Cinematographic and Literary Representations of the Femicides in Ciudad Juarez
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Cinematographic and Literary Representations of the Femicides in Ciudad Juarez. A dissertation submitted to the Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures of the College of Arts and Sciences 2013 by Olimpia Arellano-Neri B.S., Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, 1992 M.S., Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 1998 Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, 2004 M.A., University of Cincinnati, 2008 Committee Chair: Dr. Nicasio Urbina Abstract In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, from 1993 to 2008, around 450 women (the exact number is unknown) were brutally murdered or simply disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Although the femicides have not stopped as of yet, the various patterns that characterized the femicides during this period have recently been overshadowed by a different type of murder which involves both men and women and which seems to occur during the daylight and in more public places. The large number of femicides has attracted international attention from groups ranging from human rights associations to individual authors working in different literary genres. The femicides and all the social conflicts that have been linked to them have yielded a vast production of literary and cinematographic pieces which attempt to represent the murders and the circumstances under which they took place. In this dissertation, six documentaries Señorita extraviada (2001), The City of Lost Girls (2003), The City of Dead Women (2005), Bajo Juárez (2006), On the Edge (2006), and Silencio en Juárez (2008); three fiction films Espejo retrovisor (2002), Bordertown (2006), and Traspatio (2009); and three novels Desert Blood (2005), 2666 (2004), and Las muertas de Ciudad Juárez: El caso de Elizabeth Castro García y Abdel Latif Sharif Sharif (1999) are analyzed and compared. The ability of writers and filmmakers to use textual, aural and visual elements to reproduce the likeness of the reality before them is assessed, as well as the strategies employed to compel us to believe that that reality is indeed re-presented before us objectively. The comparison of the representation of the victims aims to answer two questions: whether or not an objective depiction of victims can be achieved without compromising their identity and individual value as human beings, and whether or not ii these femicides can be represented in a way that neither over-emphasizes nor ignores the implied violence or the socio-political circumstances under which these crimes happened. At the same time, comparison of the plots serves to answer another key question, namely that of the perceived causes of the femicides. iii iv Dedicated to my husband Jeff and to our daughter Lee. v Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Nicasio Urbina, his knowledge, expertise, generosity and commitment made this project possible. Thanks to the members of my committee; Dr.Maria Paz Moreno and Dr. Therese Migraine- George for their willingness to participate in this research, their time to read the dissertation, and their valuable suggestions. I extend my gratitude to the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Cincinnati, faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, and fellow graduate students. I want to give special thanks to my husband Dr. Jeff Loveland for his help editing this manuscript, his love, and encouragement. Thanks to my beloved daughter Leann Loveland for her love and patience. Thanks to my sisters: Suny, Adela, Rosalia, Gabriela, and Araceli; my brothers: Armando, Antonio, Arturo, Luis Moises, and Raul; my nephews and my nieces for their love and encouragement. I will always be grateful to my dear friends Susan Cogan and Emmanuel Wilson for their friendship. vi Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 DOCUMENTARIES 11 1. Representation of the Victims 13 1.1 Death 15 1.2 Life 19 1.2. 1 “Good” or “Bad” 21 1.2.2 Ethos and Ego 23 1.2.2.1 Ciudad Juarez Population and Migratory Ethos 24 1.2.2.2 Maquiladora Workforce Ethos 25 1.2.2.3 Female – Family Ethos 26 1.2.2.4 Male – Family Ethos 29 1.2.2.5 Age, Gender Ethos 34 1.2.2.6 The Ego 37 2. Irony in the Documentaries 39 3. Material and Format 58 3.1 Narrators 59 3.2 Interviews 63 3.3 Footage 73 3.4 Archival Documents 76 3.5 Symbols 77 3.6 Musical Score 79 3.7 The opening 80 3.8 Inconsistencies in the Documentaries 87 3.9 Violation to the Body of the Documentary 91 3.10 Nichols’ Modes 94 4. Conclusions 98 CHAPTER 2 FICTION FILMS 101 1. The Focus 106 1.1 Focus on Style 107 1.2 Focus on Plot 109 1.3 Focus on a Character 119 1.4 Focus on Ideas 125 2. Representation of the Victims 127 2.1 Direct Victims 127 2.2 Indirect Victims 142 vii 3. The Causes 144 4. Violence in the Films 160 5. Americanization or Universalization of the Subject 166 6. Conclusions 169 CHAPTER 3 NOVELS 172 1. Narrator 175 2. Plot, Characters, and Theories 190 3. Conclusions 224 CONCLUSIONS 226 BIBLIOGRAPHY 232 viii List of Figures 1.1 Objective viewpoint of the mother of one of the victims. On the Edge. 68 1.2 Subjective viewpoint of the same person as in Fig. 1. Bajo Juárez. 68 1.3 The lens of a camera pointing at the audience. Señorita Extraviada. 93 1.4 Young woman looking at the camera. Señorita Extraviada. 93 1.5 Young woman looking at the camera. Bajo Juárez. 94 1.6 Young man looking at the camera. Bajo Juárez. 94 2.1 Journalist Lauren (Jennifer Lopez). Bordertown. 123 2.2 Police officer Blanca (Ana de la Reguera). Traspatio. 124 2.3 Eva working at the Maquila. Bordertown. 129 2.4 The day Juanita arrived in Juarez. Traspatio. 129 2.5 Hilda giving her testimony. Traspatio. 129 2.6 Schoolgirl who is abducted by Mickey Santos. Traspatio 129 2.7 Paloma chatting at the school cafeteria. Espejo retrovisor. 129 2.8 Juana dancing with another man when Cudberto arrives. Traspatio. 131 ix INTRODUCTION 1 In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, from 1993 to 2008, around 450 women (the exact number is unknown) were brutally murdered or simply disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Although the femicides have not stopped as of yet, the various patterns that characterized the femicides during this period have recently been overshadowed by a different type of murder which involves both men and women and which seems to occur during the daylight and in more public places. The large number of femicides that took place from 1993 to 2008 has attracted international attention from groups ranging from human rights associations to individual authors working in different literary genres. The femicides and all the social conflicts that have been linked to them have yielded a vast production of literary and cinematographic pieces which attempt to represent the murders and the circumstances under which they took place. In this dissertation, six documentaries Señorita extraviada (2001), The City of Lost Girls (2003), The City of Dead Women (2005), Bajo Juárez (2006), On the Edge (2006), and Silencio en Juárez (2008); three fiction films Espejo retrovisor (2002), Bordertown (2006), and Traspatio (2009); and three novels Desert Blood (2005), 2666 (2004), and Las muertas de Ciudad Juárez: El caso de Elizabeth Castro García y Abdel Latif Sharif Sharif (1999) are analyzed and compared. The ability of writers and filmmakers to use textual, aural and visual elements to reproduce the likeness of the reality before them will be assessed, as well as the strategies employed to compel us to believe that that reality is indeed re-presented before us objectively. The comparison of the representation of the victims aims to answer two questions: whether or not an objective depiction of victims can be achieved without compromising their identity and individual value as human beings, and whether 2 or not these femicides can be represented in a way that neither over-emphasizes nor ignores the implied violence or the socio-political circumstances under which these crimes happened. At the same time, comparison of the plots serves to answer another key question, namely that of the perceived causes of the femicides. A word of caution is in order: It is important to keep in mind that we are dealing with mimetic representations rather than with reality. For convenience, a brief history of the concept of mimesis is offered. The term mimesis has been used since the ancient Greeks, Plato’s Republic being one of the most important and enduring works related to the subject. With the description of the ideal political and social organization of an imaginary city, Plato (through his character Socrates) exposes his ideas about the act of mimicking in epic poetry. He denounces the practice of mimicking; he argues that the person who performs this act is a liar, for he is hiding his real self and he is pretending to be someone else. In the Republic, Plato proposed the expulsion of actors from the imaginary city, for they were not a positive influence for children who were supposed to become governors of the city. Among other inconveniences, Plato sees mimesis as an act which produces only “phantoms” rather than real entities. As far as the response from the audience, Plato explains that the reaction of the audience when exposed to a mimetic representation is irrational, purely emotional. In short, Plato associates mimetic performances with superfluity and dishonesty; therefore he considers them unhealthy. Plato’s student Aristotle also contributed to the theory of mimesis with an important thesis presented in his Poetics.