Like Water For Chocolate

In this movie Tita the youngest of three daughters is bound by tradition to remain unmarried and care for her mother until she dies.This seems like a terrible tradition to me. Tita becomes bitter, she is forced to standby and watch as the love of her life marries her sister in order to remain close to her. Tita had a very close relationship with Nacha from whom she learned about love and cooking. Tita and Mama Elena had an abusive mother daughter relationship. Tita seemed to be the one she took all her anger out on.
Tita was able to manipulate the emotions of everyone who ate her food. When forced to prepare the cake for her sister Rosaura's and Pedros wedding her tears fell in the cake batter, when the guests ate the cake everyone became extremely upset and were vomiting. After Tita recievied roses from Pedro her mother told her to get rid of them, she wanted no relationship between Tita and Pedro, Nacha came to her in a vision and said make quail with rose petal sauce. This created a sexual experience for Tita/Pedro as they were eating as well as everyone else at the table. Gertrudis was so overcome she ended up setting the shower on fire with the heat from her body. She was picked up by Juan Alyandrez and left naked on his horse.
Pedro /Rosaura had a son whom Tita ended up breastfeeding even though she was still a virgin. Tita was devastated when he died . She blamed Mama Elena for his death because she had forced Pedro/rosaura to move away to keep tita/pedro apart. Tita had a breakdown and was taken from the ranch by Dr Paul. As she was leaving she was covered with the quilt/afghan she had knitted while crying over her lost relationship with Pedro , the quilt was miles long. This showed the depth of her caring.
Even after she was dead Mama Elena was able to torment Tita. Tita would have visions /ghost like visits from her mother. Thus the abuse was able to continue. Tita was finally able to lay it to rest when she stood up to her mother.
Twenty four years later Pedro and Tita finally came together. Talk about undying love. While making love ,Pedro is so overcome all his "matches" burn and he dies. Tita eats sulpher from the match tips to ignite all her" matches " choosing to die rather than live without the love of her life. I have to say I really enjoyed this movie.

Diarios de Motocicleta

I feel like there are many scenes in the film that helped shape Ernesto's personality. When he was saying goodbye to his family you could see how much he loved them and they him. Family unity is very important, it gives a person the ability to try new things knowing they have something to fall back on. He was able to embark on his journey with his friend secure in his decision.
Ernesto was honest and trustworthy. His girlfriend gave him fifteen dollars to buy her panties. He refused to spend the money on anything else. Even when extremely ill he denied himself medical care refusing to spend her money on himself. Honesty prevailed when he told the doctor to stick with medicine because his writing was terrible.
Ernesto saw so much devastation and destruction on his journey like the man and woman who were forced out of their home to find work. In the end he gave the couple the fifteen dollars after he and his girlfriend broke up even though he could have benefited from it himself. That self sacrifice continued throughout the film. While watching from a nice boat as the poorer people were pulled behind in a small vessel you could see his anguish and you knew that he did not believe in the segregation.
When he reached the leper colony he refused to wear gloves choosing instead to humanize the individuals. The lepers were surprised that someone was actually touching them without a barrier in between. How long had it been since they were touched and made to feel worthy.By giving of himself he touched many lives. Ernesto gave up a life of privilege to fight for what he believed in . He was honest, trustworthy, compassionate and brave all qualities of a good leader

Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown

This movie was alot different than I thought it would be. I can't really say that I enjoyed it. The womens behaviors were way over the top but I assume it was for the comedic value. The women in the movie seemed to tolerate the inappropriate behavior of the men. Some women feel like they have to have a man in their lives to be complete. This leads to bizarre behavior at times. Some women contemplate suicide, others act on it, like Pepas friend Candela who jumped off pepas balcony. Others lean towards revenge/murder like when Pepa spiked the drink because she knew Ivan liked it.Many women today stalk their lovers and ex-lovers like Pepa did to Ivan. It's amazing that in todays world men can still be the cause of a womans self destructive behavior.
The men in the film were portrayed as gigolos, Ivan moves from one women to the next and Carlos hits on other women even though his fiance is in the next room. In the film it seemed like normal behavior. In some cultures women are taught that the man is the boss and they follow meakly behind . It amazes me how some women allow a man to degrade/disrespect them and they think it's ok.
I liked the part in the movie when Pepa saved Ivans life at the airport when Lucia was trying to kill him. Then when he came over to her she didn't want anything to do with him. It seemed like she had grown as a person and found her selfworth within herself.

Marchuca

Gonzalo and Pedro met when Father McEnroe integrates a few poor boys into the elite private school that Gonzalo attends.Gonzalo a long standing victim of bullying refuses to bully Pedro and a bond is formed.Even though their social classes differ greatly these boys are able to form and maintain a friendship.Gonzalo was blessed with an abundance of material things but also had his share of heartache. His mother was having an affair with a wealthy man and gonzalo was forced to accompany her to his house. Pedro lived in a shantytown in a one room house with no running water or indoor toilet but he never seemed jealous of what Gonzalo had. His mother worked in the gardens with a baby at her side. The wealthy were able to obtain things via the black market while the poor were forced to struggle.
As Chile moved towards Civil War Gonzalos and Pedros participated in protest marches,sold cigarettes and flags to make money for Sylvanas uncle. Gonzalo seemed very happy helping his friend.After the military moved in, took over the school and removed Father McEnroe the kids were scared. I thought it was very moving when Father McEnroe walked into the church ate the holy wafers and blew out the candles. He said the church was not sacred anymore and told the people that the lord was not there. Pedro stood up as a sign of respect even though the military was present.
During the military coup in 1973 against the Salvador Allendes Government , Gonzalos witnessed Sylvana being killed and the rounding up of Pedro and the residents of shantytown. Gonzalos is terrified ,when they tried to take him he pushed aside his friendship and told them he was from the other side, the military believed him because of his expensive shoes. Pedro witnessed this , his disappointment in Gonzales was evident but he was just a scared little boy.
People here are judged according to what their families have or don't have. If your poor its assumed that your not as intelligent or motivated to work . Hopefully these attitudes will change. Thankfully we don't have to face the level of poverty that exists in other countries and we have many more opportunities . It seems like poverty is a perpetuating cycle that perpetrates societies feeling of them being less important. A cycle like this is almost impossible to break out of for many reasons, not the least of which is societies attitude towards that class of people.

La Misma Luna

Rosario left her son in Mexico and immigrated to the US with dreams of making a better life for him. She hoped to work hard and make enough money to bring Carlitos to live with her. Carlitos father Oscar was not involved in his life, so the financial burden fell solely on Rosario. She felt that by going to Los Angeles she would have a better chance of giving Carlitos the life he deserved.Rosario worked two jobs to save money to pay for a lawyer and to be able to send money to her mother each month for the care of her son. By leaving Carlitos with her mother Rosario was able to leave knowing that he would be loved and taken care of. Both Rosario and Carlitos were unhappy and lonely, each missing the other. Rosario was consumed with guilt and constantly questioned whether or not she was doing the right thing. Carlitos at different times would become angry that his mother had left him not fully able to understand that she was trying to help him. He questioned if he would ever see her again. I believe that a mother is always looking out for her child and would do anything in her power to make their lives as happy and fulfilling as possible. If it took leaving that child with someone she trusted while she pursued a better life for them then I feel like that is the ultimate sacrifice. With as many opportunities as there are in the US its hard to comprehend the need to seperate from family for any length of time to make a better life but if necessary I believe any mother would do what they have to do.

class expectations

I hope I will have a new understanding of the the spanish culture.The movie we watched was powerful. I expect to be able to be more accepting of others around me. I am taking this class in order to get my BSN however I was pleasantly surprised. I hope Im doing this right.

Lisa Gallagher