Movies

The review of the movies Y Tu Mama Tambien and Fish Tank are commonly describes as a very brave and sexy film, or a very exciting erotic film and all of these comments are due to its bold and real description of lust, sex, and eroticism. However, the point in these movies is that they are both real allegories of what is happening in society, and that these movies are brave enough to show scenes that will surely serve as an eye opener to unheard narratives in society, or to giving audiences another way of looking at the ruling social order. This essay will then aim to look and study at how these movies have in fact bravely showed unheard societal realities, in a very artistic way. Unheard social realities pertains to the harsh realities in society which established institutions does not want to acknowledge, or fears to accept this includes corruption, indifference to poverty, or the failures of the welfare state.

Being one of the required movies, I chose the film Y Tu Mama Tambien because of its interesting depiction of Mexican society. Aside from the fact that it is commonly known as a very exciting and comedic erotic movie, the fact about Y Tu Mama Tambien is that it is one of the most artistic political allegories (Edelstein, n.p.) of Mexico. Take note that the first scenes itself shows a very interesting piece of reality the casualness of the youths quest for sexual gratification wherein the main character Tenoch and his friend actually became very aggressive and casual at the same time in looking for girls while being stoned, just after their eternal and sexually energized vow of eternal fidelity to their partners leaving for Europe not to fuck any Europeans (Edelstein n.p.). However, the more interesting part of the movie in this case is the unnoticed but important twist of Mexican politics in the movie Tenoch being a son of a filthy rich powerful politician of the ruling PRI party in Mexico, and his friend which belongs to the poorer classes, and has a sister picketing along with a stream of university left wing activists.

This is also the case in the movie Fish Tank with a battered girl living in public housing projects, molested by her father and abused by her mother, and alienated with friends while seducing a new found savior. Then the more interesting part comes along in Y Tu Mama Tambien, the main characters meeting in a lavish dinner at the presidential palace, meeting a Spanish acquaintance and teasing her into a made up beach called Heavens Mouth, (Edelstein n.p.) and while gratifying their quest for sexual gratification and lust, ignoring facts of life along the road such as the rural poor, bloody working immigrants, and left wing activists catering to the poor. This is a very clear representation of present day Mexico meaningless promises of heaven by the government to its citizens while gratifying themselves with corruption, landlord dominated countryside landscape, and total disregard for the Mexican masses, with the radical left their only remaining hope. Such technique is also used in Fish tank, with the full description of sex, which serves as a medium for the audience to look at the realities of first world, British ghetto, and of public housing (Stevens n.p.). Aside from the fact that sex scenes between Mia and Connor shows no inhibition whatsoever, so are the scenes where Mia is groped by tension regarding the abuse of her father, of calling her sister a cunt, of using the ghetto and rap culture as a means of escape, and of the grim realities of public housing environs (Stevens n.p.). This movie only shows how experiences of harsh realities actually determine commonly misunderstood alternative cultures, as well as the role of established institutions in it.