Dying to Live is a documentary on the complex issue of immigration and the controversial discussions it creates. This film gave me various new perspectives on the immigration experience. One of the first things that struck me is that immigrants do not leave their country if things are going well. The dangerous trip to the Unites States is often a last resort. I was touched by the story about how helpless a father must feel when a little child tells him that he or she is hungry. How can a parent feel content when living in a house with a hungry child that is dependent on family? It is difficult for me to not feel empathetic toward immigrants as it seems that the majority of their journeys are motivated by family. The documentary also noted that even those with college degrees often find it difficult to obtain work in Mexico. Many people in the United States hold a stereotype that immigrants are unskilled and have little to offer. This is usually not the case, as evidenced by the stories in the film.
This film was also a window for me into the actions of the Mexican government. Since 1983, the Mexican government has devalued the peso two times. This can mean a wage differential of 1:10 or 1:12 in comparison to the money in the U.S. I applaud the Mexican government’s creation of checkpoints, or places where individuals about to cross the border can receive final advice and warnings of the dangers they may face. At these checkpoints, immigrants are encouraged to wear warm clothes at night, to not run from the border patrol, and to carry lots of water. Though some may see these checkpoints as encouragement to continue crossing, the Mexican government knows that individuals will cross regardless of the presence of checkpoints so they have taken action to prevent harm.
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| Don Barletti |
The most striking part of the film was the photo series by Don Barletti. I was shocked by the emotions he captured in his pictures and the stories he covered by traveling with immigrants. His photo on the film’s cover depicts a man who is praying to his Savior to let him pass this time so that he can be a painter in Canada. I was impressed by the many stirring photos he took and the individual stories that each photograph encompasses. Barletti is most well-known for his collection of photos that show the journey of Enrique, a young boy who crosses the border to find his mother in the United States. Though his photos do not completely portray the sounds and smells of the journey, they do give a powerful representation of the struggles of Latin Americans. In 2003, Barletti was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in feature photography. His photographs in Dying to Live help viewers to connect with the experiences of immigrants.
Photos courtesy of http://framework.latimes.com/who-we-are/don-bartletti/ and http://www.latimes.com/news/local/photography/la-ph-pulitzer-enrique-html,0,4727213.htmlstoryhttp:
Becca,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you blogged about the film, as I didn't get to see it and was curious about its content. While “riding the rails” seems, at least nominally, like an easy method of crossing a longer distance, the pictures do a good job of illustrating that there are still plenty of risks involved, even if they are different ones than people crossing the desert might face. Cold from the wind, heat from the sun and the metal of the cars, branches, the exhaustion of holding on to the top, the risk of suffocating inside the cars…it’s just hopping into an open boxcar and riding to the next town. I’m glad that this journey is being photographed and that people can see what one of the many ways of crossing entails.
Beccster,
ReplyDeleteAlong with what Tillie said, I'm glad you blogged about the movie, as I didn't get to see it. You gave a really nice summary and the pictures that you found are absolutely wonderful--so engaging and vibrant. Wow. I definitely agree with what you say about Don Barletti's photos. There is so much emotion packed into those still frames.
It's crazy to me that people in Mexico with college degrees can't find jobs. You'd think that the government would try to create jobs for them, so that they don't lose their educated class. Brain drain is a serious problem around the world right now... I'm thinking especially of India, as I'm learning about in another class. (also, brain drain wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_drain)
Watching this short film, I was also struck by the actions of the Mexican government. Though I did not feel as if I learned anything brand new, the film did give specific details about the situation that we hadn’t received from the more creative pieces we’ve been spending time with. While I do agree with you, that it is a good thing Mexico is doing to help warn people of the dangers of crossing, I’m still struck by how much both governments are responsible for people crossing in the first place. In the segment titled something about pushing and pulling, I was surprised to learn about the Mexican government’s devaluing of the peso. I realize that I don’t understand all of the economic reasons for doing that, but to an uneducated mind it feels as if they are just instigating emigration by doing that. The devaluation, combined with government support for emigrants, leaves me unsurprised that some feel as if the Mexican government is doing too much to help emigration. But then on the flip side, the U.S. is doing so much to hinder it. The most powerful quote of the whole film came when one of the women speaking said that essentially, the U.S. is making it nearly impossible to cross, funneling everyone through the desert instead of safely in cities, but then rewarding those who do make it through without dying with high paying jobs. To me, that is an abomination.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are all intuiting through the information you are getting that the problem is much larger than just borders and immigration, per se. It has to do with the infrastructure of Mexico, the US dependence on cheap labor from elsewhere, and global capitalism. Money and economics is a huge subtext of immigration, as it is in all of the novels that we are reading. Because, after all, the American Dream depends on money. I was also struck, in this film, by the role of television. Every poor family in Mexico has a TV on which they can see American TV programs portraying a much more luxurious lifestyle. I wonder how much the invention and rise of television has to do with immigration and the spreading of the myths of the American dream.
ReplyDeleteI also found that point that when people leave it means that things are going bad at home rather than well. I feel like we view these people as outcasts and want to send them home, but if we focused more on making their country better or helping them out they would be able to survive at their homes. Not only that, but if Mexico were flourishing it couldn’t hurt the U.S. to have its neighbor to the south doing well and possible increasing trade with the U.S. I wonder if we wouldn’t pay attention to the root of the problems some of the symptoms would lessen.
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