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

the Avenida Reforma and will demolish areas full of ‘plebs’. Reginaldo’s sense of
superiority is evident, but the ‘plebs’ get their revenge.
When the journalists take the official photo of the engineer and other authorities, a
displaced old man manages to appear in the shot, showing that the poor cannot be
erased so easily from the national image.
Later, Reginaldo mentions to his assistant that the Reforma project is a deal worth more
than 60 million pesos. His assistant asks:
Assistant: ¿Y cómo arreglaste eso? ¿Al 30 porciento?
202
Reginaldo: N’hombre, hay que hacer 3 o 4 partes. Ni modo. Cuatro
tajadas. Me llevo el 20 nomás. ¿Y cómo va lo del contrato de las
jardineras de Insurgentes? Me ha estado fregando mucho el arquitecto
Landín.
Image unavailable due to copyright restrictions
Image 4.6. ‘The official photograph’. Tívoli, dir. by Alfonso
Arau (1974) (in colour)
Assistant: Se cayeron las que levantamos apenas el mes pasado.
Reginaldo: ¡Pues mejor, Tarugo! Así las volvemos a hacer.
The dialogue illustrates how the private sector profits from public works projects, as
long as the money is shared with others, although in this case it is not clear who
Reginaldo will share the money with. The act of corruption is evident. To see it
portrayed helps us to admit its existence, but also permits us to discuss it safely. As
Critchley suggests, ‘by showing us the folly of the world, humour does not save us from
that folly by turning our attention elsewhere [...] but calls on us to face the folly of the