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

invitation to make them our ‘playmate’ or assume their role. Once we sympathise with
the character, we will enjoy their attacks against those we do not like. This is the case of
Poncho/El Águila Descalza, who despite his clumsiness, confronts the authorities, helps
those in need, and overcomes his own difficulties.
The use of exaggeration helped the audience maintain the ‘comedy mood’. We
saw exaggeration in the characters themselves, and also in the situations in which they
were involved. The characters from Mecánica Nacional are a good example. In a single
day they experience the grandmother’s death, cheating, sexist violence, and other
problems. Eufemio is aware of his misfortune when he says:’¡Son demasiadas cosas
pa’que le pasen a uno![...] De que la desgracia llega se trae a sus cuatitas’. 208 But they
always manage to overcome their misfortunes. Finally, after all the suffering, the
characters show us that they are able to defeat adversity. They make their way home
together, as a family, escorted by the police because they are carrying Doña Lolita’s
body in the car. As so often, Eufemio finds the light side of the situation, and says:
‘Nunca pensaste que ibas a tener un entierro así mamacita. Como el de un ministro’. 209
Another technique used to dilute the seriousness of the situations was to give the
comic characters a moment of triumph, so we see them in a position of superiority from
time to time. There were various means of doing so, such as making fun of those
oppressing them or in higher positions, giving them a moral victory. These are tools to
help us deal with misfortune and prevent sadness from causing stress.
Since films need to develop a story situated at a specific time, it would be
difficult to make every scene funny without confusing the viewer in a chain of
incongruities. In order to keep the comic mood and also raise serious topics, the director
inserted something funny just before or after the critical issue, so the audience was
208 Alcoriza, Mecánica Nacional, 1974.
209 Ibid.
234