Women/Violence in Latin American Literature and Film, Portfoilio

Second part "Shadows"           In the eye of the reader, Irene, from "Of Love and Shadows", lives a very different life due to her social status that provides her with privilege. Therefore, she faces no political violence like Evangelina. As a reader, Irene accepts the cruelty of the government because of how powerful they have become. She has grown comfortable; therefore, she is oblivious to life outside of her own. Due to her not being exposed to this violence firsthand, she differs from the other characters. From the perspective of other characters, they are deeply affected by the violence. For example, when Evangelina’s body was discovered. This solidifies to the reader the true violence of the government, all whilst destroying the image Irene knew her government to be before. In the case of Francisco, he knows what is going on and does not seem phased. He faces injustice just like most of the people who have to suffer from the harsh government. Although th...

       The piece of embroidery that really stood out for me was the piece where the student embroidered North and South Korea. Within in the art piece, she put in South Korea the words for example, sister, dad, etc. In red, and in North Korea she put words in white amongst a white background. This piece showcases how invisible the people are in North Korea due to their political climate. I feel like that art piece in itself really speaks volume of how people genuinely feel about the conditions of North Korea, from being there or not. The student has a sense of belonging being from Korea, but denounces the fact that people are treated poorly in the North.      For my art piece I wanted to take a different direction. I wanted to showcase the positives of women in a household, and how generational traits and traditions are passed down solely from the women to her daughter, and to her daughter, so on and so forth. I'm not an artistic person, therefore I ...

  The novel "Of Love and Shadows" is a profound story about three women who all come from different social classes, who each experience their own versions of motherhood, marriage, and violence. In this Latin American society, Isabel Allende, highlights violence in patriarchal society.    The first character Beatriz Alcantara, lives a life of privilege. Her husband is an influential military official who ensures she stays away from the dangers that come from the people in lower social economic classes. From the outside, her life seems extremely fulfilled with everything she needs. On the inside, her husband is psychologically abusive to Beatriz and doesn’t separate his job persona from his home persona. She lives an unfulfilled life due to this and the fact that she is distant from her children who suffer from the abuse her husband inflicts on them as well. Outside of the house she keeps up the facade that everything is normal. Digna Ranquileo works a laborious life,...

  “In the Time of the Butterflies” All sisters, who stood up to the powerful leaders of their government at the time. Watching this film was immersing, shocking, heartbreaking, but also uplifting. This film can take a leading role in education to come about this topic. What it means to resist and stand up for what you believe in. How important family bonds are and what it means to be a sister. Fear is a powerful tool that the DR dictators use, in turn, the Mirabal sisters never stopped fighting for what they believed. I think this film, and the history of the event in itself shows how important it is to believe in what you think is right. To push the norm and stand up for yourself. As the sisters realized that their government was corrupt, they didn’t stay silent and they slowly grew awareness towards people around them, which ended up with them joining the resistance. By combining fact and fiction, the film makes sure that the sisters’ story is remembered for all future generat...

  Frida Kahlo was a vibrant women. Who was passionate in every aspect in her life, especially her art. Frida was able to use her talent for painting, to express herself through all the trials and pain she had to face in her life. That was exactly how she was portrayed in the 2002 film  Frida.  On the other hand, her husband Diego Rivera, was portrayed as a man with a silver tongue. He was, what some would say, a “lady’s man”. In the time of Frida’s upbringing to fame, Mexico was bright and full of life, culture, music, art, and politics. The movie really captured how spiritual Mexico felt at the time and still does now. What was enjoyable for me as a viewer was how the directors highlighted so heavily on the Mexican culture that I found to be so important to include, because that was a huge part of Frida’s life. The film goes on to combine political life at the time and their art, and how socialist ideologies were embraced by Frida and Diego. The couple even h...