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

of Eufemio and Isabel who, during the night, loses her virginity with her boyfriend,
Güero Corrales’ son. They are discovered by Eufemio, who becomes very upset. He
kicks his daughter, shouting ‘¡A esta desgraciada la voy a matar a patadas!’ The
situation is serious and violent, but the seriousness is interrupted when the boyfriend
tries to stop Eufemio and says ‘¡Ya no le pegue! ¡hay que hacer el amor y no la
guerra!’ 169 The use of the countercultural slogan is unexpected and helps the ego relax.
It is important to emphasise that Eufemio wears a jacket that says ‘Mexico’ on
the back, and his behaviour can be seen as an allegory of the Mexican middle class
male. Recalling that the slogan of the film was ‘¿de veras somos así los mexicanos?’ we
recognise the film as a portrait of Mexican society. To admit that Mexican society
thinks and behaves in this way may be hard to confront, especially if you are Mexican,
but the language of humour is a tool which facilitates discussion and management of the
issues. The role of the super-ego is vital; without it, discovering the ridiculousness of
this reality would overwhelm us. The super-ego helps to find the funny side. It helps to
deal with problems and look for ways to overcome them.
One further topic which calls for the triumph of the super-ego relates to the
disrespect and humiliation of indigenous communities, and although only Calzonzin
Inspector contains such references, they are repeated several times, inviting us to
consider the issue carefully. When the policemen inform Don Perpetuo that the
inspector is in town, Lechuzo describes the outsiders by saying: ‘parecen nacos
patarrajada, con el perdón de usted, pero luego luego uno se afigura [sic] que vienen
disfrazados’. 170 We infer from Lechuzo’s comment that an indigenous person could not
hold an important public office, at least in the social imaginary. A woman confirms this
idea during a speech in the school, when she says: ‘[Calzonzin] llegó hasta nosotros en
169 Alcoriza, Mecánica Nacional, 1971.
170 Arau, Calzonzin Inspector, 1973.
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