Identity in "A Day without a Mexican"

A Day without a Mexican, directed by Sergio Arau, was defiantly an interesting movie. While being a unique and sometimes humorous; the film looked at the very important issue of how the majority reacts to the minority, in this case the Latinos. In a way this movie address the theme of identity, asking who are the Latinos and how are they seen in the eyes of the majority.

The movie opens with Latinos doing their jobs; picking fruit, being a nanny, reporting for the local news station, and painting to name a few; and all of a sudden they disappear. This throws the lives of those whom they interacted with into chaos. The farmer can’t get his harvest in and the senator and his wife can’t do anything for themselves to get through the day. To the majority they are the invisible working class, doing all the hard work but not noticed until they are gone and those they work for can’t do without them.

One interesting idea about identity posed by this movie is about who are the Latinos and how do we know they are Latino. Throughout the movie the Latinos are often referred to as Mexicans, although we are aware that not all Latinos are Mexican. Other Middle Eastern people are often mistaken for Latinos as they walk the streets; they are commonly asked why they are still there as all the other Mexicans have left.

The question of identity is really embodied by the character of Lila Rodriquez. She is a Latino reporter hired by the local news station who is the only Latino to remain after the disappearance. Every one looks to her for the answer of how to bring the Latinos back and as a cure for preventing the rest of the people from disappearing. Later we find out that she is actually Armenian, and was raised by Mexican parents. She then disappears after stating she feels Mexican in her heart.

A fun fact is that the actress playing Lila, Yareli Arizmendi, is a Cuban-Mexican-American who was born in Mexico.

Questioning in Bless Me, Ultima

There are many interesting questions about religion and morality in Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. One of the scenes that really stuck out to me was the one during Antonio’s first communion. He is struggling with all these questions about faith and morality, he wants answers and he waits for God to speak to him about all these issues; but in the end all that he hears is silence and he just feels hungry from the morning fast. I often wonder when I go to church how many people have actually had God talk to them and answer the questions they pose, and if he does how does God answer.

But the more I think about how easy it would be if God just swooped down and told me everything I want to know about I wonder if that would really be the best thing. If one didn’t question, wonder, and doubt where would the joy be in finding answers. With God not answering every question we have we are given the freedom to think, the freedom to be independent people and make up our own minds using our own experiences and knowledge. Some of the questions that Antonio struggles with may seem answerless, and they may be, but often the journey to an answer can reveal many things about the world or ourselves that just receiving the answer from somebody else wouldn’t.

I read a little more about Anaya and found out that he was raised Catholic and that as a child he often raised difficult questions pertaining to faith. This intrigued me and got me wondering if he struggled with some of the same issues that Antonio deals with; it made me wonder if Anaya kept his faith into his later years, but I couldn’t find any information about his later religious affiliations. This book dealt with questions that I have no answers to right now, but I have a feeling I will be trying to answer them for quite awhile.

Acceptance and Latino Literature

There seems to be a theme of acceptance throughout Lantio literature. Sor Juana never truly feels accepted for who she is and is always trying to prove that her knowledge and ideas are just as good as any mans. She is constantly under pressure to conform; to fit into the church, the politics, and the philosophical scenes. Nowhere does she feel truly appreciated for herself until she and the Viceroy’s wife become friends. This theme can also be seen in Cabaza de Vaca’s work as well as other writings from that time. These writers wanted acceptance from wealth Spanish lords and funding to explore the new world that had been discovered. They wrote not for themselves, but what they thought would get the most money out of their benefactors. Even after hundreds of years this theme of acceptance can still be seen in Latino literature, Borderlands/ la frontera is all about acceptance; of the cultures and of the languages that are a part of being Latino. Within the Latino grouping there are many different languages spoken and many different groups of people, which are conveniently lumped together all trying to be accepted by not only the grouping that was forced upon them, but by the English speaker and the predominately white academic world.

While people’s experiences may vary widely, I think everyone can connect to the need for acceptance. I have never had to struggle to validate who I am like many of the authors of the books we are reading, but acceptance is becoming more of a central part of my life as a start to think about applying to medical school. Do I present myself in the way that I think they want me to be to maximize my chance of getting in or should I be myself and if they don’t want me that’s okay? It is a struggle to please the people who can control your fate, to a certain extent, or to be yourself and let the world deal with it.

My Name

My name seems to always be someone’s middle name, either the person to whom I am being introduced or to someone they know. Despite the minor annoyance this causes me sometimes, especially if it has occurred more than once that week, I have only had two minor issues with my name.

The first one would have to be spelling. Lynn is deceptively simple and there are several of ways to spell it: Lyn, Linn, and Lynne are the most common misspellings of my name.  Whenever someone goes to write my name down Lyn is the most common. I don’t get why, when I look at this it seem odd and unfinished; it just seems to be waiting for the second "n" to balance it out. Not to mention I have never seen anyone with the name Lynn actually spell it as Lyn, but who knows maybe I will meet someone someday that does.

The second issue I have had over the years, and to this day, are nicknames. None of them are bad or too embarrassing, but I am constantly amazed at how others add suffixes to my name or combine it with another word. I have gotten a new one every time I have transitioned school buildings during my academic journey: elementary, middle school, high school, and even a new one bestowed upon me in college. Some have fallen by the wayside as those who created it have gone out of my daily life; there are a few that I have to say that I am not terribly upset to have lost.

However, when presented with the option to change my name the first thing that pops into my head is “change it to what?” I am not sure how Lynn describes me or how it defines me, but I couldn’t tell you what a better name for me would be. 

Intro

I created this blog for my Latino Literature class. I hope to gain a deeper understanding another cultures literature and to open a window into a culture that is not my own.