A Day Without a Mexican exposed many stereotypical and racists positions held by many Americans in our society today. I really appreciated the film in many ways because of the issues that were addressed about our society and our own culture. It is especially important to me that the issues of racism and discrimination are addressed in the ways in which many people relate, movies. This film, although it was a little cheesy in my opinion, gave the most basic understanding of what it is like being a minority in America.
The movie poses the question of what would happen to the United States if all of the Latino/a population vanished or no longer were here. The fact that many important jobs that benefit life for Americans are held by Latin cultured people. The fact that Latino's contribute close to ninety billion dollars and only receives about three billion back in government assistance, shows how important this particular culture is in our society. These are examples in the movie where we really get to see the importance of race relations in the U.S. We realize that many of our ancestors came here to find a better life for themselves. The issue of immigration in our society is a major issue that this film addresses.
The most important part of this movie, for me, was Lyla in the hospital and disappears with the other Latino's. Only to find out that she is really Armenian but was raised Mexican, is a great signifier that people can be one thing, and identify as something else. She states that her heart is Mexican; this statement says that she identifies with the culture and that no matter what people label you as, you are who you want to be! Overall the movie, A Day Without a Mexican was very refreshing and greatly appreciated.
P.S. The in-class assignment about being prejudice was very interesting Ann. I want to put on record that I really do not hold any racist or prejudices in my heart... Everyone has an opportunity to become a friend of God and myself.
DB--Thanks for your PS. That's a beautiful expression,that everyone has an opportunity to become your friend and a friend of God. It sounds like your faith supports your welcoming spirit. I sense you kindness towards others and openness to other views in our class discussion and your blog posts. I think, though, it is natural for us to pick up prejudices about people and groups we don't know well--and that learning more about them can quickly reveal the limited nature of our opinions. So, when I challenged you in class, all I meant was to keep an open mind about recognizing when you do find yourself with a "limited" opinion about another . . . It happens to all of us, but you may be more aware of the problems of prejudice than most people in our class. In particular, white middle class "Anglos" are often unaware of the ways in which the system has given them "invisible" privileges and encouraged them to stereotype those who have not been granted those privileges.
ReplyDeleteGreat point about Lila's identity in the film--that identity is much more than race, language, or national origin: it's about where the heart is. I'm glad you were able to appreciate the way the film opens up discussion about prejudice even though it was kind of "cheesy."
ReplyDeleteI'd like to echo what Ann said about appreciating your PS. I think the idea of whether or not we are racist "in our heart" is important. I think there are many ways that racial prejudices have been normalized in our society both through media representations and through cultural assumptions. When somebody has the tendency to make racist assumptions about Blacks, Latinos, or any other racial or ethnic group, this does not necessarily mean that this person has made any kind of personal commitment to be "racist." To some extent, we all blindly follow the false norms of our particular cultural context, and often hurt others by doing so.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to let people off the hook for perpetuating prejudice, but it is humbling for me to realize that racism against Latinos is bigger than just individual bigots that I can easily scape goat. Having your heart in the right place doesn't take anyone off the hook--as many people would like to assume it does. However, when people truly has their hearts in the right place, it means that they are able to admit wrong doing, and have a certain openness to change their behavior. Having a good heart is about a willingness to change, even if this means admitting that we are wrong--and even admitting it frequently.
I really appreciate the openness that you displayed at the end of your post, and reading this actually makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the exercise Ann had us do Friday.
I also really liked Lila’s statement about who she was. It is not where she was born or her heritage that determined who she was, it was the people who raised her and the culture that adopted her that made her who she was, a Latino. I really like this idea that we are who we make ourselves to be and who we think we are does not necessarily line up with how some people would label us. To many people Lila would be Armenian, but Lila decides that she is Latino and that is all that matters. Once she truly believes in who she is, she disappears.
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