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Mexican LGBT+ cinema

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Latin American LGBT cinema

There are many Mexican LGBT+ films, a genre that has developed through the film history of the country since the 1970s.

Gay characters have appeared in Mexican cinema since the 1930s, but were not integrated until the ficheras of the 1970s. After this genre of sexploitation comedy, Mexico produced films as part of the wave of Maricón cinema. In 2001, with the success of Y Tu Mamá También, Mexico propelled Latin America into a period of increased LGBT+ film production unified as New Maricón Cinema.

Within Mexico-specific LGBT+ cinema, a conflict of homosexuality and national identity is common and a frequent topic of analysis.

History

Gay characters in Mexican cinema have been said by Michael K. Schuessler to have started out in films as stereotypes to be ridiculed, but, in line with "the change in conception about homosexuality in Mexican culture", writes that they developed into "complex characters with psychological depth".[1] Schuessler notes the films of Arturo Ripstein and Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, calling them a "transition point" before the works of Julián Hernández that comprise a lot of Mexican gay cinema in the 21st century.[1]

Early gay characters: Fichera

See also: Mexican sex comedy

Fichera is the genre of Mexican film that contained the first gay characters. Dominating production in the country in the 1970s and early 1980s — around a third of Mexican films in 1981 were ficheras.[2]:28 They contained characters including transvestites and jotos,[2]:29 and were influenced by even earlier Mexican nightclub films that contained queens performing as a common trope; the type of gay characters in the films may fit the "in-between" type of Richard Dyer's categories.[3]:75 Though showing such characters may have been considered progressive so early in film history, this is the only realization of LGBT themes and the characters were typically small parts and played for comedy by being based in gender deviance.[3]:76 What are now considered among Mexican LGBT+ films in the 1970s and 1980s do not include films in the related but distinct genre of fichera.[4]

Maricón cinema

Maricón cinema is similar to the fichera but has a structured narrative and less comedy. Films of this era in Mexico include those of Ripstein and Hermosillo, particularly Doña Herlinda y su hijo.[2]:175-176 Fresa y chocolate is said to be a "classic" of the genre, which lasted primarily up to, though with some films produced after, 2001.[2]:178-179

Post-2001: Y Tu Mamá También and New Maricón Cinema

Several of the notable works of Ximena Cuevas, a Mexican performance artiste who incorporates themes of lesbianism into her works and who has been called "a perfect prototype for an emergent Queer New Latin American Cinema", were performed in 2001.[5]:172 In this year, Y tu mamá también was also released. The popularity and success across the Spanish and English speaking worlds became a trigger moment in Latin American LGBT+ cinema, with more LGBT+ themes appearing in the mainstream.[5]:176-177

In society

The 18+ rating given to Y Tu Mamá También in its native Mexico caused outrage, in part because of its reasoning seen as insufficient to warrant the rating but further because this rating completely bans anyone under 18 from seeing the film, which people believed was censorship as parents could not choose to allow their children to see it, if only as a form of education. This prompted its producers the Cuarón brothers to expose the RTC ratings board, which led to the system being separated from government control.[6] The film was released unrated in the United States, as it was feared it would receive the NC-17 rating, with the high rating also a point of condemnation against the US ratings board in Roger Ebert's review.[7]

Analysis

Homosexuality and national identity

Machismo and no-rules wrestling are predominant features of Mexican culture
Mexican women dressing for cabaret. The sparkling make-up and feathers used in shows are elaborate and performative exaggerations of feminine gender that can be used to "queer" a heteronormative space.

Several writers analyze representations of gay characters in Mexican cinema, or lack thereof, in relation to fitting into a national identity. In such writings, this identity goes beyond a formulation of machismo and Lucha libre to something more inherently potentially homophobic, where homosexuality is or was traditionally conceived of as not-Mexican.

Alfredo Martínez Expósito writes that though a "conspicuous scarcity of gay characters and themes in Mexican cinema" may be blamed on "a machismo-inflected patriarchy", the image of the homosexual is more likely controlled by "both the image that Mexicans have formed of his own country and the image that Mexico has exported to other countries". Martínez Expósito suggests that "cinematic attempts to introduce gay characters and themes in national cinema should necessarily be doomed" because "Mexicanness" as a concept and identity contains a lot of features associated with patriarchy, which he says explains why Mexican LGBT+ cinema (pre-2001) used various strategies in order to acceptably introduce their themes; characters who are camp but not gay, characters who are closeted, for example, up until "the latent homosexual in Y tu mamá también", which he suggests "tested the limits of national tolerance".[8]

Vinodh Venkatesh, in his writing on the role of children in Latin American LGBT+ films, also notes this theme more recently. Hendrix in 2011's La otra familia is educated on LGBT+ matters and has a representative choice to accept a foreign gay couple as his adoptive parents, implicitly a choice allowing queerness to be introduced into national identity. This film is also noted for instructionally introducing the English term "gay" as a modern and politically correct term to replace the extensive lexicon of gay slurs pertaining only to Mexico, and featuring exaggerated stereotypes of typical Mexican characters in Gabino and Doña Chuy trying to reinforce ideals of machismo, homophobia, and national identity all mixed together to Hendrix.[9]:188-190

Christina Elaine Baker's doctoral thesis looks at Mexican cabaret and different forms of drag as being expressions of queerness outside of the mainstream represented by film. Baker extends her scope to view the queering properties of these performances to be "questioning not just identity constructions, but also the way the body exists in relation to the space and time within which the performances occur", suggesting that "the artists [...] queer, subvert and re-configure expectations of heteronormativity, the whitened mestizo physique and male/female gender binaries associated with mexicanidad," and that by using queer bodies in this way "they propose alternative definitions of what it means to be Mexican." Baker notes that there is no similar representation or challenge to what constitutes national identity in Mexican film of the Golden Age, which she places as the mainstream, but that the performance appears in the LGBT+ cinema movements that succeed it, including fichera and Maricón cinema.[10]

Films

See also: Category:Mexican LGBT-related films
Mexican writers Alfonso (top left) and Carlos Cuarón (bottom right) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for their 2001 film Y Tu Mamá También, which Alfonso also directed and which starred Gael García Bernal (top right) and Diego Luna (bottom left).

The bisexual-themed 2001 Y Tu Mamá También was nominated for an Oscar.[11]

Year Film title Director Notes
1938 La casa del ogro Fernando de Fuentes [8][12]
1951 Muchachas de Uniforme Alfredo B. Crevenna remake of the German Mädchen in Uniform[13]
1969 Modisto de señoras René Cardona Jr. [8]
1972 Fin de la fiesta [14]
1973 Peluquero de señoras René Cardona Jr. [8]
1973 The Holy Mountain Alejandro Jodorowsky
1975 Satánico pandemonium Gilberto Martínez Solares
1976 Tres mujeres en la hoguera Abel Salazar
1977 Alucarda Juan López Moctezuma
1978 The Place Without Limits Arturo Ripstein
1983 Appearances Are Deceptive Jaime Humberto Hermosillo
1984 El Otro Arturo Ripstein [8]
1985 ¿Como vés? Paul Leduc [8]
1985 Dona Herlinda and Her Son[15] Jaime Humberto Hermosillo features first same-sex couple in Mexican cinema[12]
1986 Casos de alarma 1/SIDA Benjamín Escamilla Espinosa [8]
1987 Clandestino destino Jaime Humberto Hermosillo [8]
1987 Mentiras piadosas Arturo Ripstein [8]
1988 El verano de la señora Forbes Jaime Humberto Hermosillo [8]
1989 El chico temido de la vecindad Enrique Gómez Vadillo [8]
1989 Santa Sangre Alejandro Jodorowsky
1990 El día de las locas Eduardo Martínez [8]
1990 Machos Enrique Gómez Vadillo [8]
1990 Muerte en la playa Enrique Gómez Vadillo [8]
1991 Amsterdam boulevard Enrique Gómez Vadillo [8]
1991 Danzón María Novaro
1992 Imperio de los malditos Christian González [8]
1993 Actos impuros[15] Roberto Fiesco written by Fiesco and Julián Hernández[16]
1993 Bienvenido-Welcome Gabriel Retes [8]
1993 En el paraíso no existe el dolor Víctor Saca [8]
1993 Miroslava Alejandro Pelayo
1994 Dulces compañías Oscar Blancarte [8]
1994 Strawberry and Chocolate Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío
1995 Cilantro y perejil Rafael Montero [8]
1995 Midaq Alley Jorge Fons
1997 De noche vienes, Esmeralda Jaime Humberto Hermosillo [8]
1997 En las manos de Dios Zalman King [8]
1997 El evangelio de las maravillas Arturo Ripstein [8]
1999 Crónica de un desayuno Benjamín Cann [8]
1999 Sin destino Leopoldo Laborde [8]
2001 Y Tu Mamá También Alfonso Cuarón
2001 De la calle Gerardo Tort [8]
2001 Demasiado amor Ernesto Rimoch [8]
2002 Exxxorcismos Jaime Humberto Hermosillo [8]
2003 A Thousand Clouds of Peace Julián Hernández
2003 Lucía, Lucía Antonio Serrano
2003 Vivir Julián Hernández short film[15]
2004 7 mujeres, 1 homosexual y Carlos René Bueno
2004 Puñas rosas Beto Gómez [8]
2004 Temporada de patos Fernando Eimbcke [17]
2005 David Roberto Fiesco short film[15]
2005 Identidad Julián Hernández short film; also known as Fragmento de identidad and I Will Sleep When I'm Dead; basis for Broken Sky[15]
2005 Yo estaba ocupada encontrando respuestas, mientras tú simplemente seguías con la vida real Raúl Fuentes short film
2006 Broken Sky Julián Hernández
2007 Bramadero Julián Hernández short film[15]
2007 Quemar las Naves Francisco Franco Alba
2009 Raging Sun, Raging Sky Julián Hernández
2011 Jet Lag Sergio Tovar Velarde [15]
2011 La otra familia Gustavo Loza
2012 A World for Raúl Mauro Mueller [15]
2013 Instructions Not Included Eugenio Derbez
2013 No sé si cortarme las venas o dejármelas largas Manolo Caro [2]:177
2013 Peyote Omar Flores Sarabia [15]
2014 Four Moons Sergio Tovar Velarde
2014 Perfect Obedience Luis Urquiza
2014 Velociraptor Chucho E. Quintero [15]
2014 Wandering Clouds Julián Hernández short film[15]
2014 Yo soy felicidad de este mundo Julián Hernández [15]
2015 Eisenstein in Guanajuato Peter Greenaway
2015 I Promise You Anarchy Julio Hernández Cordón
2015 Muchacho en la barra se masturba con rabia y osadía Julián Hernández short film[15]
2015 Trémulo Roberto Fiesco short film[15]
2016 Boys on the Rooftop Julián Hernández short film[15]
2016 Macho Antonio Serrano [18]
2016 The Untamed Amat Escalante
2017 A Place to Be Tadeo Garcia [15]
2017 Chavela Catherine Gund and Daresha Kyi
2017 Cuernavaca Alejandro Andrade Pease [17]
2017 Hazlo como hombre Nicolás López
2017 I Dream in Another Language Ernesto Contreras
2017 The Other Side Rodrigo Alvarez Flores [15]
2018 Esto no es Berlín Hari Sama [19]
2020 Dance of the 41 David Pablos

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Arroyo Quiroz, Claudia (2011). México imaginado : nuevos enfoques sobre el cine (trans)nacional. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. OCLC 815945448.
  2. ^ a b c d e Venkatesh, Vinodh (2016-09-27). New Maricón cinema : outing Latin American film (First ed.). Austin. ISBN 9781477310144. OCLC 921425424.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b V. Lewis (2010). Crossing Sex and Gender in Latin America. Springer. ISBN 9780230109964.
  4. ^ "1976-1982: Los años de las "Ficheras"". Archived from the original on 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  5. ^ a b B. Ruby Rich (2013). New Queer Cinema: The Director's Cut. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822354284.
  6. ^ Wood, Jason (2006). The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema. London: Faber and Faber Ltd. ISBN 978-0571217328.
  7. ^ Ebert, Roger (5 April 2002). "Y tu mama tambien; Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Martínez Expósito, Alfredo (2012-12-15). "El cine gay mexicano y su impacto en la imagen nacional. Modisto de señoras (1969), Doña Herlinda y su hijo (1985), Y tu mamá también (2001)". Amerika: Mémoires, identités, territoires (in Spanish) (7). doi:10.4000/amerika.3379. ISSN 2107-0806.
  9. ^ Vinodh Venkatesh (2016). New Maricón Cinema: Outing Latin American Film. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9781477310175.
  10. ^ Baker, Christina (2015). Queering mexicanidad in Cabaret and Film: Redefining Boundaries of Belonging (PhD dissertation). University of Wisconsin–Madison. ProQuest 3734161.
  11. ^ "10 great LGBTQ+ films from Latin America". BFI. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  12. ^ a b Lonely Planet. "Gay and Lesbian Mexico City" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 7, 2011. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  13. ^ "Pioneering Mexican Lesbian Film Screened for the First Time Ever in the US". Remezcla. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  14. ^ "End of the Party". 13 January 1972 – via www.imdb.com.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Gay Movies from Mexico". www.listal.com. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  16. ^ Actos impuros, retrieved 2019-08-27
  17. ^ a b "Outfest Offers a Look at the LGBTQ Community of the Americas Through Film". Remezcla. 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  18. ^ "Macho | Netflix". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  19. ^ "From Gay Conversion Therapy to Leather Competitions: Must-See Latino Movies Playing Outfest". Remezcla. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
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