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

Poncho states that someone must start helping those in need, which makes us think that
the authorities were not doing their job. The poverty of the family Poncho sees on the
pavement reveals how the authorities abandoned citizens in need. What this example
also shows is the complexity of an act of humour. The humour in this example conveys
more information, in the appendix where more details regarding the topics and
mechanisms of humour employed are available.
Machismo as abuse of power is another phenomenon discussed in all these films.
For the moment, we will examine it as an abuse inflicted by men on women, although
there is more subtlety in machista behaviour than this simple definition. 91 Later in this
chapter I will examine other manifestations of machismo since this phenomenon is
relevant in the Mexican psyche and has cultural resonance.
All four films contain moments in which women are treated as objects and as
inferior to men. This can be observed repeatedly in Tívoli, since the cabaret targets a
male audience which wants to see semi-naked and naked women performing on stage.
But in fact the male artists who work in the theatre are also abusive in their behaviour
toward the women. Backstage, female dancers walk around semi-naked, which pleases
the male staff, and Tiliches frequently touches them lustfully without complaint from
the women. During a performance in which the star vedette, Eva, is touched and kissed
by a member of the audience who had climbed onstage, no one from the theatre steps in
to protect her, and indeed, Tiliches smiles at the scene.
The abuse of men over women can be seen more clearly in the final show of the
cabaret, when at the end all the artists appear onstage to thank the audience. As Eva
steps forward, members of the audience start to call for her to undress by yelling
91 Based on the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española [accessed 2
October 2011]
190