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

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under arrest. When one of the victims asks about the reasons for his arrest, Lechuzo<br />

says that it is for hiding weapons. However, the so-called weapons are the bottles of<br />

liquids and chemicals, which shows how the police fabricated evidence to justify their<br />

actions. The situation becomes even more absurd when Lechuzo opens the till, takes the<br />

money and points out: ‘¡Ah! Con que dinero para propaganda subversiva, ¿no?’ 203 But<br />

there is no evidence that the money is for anything other than legitimate business<br />

purposes.<br />

The scene is so exaggerated that even when we recognise fragments of reality,<br />

we are able to enjoy it. The absurdity is taken to the extreme when the policemen arrest<br />

a man in a pulquería. The man resists, saying he is not drunk. Lechuzo replies ‘pero está<br />

feo, que es peor’. 204 The bizarre explanation shows how arbitrary stupid the authorities<br />

can seem when they try to justify their actions. To laugh about it ‘es triunfar, al menos<br />

por un instante sobre situaciones insoportables e intolerables como el dolor, la crueldad,<br />

la violencia’. 205<br />

Army<br />

Religion, the president and the army were institutions that filmmakers rarely raised,<br />

fearing censorship or rejection. 206 But some did criticise the army. In comics, Rius was<br />

very critical of the armed forces, and in films, Calzonzin Inspector and Mecánica<br />

Nacional offer equally unflattering portraits. Calzonzin Inspector presents a crude<br />

caricature of the army. Two men in particular embody the institution (they are<br />

supporters of Don Perpetuo): a very old General who can barely move by himself, and a<br />

203<br />

Arau, Calzonzin Inspector, 1973.<br />

204<br />

Ibid.<br />

205<br />

Barajas, Sólo me río… p. 12.<br />

206<br />

Jean Nakamichi, ‘El cine mexicano era rosa, ahora es real’, La Crónica de Hoy, 16 September 2010,<br />

section Espectáculos [accessed 30 November<br />

2011]. Armando Manzo Vieyra, ‘La censura en el cine mexicano’, Libertad de palabra, 21 March 2011,<br />

section Reflector <br />

[accessed 30 November 2011] and Bracho, ‘El cine mexicano…’, p. 417.<br />

230

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