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

film foray: MI FAMILIA 309
thing. I mean they were taking up a lot of jobs. Jobs that were needed
for what they called “young Americans.” So La Migra made some
big sweeps through the Barrio and they rounded up everyone that
they could. 2 It didn’t matter if you were a citizen like my mother.
If you looked Mexicano, you were picked up and shipped out. She had
just been out shopping. She wasn’t allowed to come home. My father
was never told. She was all alone and she was pregnant. All these things
really happened. The year was 1933. The Southern Pacifi c railroad
made the U.S. government a deal. For $14.75 a head, they took the
Mexicanos all the way back into central Mexico hoping they would
never be able to get back. (italics added)
“All these things really happened” is a crucial statement here, given the
fi rst fi ctional scene of the fi lm and Paco’s emphasis about his father’s talent
for embellishment. Paco has set the stage for questioning official accounts
of history, but he must also take care to distinguish fact from fi ction in his
promotion of alternative versions. In this case, it is clear that his father’s
penchant for tall tales has nothing to do with the telling of this story since
José remains ignorant of María’s whereabouts until she is able to complete
the journey back to the family two years later with Chucho.
Another indication that these events really happened is that the fi lm
shows María’s journey back to California from Mexico and without ironic
commentary from Paco. She arrives at an aunt’s house determined to make
the trip back to Los Angeles as soon as possible. She sets off when Chucho
is old enough to travel and soon arrives at a river that, because of early rains,
is too dangerous to cross. María persuades the porter to take her across despite
his misgivings; meanwhile, a white owl hoots portentously. Their boat
capsizes after a harrowing trip down white-water rapids. María manages to
save Chucho and herself but still doesn’t cross the river. Back at her aunt’s,
two indigenous healers perform a curing rite on little Chucho to prevent the
river spirit from claiming the baby’s life. They tell María she must pray to
the Virgin Mary. Eventually, María makes it back home, but according to
her syncretic, indigenous/Catholic belief system, Chucho must ultimately
be sacrifi ced to the river spirit. In image, word, and form—since María and
Chucho’s reunion with José establishes the holy family of Jesus, Mary,
and Joseph—María’s spiritual interpretation of events will be consistently
narrated. This point of view adds complexity to the fact-versus-fi ction
dichotomy that Paco has established, but it also recalls the vast body of fi lms
that characterize Mexicans and Mexican Americans (particularly women)
as spiritual and mystical. Mi familia both participates in this discourse and