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

288 reframing latin america
the food she prepares. In the scene most emblematic of this power, Tita uses
rose petals from a bouquet given to her by Pedro in honor of completing one
year as head cook to create a rose petal sauce for the quail she is preparing,
altering a pre-Hispanic recipe of Nacha’s. The fi lm explains that with each
bite, Tita enters Pedro’s body, and it is clear that the impact is tremendous.
But the character who actually acts out the passion of the rose-petal sauce
is Tita’s sister Gertrudis. When Pedro exclaims that the dish is “the nectar
of the gods,” Gertrudis becomes so aroused that she feels forced to run to
the bathhouse to cool off with a shower. Instead, she sets the structure on
fi re, and as she fl ees naked from the blaze, she is plucked from the fl ames
by a Villista (a revolutionary) on horseback who has smelled her burning
rose petal passion from miles away, thereby incorporating Gertrudis into
the revolution.
Months pass and Mama Elena does everything in her power to keep Tita
and Pedro apart. She even sends Pedro, Rosaura, and their baby son, whom
Tita has been nursing because Rosaura is too weak and incapable of doing
so and because Tita “can’t stand to see anyone go hungry,” across the border
to live. Tragically, the son dies soon afterward. Hearing this news, Tita
goes mad and is left mute. Mama Elena then sends her across the border
to a sanatorium to be cured by the North American doctor John Brown, as
“there is no place at the ranch for lunatics.” Tita regains her health under
Dr. Brown’s care but remains mute until Chencha, another family servant,
arrives at the sanatorium, restoring Tita’s voice with the soup she brings.
She informs Tita that Mama Elena has been killed by bandits, and the two
decide to return to the ranch. Soon after, Pedro, Rosaura, and Esperanza,
their new baby daughter, arrive as well.
In the meantime, Dr. Brown confesses to Tita that he has fallen in love
with her, and before her return journey Tita agrees to marry him. Back at
the ranch, however, the fl ames of Tita and Pedro’s desire are reignited, and
when Tita thinks she is pregnant with Pedro’s baby, she breaks off her engagement
with Dr. Brown, who insists that he will marry her regardless.
Ironically, this scene is juxtaposed with a wedding sequence, but the newlyweds
are revealed to be Esperanza and Alex Brown, John Brown’s son, rather
than Tita and the doctor. Rosaura has just died, and Tita and Pedro, now free
from all constraints, dance uninhibitedly at the wedding. Later, they reaffi
rm their lifelong passion for each other by making love. Pedro dies in the
act, and Tita swallows matches in an attempt to reignite the couple’s love,
recalling a pedantic lesson from Dr. Brown on the physical manifestations
of passion. The room then bursts into fl ames when what appears to be a
shower of sparks issues from Tita’s body. Both lovers are cremated and the
entire ranch burns down.