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Reviews
Pelo malo (2013)
Bad Hair Is More Than Just Bad Hair
Pelo Malo was made in 2013 by Mariana Rondon; the movie follows Junior on his journey of wanting to straighten his hair and his mother's reaction, Martha.
Junior is nine years old and wants to straighten his hair for his next school picture. His hair is very thick with tight curls so Junior tries many ways from oil to mayonnaise to get rid of curls. The movie shows other kids playing basketball, but none of them has curly hair like Junior. His hair also represents the racism between society towards the Afro-Venezuelan population and how he is different from others.
Since caring so much about one's hair appearance is normally a trait of women in almost every country, Marta becomes incredibly concerned that Junior is gay. However, all Junior wants is to straighten his hair and be a singer. His mother does not understand this and goes to the extreme of taking him to the doctor, forcing him to see her having sex with a man, and giving him the ultimatum of shaving his hair or moving in with his grandmother.
In my opinion, I don't think Junior is gay, but it's not my place to judge one another's sexuality. I hold this opinion due to Juniors reaction when his grandmother made the singers outfit as a dress and too much like a girl. Either way, I think Marta should have been more accepting of her son.
The first time I watched the movie, I thought Marta acted this way out of fear of how others in society would treat him if he were gay. The next time I decided she didn't do any of these things out of love. She did it because she was ashamed of him that he isn't manly enough in her eyes.
Even though there are a few awkward scenes and some actions don't make sense to me, I definitely recommend this movie to others. It gives a great look to the inequalities between women and men along with other social problems in Venezuela such as the opinions on homosexuality, racism, and poverty.
La teta asustada (2009)
Potato, Potahto?
The movie starts out beautifully and heartbreaking with Fausta's mom serenading her in Quechua while she lay in bed dying. During this song, she describes the rape she endured while pregnant with Fausta and the death of her husband. These first few minutes are very crucial to the understanding of the movie. Since Fausta's mother was raped while she was still inside her mother, "the milk of sorrow" was passed down to her. The milk of sorrow is defined as the fear that her mother passed down to her while breastfeeding. The movie even goes so far to say that the milk of sorrow is one born without a soul since it's so hidden due to fear.
Her mother proceeds to pass away while Fausta serenades her after her mother stops singing. Fausta goes next door where she begins to bleed and a pool of blood between her legs on the ground starts to form. The girls scream out that Fausta is bleeding again – making it seem like this is a normal occurrence. The next scene shows Fausta at the doctor being asked if she's a virgin and she responds that she doesn't know. The nurse explains she has a "potato" in her vagina and she doesn't want anybody to take it out.
The rest of the movie follows Fausta where she must make a few tough decisions. She wants to earn enough money to transport her mother back and have her buried in their small-town village. However, the job she has makes her question whether she is going to continuing living in fear or if she is going to overcome The Milk of Sorrow. Lastly, the potato begins to affect her health and she must decide whether to keep it or not. The movie is very heartfelt and unpredictable which makes it that much more enjoyable. I recommend you watch this movie and pay close attention to all the different turns it takes.
Liz en Septiembre (2014)
Prepare To Cry
Liz En Septiembre is a beautifully written and directed movie which tackles a few topics – living life to the fullest, sexuality, and courage.
Liz has never been in love before – she leaves the women she is with before falling in love so she always has the upper hand. Well now her cancer is back and she tries not to fall in love but it was inevitable this time. She tried to do anything to live longer to love Eva just a little longer such as partake in her friends "hippie" medicinal attempts to rid her of the cancer. Her friend tells her you can live a century of memories within a minute which encourages Liv to allow herself to fully fall in love with Eva.
The movie features many lesbian women and Liz describes she was born gay. The movie also showcases Eva in the beginning as a heterosexual woman married with a kid who has recently died which has troubled her marriage. She happens to the lesbian birthday retreat by her car breaking down and all the hotels being sold out. At first she is turned away, but then the owner makes an exception letting her stay. Liz then makes a bet she can make Eva fall for her in three days.
After a few obstacles, Liz is successful and Eva returns to Liz. Unfortunately, Liz continues to get sicker and must go to the hospital and is recommended chemo, but she doesn't do it because she wants to live the time she has to the fullest. She has about two months left and the friend who was originally going to put her to sleep backs out of their plan because she's too scared. Despite Eva not having the medical training, nor wanting to lose Liz, she steps forward and says when the time is right she will drug Liz so she can leave peacefully as her last dying wish.
Overall, the story was beautifully heartbreaking and raw. The scenery is incredibly beautiful too since it's set on a tropical resort!
XXY (2007)
Recommendations
I was assigned to watch XXY for one of my Spanish classes so I didn't exactly know what to expect since I didn't watch a trailer before starting the movie. This review isn't going to spoil the movie like others do because I would like you to go through the same process and/or thoughts I did.
There were many moments throughout the movie I felt like I was an intruder on this personal experience and journey. The movie countered these moments with small moments of joy even throughout the entire process Alex faces. One of these small moments was when Alex and Alvaro danced to only music they could hear in the street and you could tell it was pure joy. The little moments like these make this movie more enjoyable and worthwhile throughout all the intense private moments. It makes you want to continue to see these small moments.
I recommend this movie to others, probably 13 and up since it does have a sex scene and shows a female chest. If the movie didn't show those two things though, I would recommend it to younger people too since it addresses a topic that is hardly ever talked about. Others can probably guess from the title XXY that it refers to the condition with people's chromosomes; however, I had never heard of it before this movie.
My biggest recommendation while watching this movie is to pay attention to your personal thoughts and/or judgments regarding the movie as a whole and the individual characters. There are many times I caught myself trying to define certain aspects of the movie when I realized not everything needs defining and that's what I would like to leave you with. Take the movie as it comes, hold your thoughts, and reflect on the movie after you have watched all of it.