Olivia-LAS-470

 Our discussion on Pablo Escobar and visit from Dr. Jason Ruiz was fascinating and eye opening. I my opinion one of the most interesting aspects we discussed was how differently “Narcos” – a United States produced series – versus “El Patron Del Mar” – a Columbian produced series – presents Escobar. In the American presentation of Escobar DEA agents expose him, and Escobar is presented in a glamorized and palatable way. On the contrary, the Colombian presentation of Escobar is more historically accurate, and journalists and historians expose him. I find the different representations of Escobar problematic because whether we like it or not much of the public consumes Latin America through tv shows like this. How people like Escobar are portrayed is what the public is going to believe to be true about him and what happened in his life. We need to be careful about the stereotypes that we are perpetuating in the media, because the more these stereotypes are seen the more they will be b...

The most compelling aspect of this movie to me was the motivations of the protagonist Tony Montana in the context of his upbringing in a Communist country. Tony is driven by his resentment of communism and his desire to have autonomy over his own life. We see this at the very beginning of the film where Tony is more than willing to kill for an opportunity to go to the United States. Once in America, Tony becomes consumed with the concept of the American Dream, he believes that anything in the world he wants can be his and he will go to any length to make this happen. Through the actions of Tony, the movie portrays the American Dream in a negative light. I found this fascinating as the American Dream is a concept that is usually seen as a positive symbol of hope. In contrast to this typical narrative, the American Dream is the cause to Tony’s demise. Watching Tony’s life fall apart left me to consider how the concepts we idealize may actually do more harm than good. As th...

The three articles relating to The Chilean Revolution and the involvement of El Mercurio shed light the drastic power of the media to display consumption in Latin America in vastly different lights. In the obituary the focus is placed on the man, Agustín Edwards, his life and what he left behind with his death. Although the emphasis is on the political aspects of his work with the newspaper, a political stance is not clearly taken as the emphasis of the piece is to commemorate the life of Edwards. The involvement of the CIA with the newspaper is discussed but it is present in a very factual way rather than presenting an analysis about the issue. In contrast, the excerpt titled The El Mercurio Project the focus is on the political involvement of El Mercurio in the Chilean Revolution. This piece explained the paper’s involvement with the CIA and described it as essentially a propaganda vessel for the ideology America wanted to portray in Chile. El Mercurio is even state...

“Consumption of the exotic is not only the process of consuming products from elsewhere, it is also a process of differentiating between us and them” (Goldman 30). -- When reading Goldman and reflecting upon my viewing of The Three Caballeros this was a quote that encapsulated my thoughts on the film. The movie not only objectified Latin American and its people but it also went to considerable effort to define Latin American as significantly other than the “normative” United States. Although intended to contribute to the “Good Neighbor” foreign policy initiative in the early 1940s, The Three Caballeros only widens the gap between the United States and Latin America.             In the movie Latin America is portrayed as exotic and other, specifically though Donald Duck’s reactions to the experiences he has with the women in Brazil and Mexico. Throughout the movie Donald has a stupefied ignorance which emph...