Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

However, after this demonstration of abusive behaviour, Don Perpetuo is punished.
While everyone is hurriedly leaving his office to carry out his orders, Don Perpetuo
mistakenly puts a basket on his head thinking it is his hat. His clumsiness is revealed,
and his ridicule will help us cope with his misbehaviour. 86
The films also portray the abuse of power by ordinary citizens. Those with more
power than others abuse the less fortunate, just as we saw in the comics. A clear
example appears in Mecánica Nacional. Early on, before the main characters have gone
to where they are planning to camp, they gather in Eufemio’s garage. A man delivers
some blocks of ice, probably for keeping the food fresh during the trip. Eufemio
complains that the delivery is late. They start arguing, and finally Eufemio offends the
driver. A fight starts but Eufemio’s compadre, Güero Corrales, interrupts by saying that
if Eufemio offended the man then he should apologise, but at the same time he shows
the pistol in his belt to the driver. ‘¿Cómo la ve?’ asks Corrales. ‘¿Pues cómo quiere que
la vea?’ 87 replies the driver, while leaving defeated. Eufemio’s friends start shouting at
the driver telling him that he was a coward for not confronting Eufemio. In this case,
Corrales’ gun gives the men the power to insult and intimidate the ice seller. It also
makes them feel stronger and put them in a condition of superiority. I will return to this
example when I integrate the superiority mechanism in my analysis.
Another example from Mecánica Nacional occurs while driving to the car race.
Eufemio and Quijano, in separate cars, are forced by the police to leave the highway
because of the traffic ahead. A car behind is pressuring them to move to one side, which
causes Eufemio and Quijano to get out of their car and start arguing with the other
driver:
86 Freud, El chiste y su relación… p. 203.
87 Alcoriza, Mecánica Nacional, 1971.
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