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

Don Perpetuo is an uneducated man who can barely read. However, this has not
prevented him from ruling San Garabato for more than thirty years, according to one
complaint to Calzonzin. We notice his limited literacy early in the film when the
postman delivers a letter which announces the news of the Inspector’s visit. When the
Mayor tries to read the letter aloud, he starts to stutter and is unable to complete even a
sentence, so he hands it back to the postman to read instead. We also note Perpetuo’s
ignorance once he hears that the Inspector is already in town. However in this scene the
policeman who delivers the information is also portrayed as ignorant, and we have a
case in which two figures of power are humiliated simultaneously:
194
Lechuzo (policeman): Dijeron [Calzonzin and Chon] que vienen
disfrazados de ‘incróspidos’ [sic]
Don Perpetuo: ¿Incróspidos, babosos? ¡Será de intrépidos! 102
Calzonzin will also insult Don Perpetuo by calling him ‘analfabestia’ and ‘cerebro de
mosquito’ 103 in a letter that he sends to his friend Pujuy, the unfairly jailed journalist, a
letter which is later intercepted and read out loud by the postman. When Perpetuo hears
this, he snatches the letter away and tries to read it himself; however, he fails again and
has to give it back to the postman to be informed of its contents. This supports
Calzonzin’s judgement of the Mayor’s capabilities, revealing a common perception of
the personal qualities of the authorities and exemplifying Purdie’s comment: ‘texts
construct such funny figures in the way we usually need to think of actual authorities –
as illegitimately, and therefore ineptly, holding their power’. 104 By witnessing these
representations we feel comfort – the joke has insulted those in power, temporarily
102
Arau, Calzonzin Inspector, 1973.
103
Ibid.
104
Purdie, Comedy. The Mastery… p. 65.