The Charro as a Humorous Rural Stereotype in Mexico in the 1920s

At the beginning of the 20th century, the charro, a traditional figure from the rural world, emerged on the Mexican cultural scene as a relevant stereotype. In the following years, the charro transformed into a national personification of Mexico, especially once it became a key figure of Mexican cinema and mariachi music. Notwithstanding this fact, its trajectory was more convoluted than it seems, and different versions of the character coexisted at least until the 1920s. Whereas the charro was usually represented as an attractive and seductive man, there was also a comic version, portrayed as an overweight or unkempt man with a provincial mentality. The characters played by the comic performer Leopoldo Beristáin and the protagonists of Sunday comic strips, such as Don Catarino and Mamerto Albondiguilla, were some examples of the latter. While the positive interpretation of the charro ended up prevailing as the main iteration of the character, the comic depictions of this stereotype show the rejection and contempt that the urban population felt for a rural world that had invaded the Mexican capital as a result of the revolution—a world perceived as provincial, backward, and laughable, an idea that would dominate foreign and national imageries of Mexico.

Hegemony and mediations in melodrama of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema

<p>The influence of the mass media is a contentious issue, especially in regards to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema in the mid-twentieth century. These melodramatic films have often been viewed by critics as instruments of hegemony. However, melodrama contains an inherent ambivalence, as it not only has a potential for imparting dominant messages but also offers a platform from which to defy and exceed the restraining boundaries imposed by dominant ideologies. An examination of a number of important Golden Age films, especially focussing on their contradictory tensions and their portrayals of modernity, illustrates this. The Nosotros los pobres series serves as an example of how melodramatic elements are incorporated into popular Mexican films and how melodrama could be used as an ideological tool to encourage the state’s goals. Similarly, the maternal melodrama Cuando los hijos se van uses the family to represent the processes of conflict and negotiation that Mexicans experienced as a result of modernization. Consistent with the reactionary nature of melodrama and its simultaneous suggestive potential, the film combines a Catholic worldview with an underlying allegory of moving forward. The issue of progress is also at the centre of a number of films starring iconic actor Pedro Infante, which offer an avenue for exploring what modernisation might mean for male identity in Mexico. His films show a masculinity in transition and how lower-class men could cope with this change. Likewise, the depiction of women in Golden Age film overall supports the stabilising goals of the 1940s Revolutionary government, while also providing some transgressive figures. Therefore, these films helped the Mexican audience process the sudden modernization of the post-Revolutionary period, which was in the state’s best interest; however, the masses were also able to reconfigure the messages of these films and find their own sense of meaning in them.</p>

Hegemony and mediations in melodrama of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema

<p>The influence of the mass media is a contentious issue, especially in regards to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema in the mid-twentieth century. These melodramatic films have often been viewed by critics as instruments of hegemony. However, melodrama contains an inherent ambivalence, as it not only has a potential for imparting dominant messages but also offers a platform from which to defy and exceed the restraining boundaries imposed by dominant ideologies. An examination of a number of important Golden Age films, especially focussing on their contradictory tensions and their portrayals of modernity, illustrates this. The Nosotros los pobres series serves as an example of how melodramatic elements are incorporated into popular Mexican films and how melodrama could be used as an ideological tool to encourage the state’s goals. Similarly, the maternal melodrama Cuando los hijos se van uses the family to represent the processes of conflict and negotiation that Mexicans experienced as a result of modernization. Consistent with the reactionary nature of melodrama and its simultaneous suggestive potential, the film combines a Catholic worldview with an underlying allegory of moving forward. The issue of progress is also at the centre of a number of films starring iconic actor Pedro Infante, which offer an avenue for exploring what modernisation might mean for male identity in Mexico. His films show a masculinity in transition and how lower-class men could cope with this change. Likewise, the depiction of women in Golden Age film overall supports the stabilising goals of the 1940s Revolutionary government, while also providing some transgressive figures. Therefore, these films helped the Mexican audience process the sudden modernization of the post-Revolutionary period, which was in the state’s best interest; however, the masses were also able to reconfigure the messages of these films and find their own sense of meaning in them.</p>

El narcotráfico en el cine mexicano: arquetipos desde 2010 a 2017

This article studies the archetypes and the iconography in contemporary Mexican films that deal with drug trafficking in order to examine the evolution of the narco cinema subgenre and changes in the representation of the narcocultura. The corpus is constituted by the biggest box office hits each year between 2010 and 2017, which are analysed thematically. This study suggests that the characteristics of the narcocultura continue circulating within Mexican cinema, but it does not point to a subgenre’s existence. The genres circumscribing the films analysed promote the narcos’ heroism via archetypes and iconography, which symbolize how narcos overcome their modus vivendi to stand as a legitimate authority against a corrupt government. Alongside this representation of narcos, these films also present objectified women and promote values such as loyalty and family. The aforementioned archetypes and iconography offer a view of life in which violence is normalized, and crime is seen as a legitimate lifestyle.

La Música Ranchera in the Reconfiguration of Hispanismo and Mexicanidad in Musical Exchanges between Spain and Mexico

This chapter analyses the continuous negotiations and dialogues that are happening on both sides of the Atlantic regarding the construction of Mexicanidad and Hispanismo through música ranchera. The author emphasizes the role of Hispanismo during La época de oro del cine mexicano (The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema) from 1936 to 1959: for example, in the construction of Mexicanidad through Chavela Vargas, and through the appropriation of the estilo bravío performed originally by Lucha Reyes. This chapter explores especially the legacy of Cuco Sanchez and Chavela Vargas and concludes with a consideration of the new cultural dialogues that are currently taking place regarding música ranchera.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s melodramatic masculinities

Melodrama is a genre with deep roots in Mexican cinema with distinct conventions and particularities. Alejandro González Iñárritu (AGI) demonstrates a fluency in this genre integrating it into the conventions of transnational art house cinema. As someone whose auteur status is conferred both through multiple prestigious awards and articulations of his creative self as originator of his projects, AGI’s play with genre is often overlooked. Using videographic criticism as a tool for analysis, this article considers the actor’s dynamic performances in AGI’s male-centred melodramas Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) and The Revenant (2015).