Assuming an audienceâs prior knowledge of Mexican culture and major events is a powerful way of centering the Mexican experience.
Surprise, white people⌠movies about POC / foreign-language films donât always revolve around YOUR personal experiences or white lens. Cue bitchy ignorant white critics who whine and write stupid negative reviews about a movie when they donât bother to understand or learn about another country and its history. This bullshit doesnât surprise me because growing up, Iâve heard so many ignorant, asinine, rude comments from white people and white movie critics who made fun of Bollywood and didnât understand that mainstream Indian cinema has its own unique form of storytelling catered for Indian tastes.
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Itâs mind-boggling to think that a prominent film critic didnât once stop to consider that a Mexican film â written and directed by a Mexican â has no obligation to go to great lengths to cater to him, a white American. The scene he finds so frustratingly obscure actually shows a very widely known event in Mexican history, the 1971 Corpus Christi massacre. If CuarĂłn doesnât offer up the answers to Brodyâs questions, itâs probably because Romaâs intention isnât to instruct anyone on the sociopolitical realities of 1970s Mexico. Shocking as it may be, this movie exists outside of the American gaze.
I canât help but feel a bit amused by how baffling the lack of context may be to some moviegoers. To me, assuming an audienceâs prior knowledge of Mexican culture and major events is a powerful way of centering the Mexican experience. That CuarĂłn never pauses to explain any reference seems like an act of defiance on his part. His work has long been embraced by the foreign press, but Roma doesnât exactly seem to be after its acclaim. By touching subtly upon subjects central to Mexico, it establishes an intimate dialogue between the author and his compatriots.
