#((my sad attempt at el tigre))

[etst430brynneadams]

Module 13

Colonialism as well as modern capitalism function using a hierarchy of knowledge where one way of knowing and living, the colonist’s way, is designated as superior while other, indiginous ways of knowing are subjugated and made inferior. Knowledge in our world has been carefully  created to “construe Latino/as as social monsters” that must be controlled and removed (382). The imaginary creates a venue where Latino/as can transport and save “knowledge useful to their survival,” (383). Latinx Monsters emerge as the result of certain times, feelings, and places; it is a reflection and embodiment of culture. Over the last few hundred years five periods: “ 1) the Spanish conquest experience 2) 19th century US expansionism 3) 20th century interwar period 4) the World Trade Organization era...and 5) the millennium neo anti-immigrant nativist movements have led to the creation of five monsters: 1) La Llorena or the Weeping Woman 2) “The Dangerous Bandito” such as Joaquin Murrieta 3) Social monsters or “monsters within” such as the Pachuco/Zoot suiter 4) El Chupacabras or “the goatsucker” and 5) Zombies/Life suckers and La Santa Muerte respectively (384-390). These monsters remind Latinx people of their “vulnerabilities and trajectories of oppression,” (391). 

I have a very vivid memory of watching a Scooby-Doo movie that came out in the late 90s/early 2000s as a child where the antagonist is a Chupacabra. I knew that some monsters like Zombies represented deeper societal ills and fears (capitalism for the zombies), but I did not know that monster theory asserts they all come from deeper fears and issues. It actually makes a lot of sense when I consider the fact I knew the Frankenstein novel shows the scientist as the monster not the “actual” monster themself. I have also seen La Llorena in shows like Supernatural, but that characterize her as a sad, angry ghost that drowned her children in a tub. It makes a lot more sense now that I know she is really a protector of her children who cries because her children are lost to assimilation, violence, or prejudice. 

Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UBRK1SwGXE

Chapter 34 discusses Narco Culture, its origins, important pop culture aspects, censorship, and relationship to death. Jesus Malverde is known as the “folk saint of the narcosphere,” (395). His story depicting him as a criminal who steals due to his economic status and for the other poor people makes him attractive to drug dealers due to his two personas as a helper and criminal that form to create one legend (396). Narco Corridos play an important part in narco culture as they show the realities of narco life through the lyrics while glamorizing it to the masses through the use of music and celebrity (397). Although there have been attempts to censor narcos corridos to help stop the glamorization of it by the masses, censorship of these songs risks further censorship by the government against anything someone says that the government doesn’t like (399-400). Narco cinema portrays how “inescapable” the “underlying violence and kitsch and machismo culture” of narco culture truly is (402). Death, particularly La Santa Muerte, are also very important parts of narco culture. To be a narco trafficker is to be betrayed or dead; it is a completion of their character (405). There is an “intrinsic morbidity” of narco culture: “drugs may be the matter, death is the art” (406). 

A Narco Corrido: Los Tigres Del Norte - Contrabando Y Traición https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ocd-A-lItU

I found this chapter really interesting and a very engaging read due to the author’s tone and unique voice. Their writing style is how I would write most of my academic writing if it was allowed: funny, personal, but on point and well supported. It was hard to summarize because I felt like the author was just going over some important aspects, movies, songs, and artists of narcos culture without a specific overall argument (as he stated there wasn’t really a thesis). Overall, I learned a lot about Narcos origins and culture that I did not know before. 

Chapter 35 explores the history, role, and portrayal in media of coyotes, or “the men and women who for a fee...facilitate the extralegal journey of migrants into a country or countries different than their own,” (414). Their presence precedes the arrival of the Spanish colonists; coyotes were considered male gendered snf the “trickster-culture hero,” (415). Like the pre-colonial understandings of coyotes, smuggling today is  highly gendered with women performing historically female tasks at much higher rates than males (417). Colonial religious perceptions brought about the idea that coyotes are evil (415). This is further reiterated by mainstream media who sensationalize irregular migrant deaths and criminalize coyotes through news stories and movies (418-419). Through these portrayals, the US government has been able to frame the migrant body as “damaged, weak, and disposable” while also reinforcing the stereotype that Latinx people are criminals (419). Today the coyote is marked “by people’s collective anxieties over the presence of those who are forced to be on the margins” due to their mixed heritage or because they perform the tasks no one else will do (421). 

This chapter was really interesting. I didn’t know the smugglers were called coyotes prior to this. I did, however, know about the tragedy in Victoria where 19 migrants died. I wanted to know where the female coyote smuggler was today since according to the chapter her prison sentence ended in 2020. I couldn’t find anything specifically on her and whether or not she is still in prison. I did find an article about the annual memorial held for those who died that day. The tragedy has impacted the community in a lot of ways, and I am happy that while the rest of the world has moved on, the residents of Victoria have not.

https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/local/annual-memorial-honors-death-of-19-immigrants-16-years-later/article_ec809dee-79ab-11e9-9a8b-f3e245883cbe.html