Latinx Screens: Film, TV, and Video

I. The American Latino Experience by Carlos Aguilar

Latinos are not a monolith. American-born or -raised Latinos have unique life experiences, straddling the line between assimilation and pride in their heritage, which the big studios frequently fail to acknowledge. Such movies do exist, though often on the periphery. And they’re worth seeking out to help foster conversations about the intricacies of Latinidad.

Largely untold in mass media or classrooms, the history of Latinos in the United States is long, winding, and impossible to dissect in simple terms. Shaped by arbitrary borders in the aftermath of wars, colonization, and waves of migration from nearly two dozen nations across the Americas, our presence is intrinsic to this country. Yet, American Latinos remain mostly invisible in our collective narrative.

Border-crossing stories or those set in Latin America don’t fill the void created by the lack of American Latino narratives. They don’t reflect the lives of, say, Chicanos in California, Tejanos in rural Texas, or Nuyoricans in the Bronx — specific identities that have faced oppression in the United States. Instead, the entertainment industry desperately tries to fit all Latinos under one label, devoid of nuance, often erasing Afro-Latinos and Indigenous people.

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Engaging with similar reflections in this hybrid class we have explored the representation of NYC as a Caribbean, (Afro) Latinx, diasporic city. We expanded our scope by looking at the lives, struggles, and joys of Mexican and Central American migrants in the Mexico/US borderlands, the Southwest, and Philadelphia. By examining these audiovisual narratives and themes influential to major Latinx communities, we explored issues of (neo) colonialism, gender, sexuality, race, social class, migration, urban life, and access to citizenship, resources, and institutions.

Feedback Questions

Write your response on a card:

.What did you learn in our class?

.What was your favorite topic/reading/film/author/assignment?

.What was difficult this semester and how did you overcome that obstacle?

Music video festival (Session 3)

Caruso,Carty

Bailey,Jalen

Sanchez Baez,Renato

Sanap,Jyoti Shivaji

Lopez,Jacqueline

Rodriguez,Natasha Jalene

Grechka,Inna V

Gil,Debora

Cuenca,Christian

Entry Question

What topics from the second half of the semester would you like to engage with for the final project? Do you want to propose a question?

Theory in the Flesh

Poet, playwright, and cultural activist Cherrie Moraga proposes that theory in the flesh means a theory “where the physical realities of our lives- our skin color, the land or concrete we grew up on, our sexual longings- all fuse to create a politic born out of necessity.” Theory in the flesh happens when “we do this bridging by naming ourselves and by telling the stories in our own words.” Moraga explains that it implies the “refusal of the easy explanation to the conditions we live in.”

What are the conditions Mosquita y Mari live in?

Oral/slide Presentations 

Bailey,Jalen

Grechka,Inna V

Queme,Mathew K

Rodriguez,Natasha Jalene

Group Discussion

Select ONE of these quotes from Cherríe Moraga’s essay and discuss the parallelism with the personal essay and the socio-economic circumstances portrayed in Mosquita y Mari.

.”I was educated, and wore it with a keen sense of pride and satisfaction, my head propped up with the knowledge, from my mother, that my life would be easier than hers.” (23)

.”And yet, the real story was that my family, too, had been poor (some still are), and farmworkers. My mother can remember this in her blood as if it was yesterday. But this is something she would like to forget (and rightfully), for to her, on a basic economic level, being Chicana means being less.” (23)

. “It was through my mother’s desire to protect her children from poverty and illiteracy that we became “anglocized” the more effectively we could pass in the white world, the better guaranteed our future.” (23)

.”I had no choice but to enter into the life of my mother. I had no choice. I took her life into my heart, but managed to keep a lid on it as long as I feigned being the happy, upwardly mobile heterosexual.” (23)

.”My lesbianism is the avenue through which I have learned the most about silence and oppression… in this country, lesbianism is a poverty- as is being brown, as is being a woman, as is being just plain poor.” (23-4)

.”We women have a similar nightmare, for each of us in some way has been both oppressed and the oppressor. We are afraid to look at how we have failed each other. We are afraid to see how we have taken the values of our oppressor into our hearts and turned them against ourselves and one another.” (27)

This coming-of-age film follows a pair of Chicana teens who develop a profound relationship against the backdrop of Southeast Los Angeles. When straight-A student Yolanda — aka Mosquita decides to help struggling girl Mari with her homework an intense friendship and queer affection evolve between the two.

ASYNCHRONOUS ASSIGNMENT (Deadline 11/23 before the class)

Instructions:

1. Watch the film Mosquita y Mari (Aurora Guerrero, 2012) here, or via Netflix.

2. In the comment section down below answer ONE of the following prompts (2oo-words minimum).

OPTION ONE

Yolanda (Mosquita) and her parents care a lot about good grades and educational opportunities. Why? Expand on the links the film establishes between socio-economic class and education. Refer to specific scenes and/or elements of the plot.

OPTION TWO

How the film portraits the increasing attraction and emotional ties of the two young women without relying on dialogues. Refer to specific scenes and/or elements of the plot.

OPTION THREE

Entry Question

Is there a contemporary Latinx artist that has a similar impact as Selena in the 90s? How this artist resembles Selena, if so?

Writer-director Gregory Nava on his process of creating Selena

Selena is a biopic of the Grammy Award-winning South Texas singer whose life tragically ended just as she was taking Tejano music into mainstream US America, México, and Latin America. The movie uses Selena’s voice in the soundtrack and is a representation of her most famous live concerts.  Made with her family participation, the film focuses on her upbringing as a Chicana and her family member’s negotiations with their desire of keeping their heritage alive and achieving success in the US.

ASYNCHRONOUS ASSIGNMENT (Deadline 11/16 before the class)

Instructions:

1. Watch the film Selena (Gregory Nava, 1997) on HBO Max or rent it on YouTube

2. In the comment section down below answer ONE of the following prompts (2oo-words minimum).

OPTION ONE

What factors from Selena’s life and career allowed her to achieve stardom? Refer to specific scenes and/or the plot.

OPTION TWO

By referring to this scene and other sequences, discuss how the film tackles common identity dilemmas of Chicanx people.

OPTION THREE

Discuss how director Gregory Nava conveys Selena’s deep connection with the audience by using editing techniques, juxtaposed screens, and Jennifer López’s performance.

OPTION FOUR

Respectfully interact with ONE of your classmates’ responses. Do you agree with their arguments and interpretations? Do you disagree? What other observations about Selena do you want to bring into the discussion?

Entry Conversation

Think back to the documentary and Cornejo Villavicencio’s text.  Reflect and share one of the topics from these sources that resonated with you.

.migration and its health cost

.mental health and migration

.gender-based violence

.denial of health services/ debt

.reproduction of plantation economies (Latinx overseer)

.invizibilized labor

.tip economies

.other

Why do you think is important to center these discussions? Have you or your family experienced any of the struggles presented in them?

Brief Introduction

Puentes de Salud (Bridges of Health) is a nonprofit organization that promotes the health and wellness of Philadelphia’s rapidly growing Latinx immigrant population through high-quality health care, innovative educational programs, and community building.

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is an Ecuadorian-American writer and the author of The Undocumented Americans, published in 2020 and shortlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. She has written about immigration, music, beauty, and mental illness for various publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and more. 

A common story among Latinx migrants

She was born in Ecuador in 1989. When she was a year and a half old, her parents immigrated to the US, leaving her with family. A few years later, her parents brought her to the US. 

A rare story among Latinx migrants

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 2011 and believes that she is one of the first undocumented immigrants to do so. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at Yale. She is also currently serving as Baruch College’s very own Harman Writer-in-Residence for the fall of 2021.

Recommended Student-led Interview

Oral/slide presentations

Sanap, Jyoti Shivaji

Sanchez Baez, Renato

Sanchez,Juan

Individual Exercise

Read again pages 45-48 (Paloma’s profile) pick one or two quotes or ideas from this section and discuss the connection between Cornejo Villavicencio’s text and the documentary.

Puentes de Salud, a volunteer-run clinic, provides free medical care to undocumented immigrants in Philadelphia. Here, doctors and nurses work for free to serve people who would otherwise fall through the cracks.

ASYNCHRONOUS BLOG POST (Deadline 11/9 before the class)

Instructions:

1. Rent and watch the documentary Clínica de migrantes (Maxim Pozdorovkin, 2016)

2. In the comment section down below answer ONE of the following prompts (2oo-words minimum).

OPTION ONE

Describe the particular types of health care services provided by the organization Puentes de salud and how they are conceived of with Latin American undocumented migrants in mind.

OPTION TWO

According to the documentary, what are some of the challenges the undocumented regularly face in terms of health care? How the lack of access to health care is connected to other US societal issues?

OPTION THREE

Explain one of the migrant cases presented by the documentary. What is the narrative and/or argumentative function of following this person?

OPTION FOUR

Respectfully interact with ONE of your classmates’ responses. Do you agree with their arguments and interpretations? Do you disagree? What other observations about Clínica de migrantes do you want to bring to the discussion?

Entry Question

What things do you know about the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border at the US-Mexico border?

“Tell Me How It Ends,” a work of narrative nonfiction by the Mexican novelist and essayist Valeria Luiselli born partially of her experience as a volunteer court translator for undocumented migrant children in New York.

“Sin Nombre is set as a border crossing social-political thriller. The stories of Sayra, a teenager living in Honduras and hungering for a brighter future, and teen gang members Smiley and Casper, for whom the Mara Salvatrucha is nearly their entire universe, become interlaced on the train to the US border, a journey that will determine the future of their lives.”

-Production Notes, Sundance Catalog

ASYNCHRONOUS BLOG POST (Deadline 11/2 before the class)

Instructions:

1. Rent and watch the film Sin Nombre (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2009)

2. In the comment section down below answer ONE of the following prompts (2oo-words minimum).

OPTION ONE

Give your interpretation of the film title: Sin Nombre (Nameless). Think about the gangs’ naming practices and ethics as well as the experiences of migrants. Refer to plot elements, specific scenes, and/or characters.

OPTION TWO

How does the film contextualize migration to the US from Central America? Refer to plot elements, specific scenes, and/or characters.

OPTION THREE

In filmmaking, a long take is a continuous shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement (handheld or with a steady-cam) and elaborate blocking are often elements in long takes.

Why do you think the director and his crew decided to film the above-posted sequence as a long take? Which character’s point of view is highlighted by filming this scene as a long take? How does this long take make you feel as an audience member?

OPTION FOUR

Respectfully interact with ONE of your classmates’ responses. Do you agree with their arguments and interpretations? Do you disagree? What other observations about Sin Nombre do you want to bring to the discussion?

Entry Question

Is your neighborhood gentrifying? What signs have you identified that make you think that way? Do these signs resemble the ones presented by Vampires Vs. the Bronx?

Stages of Gentrification

Forget ‘The Bronx Is Burning.’ These Days, The Bronx Is Gentrifying

Oral/slide presentations

Hassan,Tazbiul

King,Briana

Lopez,Jacqueline

Group Discussion- Reading and Discussing Ed Morales’s The Latinx Urban Space and Identity

.Barrios (Pages 250-251)

How Vampires Vs. The Bronx illustrates the clashes between the barrio’s cultural memory and the actions of developers?

.Gentrification (Page 252)

What evidence do the characters of the film encounter that make them certain that they will not be included in the re-building of the Bronx? Why do they think that if they disappear nobody will notice?

.Afro-Latinidad and Urban Resistance (Pages 264; 267-268)