I had been hoping to see more about the Quincenara which seems to function as a kind of pre-wedding rehearsal - in marking the cultural transition to womanhood in Mexican culture. This rite and the societal and gendered implications around it interest me. We saw a little bit of a critique of the sheer conspicuous consumption that affects events like this but that was about it. Nominally the plot was about Magdalena's transition to adulthood in the months between her cousin's and her own Quincenara.
The sub-plot of the gentrification was quite interesting (especially to me since I can relate). In Northern CA people are buying literally HALF a house for 700,000-800,000 -- and decades long renters are being turned out so people can sell houses they bought for 60,000 for 1.5 millions dollars. Our neighborhoods are becoming less diverse (racially as well as economically). Only DINKs (double income, no kids) professionals can move in. Like the film, there's people out there buying places, putting in some work and them "flipping them" for way more money than most people can afford.
The fact that Magdalena's father is a priest and she is named after a biblical character that has been characterized as a "loose woman" seems significant - in a story with a "virgin" pregnancy. Since Mexican culture is generally known for being strongly religious, I felt like there could have been more exploration of those religious allusions.
The character/subplot I enjoyed the most was the Tio character who is shown as a wise, caring, open-hearted man with many life experiences.
I'm glad the ending chose to be realistic - in that there wasn't a big happy neatly-tied up ending for all of the main characters. Even though I wanted them to all be happy, I respect the more realistic ending.
However, there were aspects of the ending I did not like (warning: Spoilers) -What I found most disturbing about Magdalena's ending was that she was forgiven only because she could prove she was a virgin. She wasn't forgive because they loved her and accepted her. Only because she could prove she didn't have sex. The fact that she just returned to her same old regular lifestyle and didn't seem to have changed that much (still choosing to use a gasguzzling monstrosity limo they couldn't afford as a sign of conspicuous consumption) seemed counter to the point of the movie.
-What was the message of Carlos' character? Don't be gay, you'll get used by non-monogamous gay guys for their own amusement. You'll end up getting your great-uncle evicted and indirectly killing him. I like that they showed him becoming more responsible and that they didn't have him turn to violence as the answer (I was expecting the new landlords house to burn down!) However, I was simultaneously a little disturbed by the message I felt his pledge to Magdalena was sending. You're not a man until you're ready to renounce being gay and pledge to live a "responsible" life by pledging yourself to a woman and raising a child? I liked his offer to help his cousin -- but I would have like to see him finding his way to being OK with being his own self and being gay. I felt like all we saw was bad things caused by him being gay. I had hoped for a film that dealt more positively with the way religious "Machismo" culture doesn't typically recognize gay latino men. I also felt like his character was left hanging at the end. What was going to happen to him? No Tio, no family (his cousin went back to her parents), no job, no money, no apartment, no comfort with his own sexuality. This was disappointing to me.
Despite a few flaws, it's worth watching and a hundred times better than some mindless flick that's all about product placements and plastic people.
The sub-plot of the gentrification was quite interesting (especially to me since I can relate). In Northern CA people are buying literally HALF a house for 700,000-800,000 -- and decades long renters are being turned out so people can sell houses they bought for 60,000 for 1.5 millions dollars. Our neighborhoods are becoming less diverse (racially as well as economically). Only DINKs (double income, no kids) professionals can move in. Like the film, there's people out there buying places, putting in some work and them "flipping them" for way more money than most people can afford.
The fact that Magdalena's father is a priest and she is named after a biblical character that has been characterized as a "loose woman" seems significant - in a story with a "virgin" pregnancy. Since Mexican culture is generally known for being strongly religious, I felt like there could have been more exploration of those religious allusions.
The character/subplot I enjoyed the most was the Tio character who is shown as a wise, caring, open-hearted man with many life experiences.
I'm glad the ending chose to be realistic - in that there wasn't a big happy neatly-tied up ending for all of the main characters. Even though I wanted them to all be happy, I respect the more realistic ending.
However, there were aspects of the ending I did not like (warning: Spoilers) -What I found most disturbing about Magdalena's ending was that she was forgiven only because she could prove she was a virgin. She wasn't forgive because they loved her and accepted her. Only because she could prove she didn't have sex. The fact that she just returned to her same old regular lifestyle and didn't seem to have changed that much (still choosing to use a gasguzzling monstrosity limo they couldn't afford as a sign of conspicuous consumption) seemed counter to the point of the movie.
-What was the message of Carlos' character? Don't be gay, you'll get used by non-monogamous gay guys for their own amusement. You'll end up getting your great-uncle evicted and indirectly killing him. I like that they showed him becoming more responsible and that they didn't have him turn to violence as the answer (I was expecting the new landlords house to burn down!) However, I was simultaneously a little disturbed by the message I felt his pledge to Magdalena was sending. You're not a man until you're ready to renounce being gay and pledge to live a "responsible" life by pledging yourself to a woman and raising a child? I liked his offer to help his cousin -- but I would have like to see him finding his way to being OK with being his own self and being gay. I felt like all we saw was bad things caused by him being gay. I had hoped for a film that dealt more positively with the way religious "Machismo" culture doesn't typically recognize gay latino men. I also felt like his character was left hanging at the end. What was going to happen to him? No Tio, no family (his cousin went back to her parents), no job, no money, no apartment, no comfort with his own sexuality. This was disappointing to me.
Despite a few flaws, it's worth watching and a hundred times better than some mindless flick that's all about product placements and plastic people.