As AMC’s groundbreaking hit, Breaking Bad, continues, the relationships among the characters grow in complexity and new antagonists, Marco and Leonel Salamanca, are introduced. In season three episode seven, the Salamanca brothers have found a new target: Hank Schrader. The episode titled “One Minute” parallels two scenes where the characters in stressful positions are framed around the concept of one minute. A flashback is used to explore the complexity of the brothers and the dire future it predicts. The Salamanca brothers and Hank have both suffered at the hands of cartel. Although, while Hank is framed as a sympathetic figure because of his experiences, the brothers are perceived as villains due to Latino stereotypes.
In “One Minute” the establishing shot sets an unarmed Hank in a parking lot after buying his wife, Marie, flowers and a gift. The
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Salamancas approach can be predicted as the only business in the shot is a shoe department shoe. The Salamancas are known for their dark, deadly approach as the silver tips of their boots with a skull are often see first. Sympathy for Hank comes naturally as he reaches for his gun before remembering it is not there, and as his face turns red and his breathing becomes rapid. One can infer he is beginning to have a panic attack triggered from his post-traumatic stress disorder (insert time). Disorienting sound accompanies the reaction shot as the camera goes from the time on the dash to Hank’s face as the time dramatically changes from 3:07-3:08 signifying his one minute has passed (insert time). Respect and sympathy is earned simultaneously as he takes on the deadly members of the cartel and lays wounded on the asphalt (insert time). While the aftermath of the cartel hit makes Hank vulnerable, the events that transpired in the Salamanca brothers’ childhood callused the boys. Breaking Bad provides background about the brothers in the cold open which utilizes a flashback. The mise en scène suggests the cold open is set sometime in the 90s with the Salamanca boys as pre-teens. A young, able Hector uses a 90s cellphone and his health is emphasized as he sits in a patio chair with wagon wheels. Breaking Bad uses the flashback to flash forward to Tio later in poor health wheelchair bound. The cold cut raises the question that the twins never really had a chance as they were destined to work for the cartel, and later become hitmen. Hector emphasizes the importance of family in his lesson after Leonel wishes Marco dead after the fight over a toy. To prove his point Marco is water boarded in an ice chest of beer while a point of view from the bottom of the cooler is used. Their tio ends the lesson by saying, “La familia es todo” while a low angle shot is used (insert time). The importance of family is a value the brothers have taken with them into adulthood as they seek revenge against Hank to avenge the death of their cousin, Tuco, and maintain a civil relationship with the cartel’s business partners up north. Despite the information provided about the Salamanca cousins they are not perceived in the same sympathetic light as Hank.
As much as Hank is a pawn in Gus’ game the Salamancas are as well as Gus works to eliminate the cartel’s influence. The brothers are antagonists, but are not received as favorably as other characters with questionable motives, like the anti-hero of the series Walt. The twins are at a disadvantage, because they are a foreign element closing in on the beloved white characters of New Mexico. The Salamancas are merely stock characters, as they fulfill the stereotype assassin type in a cartel. They are not easily distinguishable, and even in the discussion of them they are discussed as a pair. Marco and Leonel were not developed enough to allow for a separate discussion of them. Tio refers to them as brothers, but there is not enough evidence to confirm that they are in fact twins. It is easy for the audience to assume as they are in sync and dress in coordinating suits. Their dialogue is minimal as silence is used to terrify and dehumanize. The brothers power is exerted solely through
violence.
As they were walking to the plane an old man on a snowmobile showed up. Jacob thought their cover was blown and he tries distracting the old man and ends up knocking the man out. Hank came back and was freaking out at what Jacob did and Hank thought he was dead. When Jacob leaves the old man wakes up saying,”call the police.” Hank then suffocates the old man then drives to the bridge and uses the snowmobile to drive his body off of the bridge, making Hank 's Murder look like an accidental death. The next night Jacob calls Hank saying he wants some of the money now because he has been spending it all without really thinking about it and he really needs some money. Sarah said she thinks Hank and Jacob should team up and plot against Jacob’s best friend
Both Dumas and Cordero are growing up in a culture that is different from their parents’; this difference is one reason why both girls have a feeling of ‘otherness.’ Even though both girls feel a struggle between their heritage and the American culture they live in, they deal with this struggle in dissimilar ways. Although Cordero does love her family, she feels as though she is trapped by her Mexican heritage. She is surrounded by Mexican-American females who are oppressed, unsatisfied, and often longing for a different life. We get many stories of her grandmother, cousins, and neighbors who are stuck in a place of discontent with no way out; and she does not be part of an endless loop of females who are under the control of men.
Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer whose collection of short stories Drown tells the story of immigrant families in the urban community of New Jersey. His short story “Fiesta, 1980” focuses on Yunior, an adolescent boy from Dominican Republic and his relationship with his father. On the other hand, Piri Thomas was a great Latino writer from Puerto-Rico whose memoir Down These Mean Streets tells his life story as an adolescent residing in Harlem and the challenges he faces outside in the neighborhood and at home with his father. Both Diaz and Thomas in different ways explore the dynamics of father-son relationships in their work. Furthermore, both expose masculinity as a social construct.
El Norte and My Family, Mi Familia, films directed by Gregory Nava, depict how Latino-Americans migrate from their native countries to the United States, challenges they face through their journeys, and the time they spend in America. Some critics say that El Norte is a stronger film politically in comparison to My Family, Mi Familia because of how El Norte keeps the journey raw and emotional. Through the trials Enrique and Rosa face as they travel from Guatemala to California, the viewer gains sympathy for them and rejoices with them when they reach Los Angeles; however, as the protagonists live in Los Angeles, we as the viewer learn through their failure to assimilate to America’s lifestyle, they will never reach their ultimate goal, the
At the end of the novel, Joaquin reflects on his gratitude for his new relationships with his family members: “He thinks about how a year ago, he barely had one family, and now he has three: Maya and Grace and Jess; Mark and Linda; and a family across the border, lost but not gone. Three branches on his family tree that won’t break or collapse or let him fall” (366). It is very important for Joaquin to be able to turn to his sisters, because the love from siblings is incomparable to any other love you can recieve. The affection they give him helps him grow as a person and boost his morale as well as leave his old troubles with his former lack of belonging in the past. Furthermore, Joaquin’s siblings help him turn over a new leaf and leave his mistakes behind him, putting him on a path to self contentment with. He conveys the way he feels around his
Misrepresentation has been a known term all around due to its implementation in many different cultures around the world. Misrepresentation can leave a bad image for something. It can also lead to stereotypes given. Nowadays, these stereotypes are hard to change because they make part of our social lives. To add, they are present in the media, and people, like younger children are being misinformed of what something is really is. This leads to racism and other social conflicts within our human race. In the case of Colombia, an example of misrepresentation within its culture would be in the media through the Netflix Original series known as Narcos. This television hit surrounds the viewers around one of the most dangerous drug dealers in the world, Pablo Escobar. As a normal viewer, I enjoyed watching DEA agents Javier Pena and Steve murphy fight off all the smuggles working for Pablo Escobar, but as a Colombian I clearly viewed how my culture is being misrepresented to over 3 million viewers all over the world. In this
The Anglos in the corrido, meanwhile, are not one-dimensional villains but “complex figures who contain positive as well as negative qualities” (Mendoza 146). These distinctive traits of a corrido – setting, conflict, and characterization, among others – ... ... middle of paper ... ... l. “Ge-or-ge,’ she called in an exaggerated Gringo accent. He looked back.
The fundamental conflict that led to their arrest and unfair trial was a clash between Mexican-Americans and the dominant White American culture. Acting as a host, El Pachuco is the spirit of the ideal, defiant Pachuco and serves as Henry’s Reyna’s alter ego throughout the play, intermingling past Mexican culture with the current Zoot Suit culture. El Pachuco serves as a corrective to illustrate the heavy biases that the court and media displayed throughout the 1940s against Chicano people. Through his constant interjections during the courtroom scene, and his final confrontation with the reporter at the conclusion of the play, he points out the injustices that Mexican-Americans had to endure. El Pachuco highlights each point in which the court discriminates or treats the Zoot Suiters unfairly.
The Social theory of deviance explains why people break social norms, and what their motivation may be for doing so. The brothers undoubtedly break one of the most prominent social norms, they kill people who can be considered “bad”. In crime-ridden South Boston, the brothers find a gap that they can fill, which is usually looked down upon by society. Despite this, the people living there soon recognize them as a blessing and call them Saints. The two brothers quickly become vigilantes for South Boston, killing mafia members and criminals who are making living conditions harder than they should be. Because of the positive effect on society no one speaks out against them. Their effect on the city is beneficial enough for the local police and even the FBI investigator who is trying to catch them to eventually help out the brothers in any way they can without being suspicious.
Whether they were on Broadway or in Hollywood, being a Hispanic actor meant you were put into this stereotyped box that was and is hard to break through. How many times has there been a Hispanic or Latino in the role of a hero, wealthy man/woman, or doctor in film or television? The following quote from Lin Manuel Miranda is to explain the struggles of a male Hispanic actor aspiring to be on Broadway. “I couldn’t see a way for me [a Latino man] to have a career in musical theater based on the musicals that already existed. I don’t dance well enough to play Bernardo [of ‘West Side Story’], or Paul in ‘A Chorus Line.’ And I don’t have an operatic voice enough to play the ‘Man of La Mancha.’ And if you’re a Latino man, that’s all you get… I
Cultural value orientations are the, “basic and core beliefs of a culture; that have to deal with one’s relationship with one another and the world” (McCarty & Hattwick, 1992). All cultures may encounter challenges with the media and society of how their beliefs and values are represented. There are several factors that resemble how cultural values influence a culture, more specifically the Hispanic culture in Yuma, AZ. Some of those factors are, the expression of their individual and collective identity through communication, cultures identity expressed though the mass media channels, examples of the value orientations that influence the groups communications behaviors, and one of the major events that challenged Hispanics identities.
The tension between Mike Vargas and Hank Quinlin begins very early in the film. The scene in which the two meet for the first time, at the scene of the explosion, establishes Quinlin as a well-respected man whose appearance is larger than life. Quinlin’s arrival to the scene is much awaited based on the conversation between the other officers. When Quinlin finally does arrive the camera immediately jumps from one mans line which is shot at eye level, to a shot of Quinlin exiting his car from very low to the ground, accentuating his size. Quinlin is shot from below in this way for the majority of the film.
And they are also put in circumstances where not only does their parenting become changed but they no longer become parents at all. In Poncia Vicencio, Grandpa Vicencio killed his wife and children when he realized that they would continue to be slaves. This act, although incomprehensible in normal standards, in the context of slavery, this act is filled with remorse and compassion. Although, Sonny’s actions are not in the same context, post-slavery America still continues to have prejudiced social, political, and economic systems, that have led Sonny to not be able to parent. As Willie’s mother states, “It makes me sad to see my son a junkie after all the marchin’ I done, but makes me sadder to see you thinkin’ you can leave like your daddy did.” (Kindle Locations 4480). His addiction, coupled with the economic system, does not permit Sonny to parent the children that he
In today’s society, a huge issue that resonates across cultures is the idea of racially stereotyping an individual or a culture as a whole. Some might join in and take these stereotypes as a joke, and others might believe that these “jokes” are entirely offensive and inappropriate. Although Americans insist on pursuing negative stereotypes associated with Hispanics; because a lot of Latinos are not able to speak fluent English, so they are labeled as “uneducated.” Another common stereotype for Hispanics is that they are all extremely poor and living in poverty because images are constantly seen of them in large groups piling into small vehicles and residences; Hispanics argue that these stereotypes are demeaning and unfair to their culture, because not every Latino is uneducated and living in poverty.
Antonio and Sebastian’s nastiness to others does not end here. They continually mock others, particularly Gonzalo and Adrian. In conclusion, Antonio and Sebastian are both evil men who contribute.