Popular Culture >> Mexicans
Pop culture will here be defined as the activities, ideas, and forms of entertainment that gain attention or are well-liked by the general population of a specific group. While examining the popular culture of Mexicans, it became apparent that the line between here and there are somewhat blurred. Yet while much of Mexican popular culture is borderless, there was and is a prominent Chicano movement (though, it seems, some of its fervor has declined).
The popular culture of Mexico and of Mexican Americans stems from a wide range of sources. Some commonly observable influences include:
- Mexico's drug gang crisis
- Crossing the border
- Immigrant work
- Other Latin American countries
- The Mexican Revolution (and political unrest)
- Catholocism
- Spanish culture
The main topics covered in Mexican pop culture will be: (click to jump to topic)
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Luis Valdez and Chicano Theater
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In 1960 Luis Valdez started El Teatro Campesino. The theater group toured Californian migrant camps and farms with playing that explored relevant political and cultural themes while also promoting a farm workers’ union in support of César Chávez. Valdez and El Teatro Campesino later expanded its focus nationally, touring the US with plays that celebrated traditional Mexican culture.
As a result, Valdez contributed to the national Chicano movement, a branch of the Mexican American civil rights movement which centered around Mexican American empowerment. Chicano theater group developed throughout the United States, especially on college campuses, where small Chicano theater groups developed.
El Teatro Campesino disbanded in 1980. Valdez went on to direct movies such as Zoot Suit and La Bamba and television projects like a remake of the series The Cisco Kid. These productions dealt with the Hispanic condition.
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Luis Valdez
Source: The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
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The Passion Play
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The Passion Play reanacts the crucifixion of Christ, with thousands of actors participation. Started in 1893, the play now attracts over two million to Iztapalapa, a town on the outskirts of Mexco City.
The play is staged annually during Holy Week, which takes place in the lead-up to Easter Sunday
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Actors in the Passion Play
Source: NYTimes.com |
Origins and The Migrant Experience in Mexican Cinema
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Mexican cinema has its origins in documentary footage of the Mexican Revolution.
Over 100 films about immigration have been produced in Mexico and distributed throughout the United States. Immigration to the United States is usually portrayed negatively in Mexican and Chicano films, with the characters’ journeys ending in tragedy.
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Nava's El Norte, a Chicano film about immigration
Source: http://homepage.mac.com/zaidesil/eng_film.html
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El hombre sin patria (1922)
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The 1922 silent film El hombre sin patricia, or The Man Without a Country, was the first Mexican movie to deal with the theme of immigration.
In the movie, the main character, Rodolfo, faces discrimination and poor working conditions in the US. He returns to Mexico after killing a racist and a villainous foreman in self-defense.
The negative portrayal of immigration to America was mirrored at the time by reports circulated by the Mexican government.
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A scene from El Hombre Sin Patria
Source:http://cinemexicano.mty.itesm.mx |
“Golden Age” (1940s-1950s)
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The industry went through a “Golden Age” in the 1940s. partially due to the relative political stability. There was also less competition from the United States, whose film industry was was busy creating propaganda movies for the war. Mario Moreno became famous as the “Mexican Charlie Chaplin” According to David R. Maciel and Maria Rosa Garcia-Acevedo Mexican cinema was the most important artistic form of popular entertainment in Mexico up until the 1950s. Areas with large Hispanic concentrations in the southwest showed Mexican movies nearly exclusively from the 1930s through the 1960s. |
Source: blog.tystoybox.com
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1970s – On
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From the 1970s, Chicano films such as Nava's El Norte, habe depicted the immigrant experience powerfully.
On the other hand, there were also many Mexican-made films between the 1970s and 1990s that drew criticism. They tended to be commercial and exploitive, drawing upon stereotypical models of Mexican immigration. They usually featured a poor working class or peasant character bearing discrimination or poor working conditions in the US. They almost always featured strong elements of violence and sex and ignored the driving factors for immigration. These films received governmental support in their distribution and presentation
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El Norte
Source: http://www.bifurcaciones.cl |
New Wave
| Recently, many Mexican films have seen broader success and high critical praise. However, the industry is drastically lacking in both private and government funding, releasing relatively few feature films per year. A few directors growing in popularity are:
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Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Source: staplus.com |
Grupo Televisa
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Grupo Televisa is the largest media conglomerate in Latin America. It was founded and now in part owned by the Mexican Azcárraga family. The corportation has contracts with both Univision, and more recently, Telemundo. It provides content to both (primarily in the form of telenovelas.
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Source: wikipedia.com |
Univision
| Univision has the broadest latino audience out of any television network in America. About 3/4 of its content consists of telenovelas. Grupo Televisa, as its exclusive content provider, produces many of these telenovelas.
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Source: wikipedia.com |
TV Azteca
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TV Azteca is a huge television network based in Mexico. It broadcasts in 13 Latino countries, Mexico, and the US. In April 2008 it announced a channel that plays telenovelas 24/7.
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Source: wikipedia.com |
Telenovelas
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Telenovelas are latino soap operas with limited run (usually around 6 months). They are hugely popular in the latino world, especially among Mexicans. In fact, Robert G. Rose, an ex Univision sales executive, mentioned that telenovelas are created to target the Mexican market in particular. It was noted by a researcher that if there was a first generation Mexican in a family, that family would almost always be a big watcher of telenovelas. Telenovelas usually depict melodramatic drama between lovers.
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Source: Treehugger.com |
Scenes typical of telenovelas.
Banda
Banda has its origins as military music during reign of Emperor Maximillian. It is similar in sound to polka music. The music gained contemporary popularity in the 1990s. Banda features large bands with prominent brass sections and strong percussion.
Tejano
Norteño
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Norteño is a genre of music that evolved in the north of Mexico, near the Mexico-Texas border. It has a rural sound and its primary instruments are the bajo sexto and the accordion.
Mexican Pop Mexican Pop is mainly marketed to Mexican youth and young adults. Pop artists in Mexico commonly become famous through the Mexican-owned television networks, Televisa and TV Azteca. They start out with roles in the telenovelas and then gain popularity. Mexican pop is somewhat similar in sound to American pop music, gaining inspiration from artists such as Ricky Martin.
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Ranchera
Ranchera emerged in the mid-1800s as songs sung on ranches in rural Mexico, usually concerning topics such as love, Mexican pride, or the natural world. Rancheras typically follow the structure of beginning with an instrumental, establishing a verse and repeating chorus, and then ending with another instrumental. Usually, the songs are in the major key and follow the tempos of either the waltz, the bolero, or the polka. Some common instruments include strings, guitars, trumpets, and accordions.
Corridos
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While Rancheras are primarily dance music, corridos usually tell detailed stories. Corridos developed during the Mexican-American War in the 1840s. At the time, the war became a major theme in corridos. Today, corridos concern issues like crossing the border, immigrant labor, or, in the case of narcocorridos, drug trafficking. When Mexicans first started migrating en masse to the US, many corridos were made that construed the act of migration as traitorous.
Corridos are set either to the rhythm of a waltz, march, or polka. The march tempo is used to tell upbeat stories while the waltz tempo is used to tell more tragic ones.
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Source: Discurso Visual
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Narcocorridos
| Narcocorridos celebrate the feats of drug traffickers. The drug traffickers are perceived as heroes by some since most supply drugs mainly to Americans, rather than Mexicans. America is seen by many Mexicans as having a drug dependency, while Mexico is the “drug provider” – not the consumer. Different drug gangs now hire singers and songwriters to compose narcocorridos glorifying them. Popular performers include Chalino Sanchez and Los Tigres del Norte, who made the form popular in the 1970s and are still widely played today. |
Source: http://www.forodirecto.com |
