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

slaves, and he plans to keep the factory illegally. Don Carlos does not in fact own the
factory. The mafia own it and Don Carlos is an illegal front man. In Mexico at the time
it was forbidden for foreigners to open businesses. Therefore, the name of the factory is
very revealing: La Malinche, referring to the indigenous woman who supported Hernán
Cortés during the Mexican conquest.
The US characters in Mecánica Nacional are two young girls who are camping
with the crowd. They dress in a hippie style and while observing the Mexicans enjoying
themselves camping, one of them comments: ‘There is nothing Mexican here!’ making
reference to the influence of the USA on Mexico. To lose national identity is dreadful,
but the discomfort is interrupted with an amusing comment from a young Mexican man
who holds the girl while saying ‘We are!’ 147
Politically incorrect? Superiority as the triumph of the super-ego
Humour helps us understand social concerns in a specific cultural group. Through
humour, we reveal our real thoughts and identities. Humour can ‘tell you something
about who you are, then it might be a reminder that you are perhaps not the person you
would like to be.’ 148 Studying humour helps us create a ‘radiography’ of who we are,
without having to openly admit it. After observing three situations in Mecánica
Nacional, Calzonzin Inspector and Tívoli, we need to ask: is it fair to laugh at those with
a disability or those with different ideas or beliefs? By making fun of them we are
helping them to deal with difference or to integrate them into a ‘democratic universe’ of
humour? Or is making them the butt of our jokes politically incorrect?
I will start with an example from Mecánica Nacional. Early in the film there is a
scene in which two men come to Eufemio’s garage to deliver ice. One of them has a
147 Alcoriza, Mecánica Nacional, 1971.
148 Critchley, On Humour, p. 75.
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