La Misma Luna

I traveled to the city of Celaya this weekend to see Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna). The movie was as good as i had anticipated, though I could've done w/out the some of the over-dramatization. I guess I'd feel different if it wasn't such a socially charged film and if the topic of immigration wasn't so controversial in the US. I understand the point of appealing to emotions, but the facts of the immigration issue are harsh and sad enough that they don't need any additional dramatization. When one starts over dramatizing such an issue, anti-immigration supporters will begin alleging that immigrant supporters are capitalizing on peoples emotions, bleeding hearts and not sticking to facts. You could deny emotions, but you shouldn't deny facts. The fact that anyone is forced out of economic necessity to separate from loved ones for an indefinite amount of time, in order to provide, should speak volumes in itself. The fact that millions of people will risk their lives and walk three-four days through 100+ temperature should be more than sufficient evidence of great injustices perpetuated by a system that fails humanity. No one should have to risk their lives w/ so much abundance in wealth and material. The income of the average Mexican seems to be anywhere between 80-100 pesos a day, that's about $8-10USD. My movie ticket was 47 pesos, half a days labor. I started thinking about the crowd in the movie theater, in relation to the price and the topic. How many of the people in the theater are able to see this movie on the effects of immigration, on Mexican families, in a Mexican theater at 47 pesos a ticket, because someone in their family immigrated in order to afford them a better life? This thought was further magnified when my Mexican friend asked me during the movie, in disbelief, if INS agents in the U.S. actually raided immigrants at their jobs. With all honesty, how is she really expected to know? My friends older siblings both immigrated to the U.S. and now live in Wisconsin. They helped put my friend through The University of Celaya, thus helping alleviate the economic necessity of their family in Mexico. I asked my friend if she has ever thought about immigrating to the U.S., to which she responded, "Not really. I have no reason to." This led me to think about how many families or individuals in this theater have never, or ever will, experience the effects of immigration because they're part of a minority who's parents are educated, professionals or politicians, and make a better living, thus never having to leave. Therefore, the concept of immigrating out of necessity is something foreign to them. Like something out of a movie. Something that they might not be so inclined to want to change. Mexico, like many third world countries, which most of the world is, is characterized by pockets of wealth in a landscape of over-whelming poverty. The mall, where the theater is located, is adorned w/ stores like Aldo, Checkers Shoes, Hot Topic knock-offs, Gap, A & F, etc. The food court will sell you a Whopper meal for 60 pesos, a Subway sandwich meal for 50 or maybe a Big Mac meal for 60. American prices w/ Mexican wages. Meanwhile, outside in the parking lot boys as young as 14 offer to wash cars, carry bags or help guide you park your car. Older ladies sell tamales, cups of atole (a corn based drink) or antojitos (snacks). Further down the road, at any given intersection, young boys hop on car hoods of unsuspecting motorists, washing windshields w/soap filled Pepsi-bottles, tattered rags and broken pieces of rubber that serve as impromptu squeegees, for anywhere from 1-5 pesos. The spirit of the entrepreneurial capitalist at work or the spirit of necessity? The movie brought back memories of confusion and fear, given that my parents, up until i was 8 were both illegally in the U.S. Confusion on first seeing my dads face on a falsified green card and wondering why the name didn't match his face. Fear on the fact that my father would leave for work, knowing very well, that it was possible that he and my mother might not return home. Everyday, conscious of the raids that were occurring in numerous factories in the Chicago area. I'm not pretending that situations of blight don't exist in the the US, because they very much do. It just that these situations are just that much more dramatic and obvious in a country like Mexico. It's that much easier for me to observe and relate, given that I am a product of two immigrants, speak fluent Spanish and have a Mexican background. This isn't an attempt at volunteering myself to a life of poverty, but an attempt at volunteering myself to take notice, lest I insist on pretending to be oblivious, mostly out of not knowing what to do. Because like it or not, all of this hit's too close to home.

Book:
The Pig and The Skyscraper. Chicago: A History of Our Future.-Marco d'Eramo