Found this movie, A Day Without a Mexican, in the ‘returns pile’ at the Library, and had to see it. What would happen if you woke up in the middle of a bustling US City (Los Angeles) and all of the Mexican’s were gone?
That’s what happens in this great mock-documentary, directed by Sergio Arau. White people in business suits are washing their own cars and taking care of their own children; the tourism industry is strangled as food and dirty dishes languish in kitchens, professional baseball stops, schools close for lack of teachers, crops rot on the ground, the weather by LA’s favorite weatherman goes unreported…
“How do you make the invisible visible?” asks starring actress Yarelli Arizmendi, “you take it away.” Yarelli is Lila Rodriguez, a TV News reporter and the only Hispanic left in LA, until she discovers she is really Armenian, only adopted and raised by Mexicans. Although once she says, upon the revelation by an aunt of her “true” ethnic identity, “In my heart I’m really Mexican,” she disappears, too. (This prompted a great discussion with our son about what determines cultural identity…nature or nurture).
Respondents on “Rotten Tomatoes” were not all kind, commenting that the movie is based on a single premise, and clearly has a single opinion, but watching in the comfort of our home, with our son, it gave us plenty to think about and talk even two weeks later. The behind the scenes–how the movie got started, interviews with the actors, etc., all were very interesting as well.
What do you watch together as a family? Did you grow from it?
