Director Gregory Nava creates a film about the mass violent killings of factory women workers in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, a maquiladora border. This drama is based on true events, and Nava was very interested in this story. He created a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat, anticipating what will happen next. The women in the film work in poor conditions, long hours, and inadequate wages. This film has a connection to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which contributes to the poor treatment of the factory workers. To learn more about the North American Free Trade Agreement, there is a documentary called Maquilapolis:City of Factories, which tells the story of how women in Mexico are being affected by this agreement.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/maquilapolis/film-description/

Lauren Adrian(Jennifer Lopez), is a reporter for the Chicago Sentinel, who is of Latino descent, but does not portray this. For example, she highlights her hair blonde. Editor, George Morgan(Martin Sheen), sends her to Mexico to investigate the homicides of women that work in the factories, and particularly a recent victim of rape and attempted murder. Lauren arrives in Mexico, and contacts a previous co-worker, Diaz(Antonio Banderas), and they join together to report on this story. Lauren quickly learns that the United States government, and the Mexican government play a corrupt role in these murders, and why they are going unsolved. Lauren risks her life for this story by going undercover, for the justice of the murdered victims and for Eva Jimenez, the victim that escaped. Lauren also addresses her true identity that she has blocked out for so many years, and states the truth, that she comes from a family of farm workers from Mexico. Laurens story never gets published, due to the fact of the Free Trade Act and its connection to the U.S. and Mexico for political and financial gain

This film focuses on strong Latina women, compared to many other Chicano films that emphasizes on the males, such as American Me. This film helps to break the stereotype that Chicano women are not just maids, and has a feminism aspect to it when portraying the Chicana and her true role in society. In Jillian Baez’s article, she discusses recent Latina films and how they have evolved from the 20^th century and its stereotypical roles, and how they are rising to more feministic roles, such as in the films, Selena, Real Women Have Curves, and Girlfight. She also states that these kinds of films are showing audiences what a real Latina woman is and her real feministic characteristics. Not the made-up stereotypic version that Hollywood has made money off of for so long.

I have three favorite scenes in this movie that relate to this class and this article about Latino stereotypes, and the role of Latina feminism in contemporary films. The first scene that I favor is when Lauren states to Diaz that she wants to go undercover as a reporter, and he returns with how are you going to be undercover, you have blonde hair. A later scene in the movie, Lauren is connecting with her true identity and colors her hair brown so she can go undercover, and look more like a Latina. One of the last scenes is Lauren telling Juan Batto, who she had a romantic relations with, and has also disappointed her, that he was a really bad ****. This film actually failed in the box office, and had many negative reviews. However, I feel that this film sent a message to viewers about the successful breakthroughs that Latina’s are having in Hollywood, and it tells the truth about the harsh acts that Latino/Latina encounter in Mexico.

Baez, Jillian Towards a Latinidad Feminist: The Multiplicities of Latinidad and Feminism in Contemporary Cinema Baez

www.imdb.com/title/tt0445935

http://www.pbs.org/pov/maquilapolis/film-description/

Lone Star Film Review

Films in the Wild West are usually depicted as the white man being the hero, and the Chicano or Indian man the enemy. Lone Star is directed and written by John Sayles in 1996. It is a Western contemporary film that deals with diversity, racism, and incest. It takes a twist and tells the real story where, the white man is the enemy not the minority through flashbacks in time. Sayles really wanted to emphasize this to break through the barriers and stereotypes of the minorities being seen as the villain and the enemy. There is also a contemporary Romeo and Juliet love story that takes place in the film. Racism during the 1950’s was alive and well in the flashbacks of the film, and it continues in this film to the current time of the film. “John Sayles’ 1996 movie “Lone Star” is analyzed as “an attempt to move beyond genre conventions, and reconceptualize and renegotiate the ideas of the frontier and the West on film.” (Sultze, pg.1). Even though this film is not based on a true story, it is based on the history of racism and stereotypes that Hollywood has portrayed in the past. Chicano’s and all other minorities must help to make an impact on Hollywood and gain the acceptance they deserve.
 

Lone Star takes place in a fictional town in Texas. It begins with someone finding remains of a body in a military area. Sherriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) is a main character in this western film. He is the son of Sherriff Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey), who passed away years ago. There are many flashbacks in this film about Buddy Deeds and his legacy in this town during the 1950’s. Sam and his father always had a difficult father and son relationship. It is later revealed in the movie that Buddy Deeds had an affair on Sam’s mother, and Sam has never forgiven him for this. The entire town sees Buddy Deeds as a hero. He was the Sherriff that saved the town from the villain Sherriff Charlie Wade, who was taunting many others in the town many years ago, especially the minorities. There is also a side story about an owner of a bar (Otis) and his estranged son, and both stories tie together, along with the love story of this film. There is a great deal of racism that this film touches up on. During the flashbacks in the 1950’s, Sherriff Charlie Wade treats the minorities with no respect and takes advantage of them by taxing them illegally, and physically abusing them. Charlie Wade got a cut of all businesses, including two black owners of a bar. This is where all the chaos that leads to the present remains of a body that was found. Otis Payne (Ron Canada) works for the two black owners in the 1950’s, and challenges Charlie Wade one evening. Charlie Wade reacts by physically assaulting Otis and holding a gun to his head. Buddy Deeds walks in and prepares to shoot Wade, but another deputy Hollis Pogue (Clifton James), does it before Buddy does. Sam starts to uncover the real happenings of this night by talking to older people of the town that lived during the time of these happenings, and believes his father is the one that pulled the trigger. When Sam was a teenager he fell in love with a girl, Pilar Cruz(Elizabeth Pena). Pilar’s mother and Sam’s father kept them apart for no reasons explained to them, when they were teenagers. Now that Sam has moved back to town, he again has a romance with her. The film ends with Sam finding out the mystery of what happened that night of the murder of Charlie Wade, and also discovers the truth of why he and Pilar were kept apart.

I really enjoyed this film, because I really like when films take a twist as this film did. I also liked that the villain got exactly what he deserved. Matthew McConaughey played a great roll as the hero. My favorite scene of this film is when Otis and Hollis tell Sam the truth of what exactly happened the night of Charlie Wades murder. This is where the twist unfolds, and where Sam feels that his father wasn’t such a bad person after all. The only complaint I have with this film is the incest part of it. This was really not necessary in the film, and it could have had a little better ending to the love story. I do not see how this helps the stereotypes that Chicanos are given. It is just giving a negative stereotype that they also commit incest.

References
Noriega, Chon A., and Ana M. López. The Ethnic Eye: Latino Media Arts. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota, 1996. Print.

Sultze, K. (2003). Rewriting the west as multi-cultural: Legend meets complex histories in la frontera in john sayles’ “lone star” (1996). Film & History, 33(2), 19-25.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0116905

https://youtu.be/UffK-IHM1B0

http://www.imdb.com/videnplayeo/scre/vi4153803033/

I have been a student at Cal State Dominguez for almost two years now, and I am getting ready to graduate this May. I am a single mother of a beautiful little girl. I am also a stay at home mom, which is great because it gives me time to focus on my studies. I love learning about race and films, so this class is going to be really fun for me to explore on the concentration of Chicano/Latino and film, and its history. My hobbies include going to concerts, watching films, and wine tasting.