Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

the socialist utopia 265
He glares at the stranger and then stares angrily at María and her client,
assessing the situation. When the full impact of what has happened hits
him, his fury grows and he walks slowly toward María. Then he approaches
the North American menacingly but backs off and continues to scowl at
María. The tourist takes this opportunity to leave, with a jolly “Goodbye,
Betty!” As he exits the shack, he polishes off the rest of the tangerine
and tosses the peel to the ground as easily as he discards María/Betty and
any conscious thought of his contribution to Cuba’s socioeconomic woes.
Meantime, René spits the typical U.S. name she is using back at María—
“Betty?!”—and, without waiting for any explanation, abandons her, while
she shivers in shame.
What is highly relevant in this fi nal sequence is the discursive shift that
has evidently occurred, the seeds of which have been planted along the way.
The U.S. tourist is held explicitly accountable for his ignorant hedonism.
After leaving María’s shack, he is caught up in the maze of the shantytown
where Afro-Cuban mothers, children, and elderly people stare out at him
blankly or implore him for money from behind bamboo poles like those in
the bar, which are also reproduced in miniature in the canary cages hanging
above their heads. The omniscient female narrator chides him: “Why are
you running away? You came to have fun—go ahead, have fun! Isn’t this a
happy picture? Don’t avert your eyes. Look!” Nevertheless, the character
who is ultimately and inadvertently blamed by the fi lm is María.
figure 14.8 A dejected René leaves María/Betty in Soy Cuba