Family+Roles

=Family Roles=

In class we saw and discussed much regarding the Mexican "way of life", and "la familia"... I wanted to write about some correlations between several movies versus how this cultural aspect exists in current times. I spoke to a close family friend who happened to be born and raised in Mexico; I conducted a short interview with him.

I wasn't sure where to begin so I divulged my topic to him, he brought up what he referred to as the "Mexican Bushido Code."

I asked him, what is this "Bushido Code?" He said "well in many typical Mexican families you have an obligation to live up to your parents standards to the point where you'd be willing to put your own life on hold in order to carry out their wishes, whether those wishes serve your interests or not, your adherence is always to your family first yourself second and everything else third[sic](Landeros, 2010)."

This was an interesting point that he made. We saw this in almost all of the movies we watched. //Salt of the Earth// shows this exact issue, albeit it many years in the past(//Salt of the Earth, 1954//). The film took a look at how families in that time viewed gender roles. Specifically, how the situation they lived in caused them to have to open up their mind to values previously not accepted within their culture. The theme is noticed again in the film //Walkout//, for example, Paula is held to some very high expectations by her parents - a major theme throughout the entire film(//Walkout, 2006)//.[3]

The "Mexican Bushido Code" may not be a real term, but just a funny way of looking at it from the point of view of a history major. However, the point is that this cultural theme is ever present, and most importantly, almost the exact same to this day.

[1] ENGL254, Interview Landeros 2010 [2][|Salt of the Earth IMDB Link] [3][|Walkout IMDB Link]