime intent on advancing his career whil...
“Aqui Entre Nos” is Mexican comedy yet it also a movie that makes you reflect on life. In the film we are introduced to the Guerra family. The head provider of the family and father of three Rodolfo Guerra, his stay at home wife Miriam Guerra and their three daughter Sofia the oldest , Victoria the middle child and Ana Paula the youngest one. It all start when Rodolfo decided to not go to work one after being fed up with feeling unappreciated by his family. In addition he always has Miriam is his
Modern society believes in the difficult yet essential nature of coming of age. Adolescents must face difficult obstacles in life, whether it be familial, academic, or fiscal obstacles. In the House on Mango Street, Esperanza longs for a life where she will no longer be chained to Mango Street and aspires to escape. As Esperanza grows up on Mango Street, she witnesses the effect of poverty, violence, and loss of dreams on her friends and family, leading her to feel confused and broken, clinging to the dream of leaving Mango Street. Cisneros uses a reflective tone to argue that a change in one’s identity is inevitable, but ultimately for the worst.
Grande introduces to the audience various characters that cross Juana 's path to either alter or assist her on her journey to find her father. Through those individuals, Grande offers a strong comparison of female characters who follow the norms, versus those that challenge gender roles that
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
As the first major U.S. success for a Spanish language film, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Alfonso Arau, 1992) has had a major impact on Hispanic culture and the future of Hispanic cinema. This film has many implicit and explicit layers that challenge typical cultural ideals, not only in Hispanic culture, but in various cultures across the world. Based on his wife, Laura Esquivel’s novel, Arau used this film, known commonly as Like Water for Chocolate, to bring to the surface the liberation of females through the empowerment of food. Although food and cooking are often associated with the oppression and generalization of Hispanic women, Like Water for Chocolate captivates an empowering view of women using intimate and heightened cinematography of the food.
The role of strong female roles in literature is both frightening to some and enlightening to others. Although times have changed, Sandra Cisneros’ stories about Mexican-American women provide a cultural division within itself that reflects in a recent time. The cultural themes in Cisneros’s stories highlight the struggle of women who identify with Mexican-American heritage and the struggle in terms of living up to Mexican culture – as a separate ethnic body. The women in Sandra Cisneros’ stories are struggling with living up to identities assigned to them, while trying to create their own as women without an ethnic landscape. In Sandra Cisneros’ stories “Woman Hollering Creek: and “Never Marry a Mexican” the role of female identities that are conflicted are highlighted, in that they have to straddle two worlds at once as Mexican-American women.
This movie is based on changing the lives of Mexican Americans by making a stand and challenging the authority. Even when the cops were against them the whole time and even with the brutal beatings they received within one of the walk out, they held on. They stuck to their guns and they proved their point. The main character was threatened by the school administrators, she was told if she went through with the walkout she would be expelled. While they wanted everyone who was going to graduate to simply look the other way, the students risked it all and gave it their all to make their voices
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...
How would one feel if ones significant other was constantly disobeying the relationship? In Irwin Shaw’s “The Girls in Their Summer Dresses”, he shows how important having a trustworthy and honest relationship is. This short story highlights the flaws in romantic relationships by demonstrating how one needs some type of relationship in life, how fragile a relationship can be, and how many take loved ones for granted.
In Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks, I predict Katie and Alex will grow a loving relationship with each other. Readers are introduced to Katie as an isolated individual with a troubling past and an inability to trust, but after meeting Alex she was able to let down her guard. As of now, Katie and Alex are friends, but with Alex’s personality and the trust he's trying to grow with Katie, I believe Katie and Alex will start to grow a relationship with each other.
The statement "The relationships in our lives are one of the main reasons why we function as human beings.” In this text About a Boy by Nick Hornby there are elements where relationships between characters help them develop and without these relationships these characters would not be able to 'grow'. The relationship between will and Marcus and also the relationship between Marcus and Ellie proves how relationships in our lives are the reason that we function as human beings.