NARCO CULTURE, Part 2: Movies and Music. OLLICartelsWeek 6 Culture in the Cartel Era

Transcription

1 NARCO CULTURE, Part 2: Movies and Music OLLICartelsWeek 6 Culture in the Cartel Era

2 Approaches (some we have already seen) to explaining the era of violence: Structural changes in cartels from shipping drugs to extortion of locals/also the policy of targeting drug leaders creates chaos Militarization the availability of weapons and financial incentives to use them (both the Mexican government s war on drugs and the militias of cartels) The Social Media Revolution the ease of social media use creates an incentive to use the spectacle of violence as a strategic weapon in cartels and govt. competition. Economic Dislocation of traditional Mexican rural economy and migration networks Cultural Explanations (anthropology, gender, consumerism, empire,..)

3 Cultural Explanations cover the entire spectrum Collapse of economic foundations for traditional social structures (family and town) Hypermasculinity Hyper consumerism The collapse of the family unit The rejection of the work ethic Decentralization of Religious Values Post-Colonial Politics

4 A Culture of Mysogyny? Mexican feminists see an extension of the domestic violence/femicide of Mexican culture in the violence against women. Portraying Women as deserving of death because they are escorts, ignores the gender based power structure. And women in th ehome face domestic abuse, just as they do in Maquiladora zone. d/2016/dec/08/mexico-drug-warcartels-women-killed

5 Self Postings by Panthers are becoming more common Self Actualization or living up to a Male fantasy?

6 In 2015 Mexicans were fascinated by the real-life saga of a female Cartel Boss, La China, linked to 180 murders.

7 La China clearly mimicking La Reina del Sur, a Mexican Soap Opera of 2011.

8 La Reina del Sur based on the 2002 novel by Arturo Perez Reverte. Los Tigres del Norte, 2002 La Reina del Sur corrido early narcocorrido. g-eyklcmem

9 I m going to sing you a story, so listen up my friends. In honor of the Queen of the South, the famous drug trafficker. Born in Sinaloa, the famous Teresa Mendoza. Her pretty boyfriend told her, I m leaving you this cell phone. When it rings, don t answer. It means they have killed me, and you have to run. The pretty Davila, was a very daring pilot. He made many deliveries, but in his plane he was killed. Teresa, you need to escape, I have a friend in Spain who owes me many favors and he will have to help you. When she arrived in Melilla, she changed her luck. Buying and selling drugs across the two continents.

10 Brother believe me, Teresa is very daring. Selling drug in Africa, Italy, even Russians buy from her. She is a woman you better take seriously. A glory to her country, with her boots and jacket and belt a la Mexicana. She was known to all, Teresa the Mexicana. She was the Queen of the South in the country of her birth. A courageous woman no one will forget. And then one day she disappeared. Some say she is in prison, some say she is in Italy, or California, or Miami.

11 Queen of the South - Telenovela Telemundo version 2011 ( trailer. USA today version 2015 ( Comparable to Breaking Bad? Fits acceptable model of women choosing cartel life as a survival strategy Just escapist? (It does have great clothes and scenery!) Does it matter who is making the show? marketing trailer Slasher capitalism

12 El Movimiento Alterado or Narco Corridos? Vice: Narco Music (part 1/3) Narco Cultura documentary comparing two sides of the border at Juarez. Policemen in forensics and corridista. Trailer:

13 Slasher capitalism or Gore Capitalism goes beyond looking at national cultures to look at global capitalism and the decontextualization of the body from any but its economic context. Leading writer: Sayak Valencia

14 Valencia argues that violence itself has become a product within hyper-consumerist neoliberal capitalism, and that tortured and mutilated bodies have become commodities to be traded and utilized for profit in an age of impunity and governmental austerity. Valencia unravels the workings of the politics of death in the context of contemporary networks of hyper-consumption, the ups and downs of capital markets, drug trafficking, narcopower, and the impunity of the neoliberal state. She looks at the global rise of authoritarian governments, the erosion of civil society, the increasing violence against women, the deterioration of human rights, and the transformation of certain cities and regions into depopulated, ghostly settings for war (English version: MIT Press, May 2018)

15 Endriago Subjects? Mary Louis Pratt wrote about the Monsters at the edge of the literary imagination that to set borders between civilization and barbarity. M. Valenciana Triana claims that drug traffickers fill that role in Western Culture now. Zika, Ebola, Traffickers, Cartels.. Also A. Estevez, Politics of Death in Mexico., 2013

16 The Anti Narco Corrido Writers: Las Reinas Chulas ( the Hot Mamas ) Music video of Lo Hecho en Mexico /watch?v=5lkdsqvlm80

17 Las Reinas Chulas El Hecho en Mexico, 2012, rough translation of lyrics. Mama said, how can I make sure I die in Mexico? But I realize, I m going to die.no doubt I went out to walk, evaluating the various ways to die. Chorus: They make us up, they package us up, they export us, they rape us, they bury us, they strip us, they strangle us, they dismember us, they don t investigate or ask questions, they just forget us. I will ask a favor, no one should be blamed on My death. After all, I was made in Mexico! Lets all shout together. Blessed are we. Blessed the justice and the laws. blessed the governors, blessed the men and women who respect the rights of women to die horribly. In the end that s how its done in my country.