... CARTOON... CARTOONS...

Recently, I went back home for the holidays and I realize I was getting older when every cartoon, my youngest cousin watches, just seemed unintelligible for me, they were boring and uninteresting; exactly the reaction my mother used to have towards the cartoons I used to, and still love.

There was one about a school for animals where a kid was enrolled by mistake, because his name was Lion (that was what my cousin explained to me) actually what I could see was a crab pinching everything it could pinch; and I found my cousin laughing at that, I couldn’t find out why it was so funny.

He is 9 years old, I remember I used to see much more complex cartoons at the time, so I start chatting with my brother about the cartoons we used to watch and then we realized that most of them were anime, the anime created in the late 70’s early 80’s, some of it based on classical literature pieces like Remi and Heidi, or coming from the manga such as Astroboy, Mazinger Z, G force, Candy Candy, Saint Seya, Captain Tsubasa, Fly or from comics like He-Man, She-ra, Batman, X-Men, Spiderman or some from Rankin/Bass like Thundercats and Silverhawks.

At seven years old we were already dealing with different kinds of narratives and themes; big dramas, Remi sold by his stepfather, the blindness and death of Mr. Vitallis, the death of Antony, the renounced love for Terry, with stories that included obscure heroes and psycho-killer villains with complex personalities, the seven different universes of Spiderman or the messed temporality in X-Men.

I’ve recently watch Lady Oscar, and as a kid there are a lot of things to decode, first of all she is an androgynous hero, both women and men seems to be attracted to her, then there are complex plots developed like: the role of woman in the society, infidelity, rape, suicide, lose, violence, human rights; the very regard towards love is always unfortunate, unrequited, forbidden, long-suffering, and it never drives the characters to happiness but to sorrow; also de narrative, the images; static, dark or lighten, full of allegories, symbolism, metaphors.

For what I’ve seen the cartoons today are coming back to a simpler narrative, like the early Warner Brothers ones, Bugs Bunny making fun of Daffy Duck or Tom and Jerry, running around until the cat gets injured and make kids laugh. Even mythic comics like X-Men become simpler, making all of them a bunch of teenagers, with stereotypes of the urban sub-culture youth. It is like the new cartoons makers are following the philosophy under the Newspeak from 1984 George Orwell novel, making them simpler and avoiding any intellectual effort from the kids. Who is producing this content? Is it our generation that was tired of drama and complexity? They didn’t want to cause any unnecessary tears?

I know maybe some of the big trauma at least from my brother and I started with cartoons, but they also developed our decoding skills and made us get interest in media; not for nothing we ended up studying communication.

Rudo y Cursi (Something like “Rough and Cheesy”)

I don’t know which is the name the Anglo - Saxons are going to give to this movie, the first CHA CHA CHA production, film Producer Company created by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón. The movie directed by Carlos Cuarón and the cast Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.

When I knew this film was being produced first of all I thought, what a great marketing plan, and kind of abusive with this cast and producers the box office was guarantee to be a success no matter the quality of the film.

 

Then I was expecting to be enlighten, the most successful man in the Mexican film industry were producing, directing and acting in a new movie. I have to say that I tend to be kind of hard on the Mexican productions, there are not a lot of movies being produced, most of them are American style romantic comedies with a touch of Mexican folklore, a waist of time, material and money. 

Rudo y Cursi is not as enlightening as I was expecting, but is a nice and well done sociological study of the entertainment business in Mexico, soccer players coming from the furthest distances, with no scholar education who’s dreams come true though soccer. And how this medium is unfair to its participants and the law of the jungle is imposed, the most naïve are dazzle by this world and are doomed to fail.

 

It also portraits how do foreign are seen in Mexico, the Cuban girl who ran away from the island and made her way into the show business through sex, and how does the Argentinean guy, taking advantage out of the general acknowledge of being good soccer players gets to manage them. Also the everyday corruption is portraited, the acquisition of power though money and sex, the ambition is the main and most important source to achieve a place in this world.

 

The audience doesn't escape from being represented, the soccer fan behavior, their passion towards this spectacle; how they get personally involved with the game and the  players; it can change from a cheerful and loving crowd to a thousand head monster willing for blood.

 

Rudo y Cursi is not going to become one of the world wide best movies of all times, but it is one of the best late productions of the Mexican film industry; now they are in the Sundance Festival, and the film will be distributed world wide, so best of lucks with it!

GAZA

After more than a month in silence I am back, the family and holidays took my attention from anything else. And even if I would like to write about something else, and it seems to be out of time now that the Israeli troops are withdrawing, I feel obliged to write about the situation in Gaza.

There have been said a lot of things about this subject, everyone has an opinion about it and takes a side. But looking at it form a Mexican point of view I was quite disappointed for the small manifestation demanding the withdrawal of the Israeli troops that took place in Mexico City only 50 to 60 people assisted. It is true that in Mexico there is not a huge Muslim community, but there wasn’t either the purpose to express solidarity and indignation towards this barbarity.

But I was even more disappointed when the Jewish community held a manifestation supporting Israel and their right to defend themselves, defend themselves from what? From civilians, children and women? From people who live held in a aired open prison.  That they call evil forces!!!

I’ve met Jewish people in different circumstances, one of them in the MUNAL (National Art Museum) where I was a museum mediator; they were kids from 7 to 9 years old, all of them Mexican Jewish, coming from wealthy families, raised with all the privilege they can have, but also with the Jewish pride. While attending the art workshop they use to fight with fists and nails to have the white and sky blue paint that are the Israel flag colors, isn’t this how fanaticism begins? this are the Jewish that latter won’t only support Israel with a manifestation but with economical resources as they are used to do, this are the jewish that hide under the holocaust shadow, and live only among their community (family, friends, school, synagogue, film institute…)

Photo: Notimex

The Jewish people claim to know what suffering is after what it happened during the Holocaust, how do they manage to do this harm? Lets remember that Israel was a State created in Palestine only after 1947, and it is how the war for the Holly Land has begun.

 

After the First World War “The Palestine Mandate” was intended to created a national home for the Jewish people. Do religions need a national home?  Imagine if the creation of states depended on religion. A lot of people wouldn’t have a nationality.  They are the foreigners in this country, what was the former Palestine become Israel; they are repeating what the Nazis did them for economic power, now are they doing it for territory, and why there is not intervention? Because Israelis don’t have a global aim, like Hitler did?

 

An what about the holy land, isn’t God omnipresent and omnipotent why are they fighting for a piece of land; do they think they are going to be rewarded afterwards in heaven for killing thousands people for a piece of land? Palestinians don’t even have a nationality, if they are willing to come back they have to do it with an other passport, how crazy is that; Palestine do not exist. 

This war will go on, until the rich and powerful accomplish their aim, impunity! Meanwhile, a lot of people will keep on suffering and the ONU will remain as the ornament it has been in this and other conflicts.