Starring Pirates: Metaphors for Understanding Recent Popular Mexican Film.” the Journal of Popular Film and Television, Vol

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Hind, Emily. “Starring Pirates: Metaphors for Understanding Recent Popular Mexican Film.” The Journal of Popular Film and Television, Vol. 41, No. 4 (2013), pp. 196-207.

Starring Pirates: Metaphors for Understanding Recent Popular Mexican Film

By Emily Hind

Why do audiences buy tickets to films incorporate the “child of a pirate” luna (2007), Abel (2010), and in less Mexican films with themes of stardom, topic. The plot twist of a troubled youth concentrated ways, No soy yo, eres tú such as Niñas mal (2007), Casi divas whose father has left the scene, leav- (2010). To the extent that the academic (2008), and Te presento a Laura (2010)? ing the younger member of the family audience recognizes at least a few of Critics have not dedicated much atten- to strike out independently in what the the titles in the aforementioned lists, tion to these titles, although each earned present analysis terms a “pirate” role, Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 a spot in its respective, yearly top 10 receives more emphatic foreground- Mexican box office list.1 Fernando Sari- ing in other commercially successful ñana’s Niñas mal ranked second among Mexican works, such as Voces inocentes Mexican films in 2007. Issa López’s (2004), Al otro lado (2004), La misma Casi divas placed sixth in the domestic list for 2008, and Fez Noriega’s Te presento a Laura also ranked sixth among Mexican films shown in Mexico Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of for 2010. Besides the star theme, these the Black Pearl (2003). Directed by Gore Verbinski. Shown: Johnny Depp (as Jack Sparrow). Photo courtesy of Photofest. (Color figure available online.)

196 Abstract: Critics largely ignore Mexican films such as Niñas mal, Casi divas, and Te presento a Laura that find box office success. Besides a star theme, these titles incorporate the “child of a pirate” topic, which also informs La misma luna. The article suggests academically palatable metaphors of piracy, celebrity, and credit in recent hit movies.

Keywords: Casi divas, credit, La misma luna, Niñas mal, piracy, popular Mexican film, stars, Te presento a Laura Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013

197 198 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

Pirates, Anti-Piracy, mother to his granny in an unnamed Mexican town by making her hot tea or These films and “Son of a Pirate” chocolate served on a tray every morn- Films ing. Despite living in poverty, the boy frame concern The “son of a pirate” titles include honors the royal meaning of his last Luis Mandoki’s Voces inocentes, which name (“kings”), and through noble be- ranked number one in 2005, Gustavo havior he manages to save more than for the figure Loza’s Al otro lado, ranked number six a thousand dollars in cash. Of course, in 2005, Patricia Riggen’s La misma the ethics of this money-making en- of the son luna, ranked number two in 2008, and terprise are relative given that Carlitos Diego Luna’s Abel, which ranked num- works part time for a woman who helps ber four in 2010. All of these titles focus would-be undocumented workers cross in inverse on the “son of a pirate” story to audi- from Mexico into the United States. The ences’ delight. These films frame con- cash Carlitos earns funds his ambition proportion cern for the figure of the son in inverse to travel alone to the United States after proportion to the screen presence of the he discovers, breakfast tray in hand, that pirate father. For the son to become in- his grandmother has passed away one to the screen teresting, the father must in some way night. Weird maturity mixed with naive disappear, usually in search of elusive optimism fuels Carlitos’ journey to the presence treasure—which, if it were at easy le- United States in search of his undocu- gal reach, would not require the father’s mented mother. After losing his sav- prolonged absence. The son must han- ings and continuing to survive with odd of the pirate dle the consequences of partial or total jobs, such as tomato-picking and dish- autonomy, often by attempting some washing gigs, the “son of a pirate” ar- father. sort of pirate role or extralegal journey rives in East Los Angeles in time to keep of his own. To judge from the histori- his mom, a bushily long-haired, ragtag, cal practice of the “privateer”—a pirate pirate-like Kate del Castillo, from los- funded by the state—and the contempo- ing her remaining glamour by deporting rary high price of a movie theater ticket, herself in order to find her son. “Son of a the salient films probably focus more the pirate metaphor does not necessarily pirate” plots, as in La misma luna, issue tightly on the “son of a pirate” theme, glorify wanton criminal practice and can peso-wielding investors a kind of credit which can lend itself to a serious exami- simply offer a more democratic means to dream on: del Castillo as the mother nation of a society in crisis. However, of access, which explains the lure of and Alonso as the son make for a good- the lighthearted and sweetly sentimental watching pirate roles. The movie the- looking venture into extralegality. The handling of that social crisis in Patricia ater itself encourages pirate moves be- star character economics of commercial Riggen’s La misma luna likely discour- cause of increasing inaccessibility. As film sometimes require that an older pi- ages otherwise engaged critics and con- Sánchez Prado notes, in the mid-1990s, rate drop out to make way for the next tributes to what Ignacio Sánchez-Prado a movie ticket in Mexico rose from the generation’s unlawful promise. In La labels the “blind spot” in film stud- controlled price of 13 pesos to 45 pe- misma luna , Eugenio Derbez plays the ies— the tendency among academics sos, the equivalent of 3 days’ minimum surrogate father, whose tardy adoption to ignore Latin American commercial wage in 1995 (“Niñas mal”). In Mexico of responsibility changes his character Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 cinema (“Niñas mal”). Sánchez Prado City today, the price of a regular ticket and, in the consequence for sticking gives the example of the attention paid to a film in the theater, around 50 pesos to something, the undocumented char- to Mexican auteur Carlos Reygadas, (<$5USD), approaches the daily mini- acter likely gets deported. Despite this the perennial academics’ darling and mum wage. In a related observation, an- hitch in the happily-ever-after-for-all perpetual box office flop director, and other researcher notes, “Mexico is usu- ending, the predictability of a pirated the critically ignored but commercially ally listed among the largest producers plot tends to reassure the audience that successful Fernando Sariñana, whom and consumers of pirated goods” (Cross practically anyone can successfully go Sánchez Prado calls “doubtless, the di- 305).2 pirate and invent some personal—or rector with greatest impact in Mexican The key to the “son of a pirate” theme persona—credit. contemporary cinema” (“Niñas mal”). is the fake adult trick, and some of the The metaphor of the “son of a pirate” The subsequent analysis seeks to keep most popular, fast-paced exploitation appeared in its most literal form in the criticism relevant to a wider audience of this cinematic swashbuckling ap- Mexican cinema with some twenty- by exploring the academically palatable pears with the child lead Carlitos Reyes first-century antipiracy spots shown themes of piracy, celebrity, and credit as (Adrián Alonso) in La misma luna. In before feature films. Perhaps the most they inform a handful of recent top 10 this highly contrived film, the 9-year- famous antipiracy spot by the Mexican box office films. old “pirate son” character plays grand- cinematic industry group CANACINE Starring Pirates 199

(“Cámara Nacional de la Industria Cin- formances of his other Disney collabora- ematográfica”) features the line “Ten- tors, the Pirates of the Caribbean films Because emos un papá pirata” (“We have a pirate each made much more money than did dad”) uttered by a disgruntled tiny boy any of the Mexican box office successes of Depp’s actor to his tiny sister with childish pro- analyzed here. One admiring critic tries nunciation. In evidence of its popularity, to pin down the enticement of Depp’s the spot still circulates on YouTube and acting by calling the style an “authentic performance can be found by searching the keywords illusion,” and that paradoxical descrip- “Tenemos un papá pirata.” That line also tion hints at the difficulty of articulating as pirate yields a number of parody videos. The the piratical, false yet authentic, appeal spot attracts so much attention because of the star (Pomerance 60). Another despite the infantile delivery, the boy professor-fan of Depp identifies the ac- Captain Jack actor reveals incongruous maturity by tor’s style through historical influences, labeling his parents “inocentes” (“fool- such as precedents established by silent Sparrow, ish”) for believing that he and his sister actors Charlie Chaplin and Buster Ke- do not recognize that the DVD they are aton, and the critic surmises, “The great and the watching is a bad copy (“chafa”) and pi- gift which silent comedy gave to Johnny rated. Unfortunately for the logic of the Depp is that ‘nothing sticks to him’” spot, by exclaiming, “Tenemos un papá (Parrill 9). This principle of “unsticki- performances pirata,” the boy comes to participate in ness” explains the attraction of the Mex- the very pirate theme that he is supposed ican box office hits that feature themes of his other to repudiate. If the child characters did of stardom and successful piracy; the not issue from pirate parents and if they global film audience enjoys slickness. were not operating (piratically) alone The challenge to critics of articulating Disney in their living room, the audience prob- the exact principles at work behind the ably would not find them so memorable. slick in cinema indicate that criticism collaborators, The humorless moral of the spot scolds, does not necessarily need to cast its vote “Las películas pirata se ven mal, pero tú when it comes to commercial stardom. the como papá te ves mucho peor. ¿Qué le As one academic elegantly concedes, estás enseñando a tus hijos?” (“Pirated “The absolute qualities of the celebrity films look bad, but you as a parent look threaten the evaluations of the critic” Pirates of the much worse. What are you teaching your (Quinn 157). Reasons of celebrity credit children?”) The answer has something and not academic criticism motivate au- Caribbean to do with the lesson of how to manu- dience tastes in the “slick.”3 It is obvi- facture access to key systems of culture ous that Depp walks an interesting line and credit. Because Mexican antipiracy that touches on mass popularity and films each made spots largely target people who pay the academic attention. Hence, the criticism regular price, the campaigns must not of Depp’s performance in Pirates of the much more turn the paying faithful against the fun Caribbean guides the present thought of watching pirates, or, actors who are on Mexican “sons of pirates” and star- always representing someone else, even dom films. Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 money than did when they are playing a star. It is ironic That pirate theme crossed with Dis- that only pirate viewers get to skip the ney’s star leads me to the matter of copy- any antipiracy spots and enjoy a more pure right law, which is violated by a piratical aesthetic experience, and so antipiracy sector of the Mexican population, not to of the ads work best when they do not offend mention the global Internet audience, the legitimate audience’s interest in cin- each time that unauthorized reproduc- ematic pirates. In an understandably tion of films takes place. Interestingly, Mexican box contradictory result, then, the antipiracy at the same time that the extralegal tac- spots manage to cultivate even more in- tics of the pirate draw significant audi- office successes terest in the “son of a pirate” theme. ences for Disney and other film compa- Another point of contact between nies that would discourage off-screen Mexican audiences and the pirate theme acts of piracy, copyright law has become analyzed consists of Johnny Depp’s starring turn more restrictive and helped to create in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. more real-life pirates. From the original here. Because of Depp’s performance as pi- 14 years of copyright permitted in the rate Captain Jack Sparrow, and the per- 1790 law for the United States, renew- 200 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

able only if the author was still alive, in pirate seems to explicate rather neatly pirates suggests one reason why Hol- 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the the allure of stars. Stars are a sort of pi- lywood produces such glamorous stars. copyright protection now held by corpo- rate, given their dependence on largely Those celebrities embody the utopian rations for 95 years (Greenhouse).4 This self-credited reputation. Regarding this dream of the celebrity/pirate role still tightening of the law that creates pirates intuitive relationship among aspects of imagined in the twenty-first century as relates to what one critic calls the at- stardom, piracy, and credit or reputa- possible in places like Hollywood. traction of pirate films, namely the re- tion, Leo Braudy’s book on fame is a minder that “extralegal political action reminder that the development of Eu- is sometimes necessary, and in fact may ropean money systems allowing paper Failed Pirates and be the ‘best’ response to a world fre- credit coincided with the expansion of Oscar Nominations quently seen as corrupted and morally journals and publicity in the eighteenth The failed “son of a pirate” plot bankrupt” (Bond 319). In further legal century, “which fostered the expanding sometimes attracts less box office inter- and cinematic tensions, piracy has much leverage of reputation” (388). Today, est in Mexico than the successful pirate to do with successful branding. That is, reputation leverage has begun to pay moves exemplified in La misma luna. historical pirates built their identities on more celebrities more royally than ever; Unfortunately for the “son of a pirate” now-familiar functions of reputation, today’s swag is yesterday’s pirate booty. character in Abel, once the boy’s actual including media reports and flagged It is important to note that the au- father shows up, young Abel (Christo- brands. During the late seventeenth dience for pirate films is expected to pher Ruíz-Esparza) is doomed to return and early-eighteenth centuries, pirates contain the act and not manufacture its from whence he came: the institution functioned under carefully developed own credit by branding itself as addi- for mentally ill children. It turns out that branding, including a personalized Jolly tional would-be famous pirates. In other the excessively pirate father (José María Roger flag, which signaled victims that words, Disney wants the audience to Yazpik), instead of migrating to the a mutually beneficial deal could be consume its pirated version of historical United States as his family had thought, struck through peaceful surrender (Lee- pirates, but not to repeat it with further merely moved to another city in Mexico son 503–04). Today, celebrities cultivate piracy because that repetition would and began a second family. Despite his a brand name, and the metaphor of the be truly illicit. It may seem strange to redoubled air of illegitimacy then, the review U.S. copyright law and Disney pirate father always trumps the pirate machinations in the midst of a discus- son when they share the screen, and for sion of Mexican film, but it is a fact that purposes of logical plot development, the United States is never far from the the father’s temporary homecoming [H]istorical Mexican “son of a pirate” films. For in- forces Abel’s return to the institution. stance, during November and December In between his release and readmission pirates built 2013, for every film ticket purchased however, Abel assumes the pirate role at Cinemark venues in Mexico City, with glee and steals the show by replac- the buyer received a scratch-off trivia ing his father at the family dinner table their card, always with the hint, “Rockero en and—more disturbingly—in his moth- el que se inspiró el personaje del Capi- er’s bed. In one amusing scene, young identities on tán J. Sparrow” (“Rocker who inspired Abel speaks in Mexican Golden Age the character Captain J. Sparrow”). cinematic language in his delusional ef- The winning answer, “Keith Richards,” fort to keep his mother (Karina Gidi), now-familiar granted a 5-peso discount at the con- now his supposed wife, in line and his Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 cession stand. This trivia question im- sister (Geraldine Alejandra), now his functions of plicitly celebrates the way a sanctioned daughter, sexually pure. If Abel spoils pirate can duck a lawsuit that might the fun, and perhaps a higher box of- obstruct the piratical performance of a fice gross, by returning the “son of a pi- reputation, non-star, and beyond the Disney dream- rate” figure to the mental hospital—and iness, it points to the larger issue of the thereby stripping him of his optimistic including extralegal pirate tactics, such as that of piracy—the similarly themed El viaje traveling to the United States with the de Teo (Walter Doehner 2008), makes hope of striking it rich, as shown in the the mistake of rejecting pirate fathers media reports film La misma luna, and the similarly altogether. El viaje de Teo failed to rank themed—although not Mexican—Sin in the top 10 lists, in an absence that and flagged nombre (Cary Fukunaga, 2009). The perhaps the botched “son of a pirate” United States in many respects is a pi- thematic helps to clarify. Not only does rate nation, one without authentic noble Teo’s father (Damián Alcázar) steal a brands. titles and thus with royal-making fame trumpet that his unimaginative, or rather, up for grabs, and the U.S. affinity with dutiful son (Erick Cañete) must return to Starring Pirates 201

emy nomination for best male lead in when it comes to piratical glamour, and recognition of his ultimately ex-pirate Johnny Depp scored a nomination for The U.S. turn in A Better Life (Chris Weitz, 2011). his first turn as Captain Jack Sparrow. Bichir joins supporting actor nominee Academy, Adriana Barraza from Babel (2006) and Niñas mal, Casi divas, Hayek as Frida (Julie Taymor, 2002) in the list of twenty-first-century Oscar and Te presento a the one with nominated Mexican actors. The quirk of Laura contemplating less glamorous Mexican Significantly for the illumination the glamour, roles for the most glamorous film award of those themes, Anne Petersen terms has to do with the Academy’s attempt to Depp’s swishy Captain in the Disney recognize “serious” film about Mexico films a “pansexual pirate,” which helps does not that shows gritty, ergo “real” problems. to keep open what Disney would other- Thus, Hayek earned the nomination for wise close (and copyright) for secured applaud the a role filmed in English although touted commodification. This pansexuality as factually accurate Mexican biogra- also keeps the surface of the plot smooth phy. In Babel, an unglamorous Barraza and the characters’ goals static. Petersen slick and plays a nanny working without docu- cites Depp’s and director Gore Verbin- ments in the United States, dangerously ski’s commentary on the DVD for the circular close to Mexican superstar Gael García first Pirates of the Caribbean film in or- Bernal. In the aftermath of contact with der to argue that Captain Sparrow char- the devil-may-care pirate García Bernal, acter lacks any sort of arc: “[Sparrow] Mexican “son Barraza’s character is deported. Barraza merely wants a ship, preferably his own, also pairs with superstar Gael in Amores at the beginning, middle, and end of the of a pirate” plot, perros, and that film may have sug- film. He is unswayed by appeals to emo- gested the casting formula for Babel. It tion, logic, or authority—his goals and is possible that García Bernal looks even character development remain wholly and instead sexier next to Barraza, which makes her, static throughout the film” (72). It is in turn, seem like a real Mexican to for- clear that Depp’s slickness and starri- rewards the eign audiences, and thus worthy of Os- ness keeps audiences entranced. Depp’s car recognition by those who want to performance helps to identify the tech- argue movies as a sort of unique intel- nique behind Mexican star actor Martha reformed pirate lectual property that needs to be under Higareda’s superbly skilled comic an- copyright protection for 95 years. Some tics, which are particularly salient in the ending. critics might simply call this formula role of Adela from Niñas mal, although “stereotype.” Last, in A Better Life, they also bolster her star turn as Laura a visibly aging and economically de- in Te presento a Laura, which Higareda pressed Bichir plays an undocumented wrote. The aesthetic of those two films, the town communal property, but also gardener who, after attempting to fight with their busy and sometimes depthless because the father dies in the attempt to a pirate attack with correspondingly il- plots and attractive young stars, neatly cross with Teo to the United States, the licit justice, ends up attracting the pun- parallels the strong production values Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 son ends up renouncing the pirate role ishment of deportation. If the Academy and celebrity-theme of a third Mexi- (and the box office reward) and law- likes its Mexican roles genuine, with can box office hit, Casi divas. The key fully returns to his Mexican hometown this authenticity demonstrable by way to financial success in these contradic- and relatives. Teo, as a failed “son of a of earnest self-destruction or sobering tory, both inflexibly traditionalist and pirate,” rejects a flashy extralegal em- deportation, the more glamorous and democratically star-themed Mexican brace of the desire for a materially im- successful Mexican pirates applauded films, rests on quirky plots about young proved life, and instead (yawn!) opts for with pesos prefer, at most, to begin the women knowing their place and being family connections. That plot does not plot with deportation, as in the case of simultaneously assimilated into an illu- make money, but it does approach the the Mexican box office draw, El infierno sion of mobility supplied by pirate pan- sober Mexican ex-pirate theme needed (2010), directed by Luis Estrada and sexuality, of the sort exhibited by Depp, to attract an Oscar nomination. ranked number two in the domestic list which serves to puncture otherwise con- The U.S. Academy, the one with the for 2010. Evidently, deportation to Mex- servative scripts. This cinematic con- glamour, does not applaud the slick and ico can hardly lend itself to tragic final flict between knowing one’s place and circular Mexican “son of a pirate” plot, framing in a self-respecting Mexican inventing one’s starring role drives the and instead rewards the reformed pirate movie. Sadly for Mexican commercial kinetic illusions of development in the ending. Demián Bichir scored an Acad- film, the unwritten rules favor gringos three Mexican star-themed films. 202 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

In Niñas mal, the glamorous figure rather than fight her à la spunky Adela. Adela (Higareda) slides out of every The tranquil singing pupil contents her- problem without losing or learning, This cinematic self with a pop tune, “Como soy” (“As and she assimilates every other char- I am”), which hinges on the refrain acter into her by way of Petersen’s la- conflict “Quiero que me quieren como soy” (“I beled “pirate pansexuality.” Thus, this want them to love me as a I am”). No ultimately conservative film manages character is assured of being loved “as to feature a rebel protagonist by virtue between she is,” however, without bowing to the of the supple politics of a pirate, or a charisma that Adela wields. That is, as- rebel with an entirely unmoored, self- knowing one’s similation to Adela’s star charm and pi- centered cause. Niñas mal centers on a rate pansexuality explains not only the school for “señoritas,” or in the English abrupt disappearance of antagonist Hei- translation, a “charm school.” The five place and di’s homophobia and the lasting pres- pretty pupils include Adela and Heidi ence of Valentina’s serenity before her (Alejandra Adame), who study under inventing one’s victimized secondary-character status, school director Maca (Blanca Guerra). but also it soothes some of the teacher Adela ends up at the school because Maca’s confusing qualities. Maca’s as a budding actor—powered with Hi- starring role now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t same- gareda’s talent, no less—she needs her sex domestic partnership, as opposed widowed politician father’s approval drives to a strict work relationship, with her and funding in order to study in London housekeeper (Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez) and become a star, “como Gael” (“like appears even in the final credits, when Gael”), an allusion, of course, to García the kinetic the audience watches the postepilogue Bernal. The plot tangles as the audience clips of the couple’s blissful bickering, realizes that the characters are all con- illusions of which has them alternately scolding nected, in a point that Sánchez Prado each other and ogling a male director. has discussed in terms of a Mexican By the credits, that pair of pirate pan- oligarchy (“Innocence” 125). In a less development sexuals is free to engage in even more astonishing coincidence than it other- zany pirate moves, now that they have wise might seem then, Adela is study- in the three raised the housekeeper’s son together— ing for redemption at the same charm to whom Maca “gave her name”—and school as Heidi, the very same Heidi educated the five pupils. who is the future daughter-in-law of the Mexican The instability present in Maca’s and wealthy backer whose support Adela’s her housekeeper Fina’s characters bears father needs. From this plot summary, it star-themed examination as a final bit of evidence should be clear that Adela’s “star” pirate regarding the pirate strategies at work. logic will supply the necessary conflict Midway through the film, Maca inex- and the necessary resolution. The con- films. plicably changes her beloved domestic servative or, in perhaps more positive skills teacher from one “doña Ximena terminology, the reassuring aspect of Sataray” to a supposed “doña Leonora this dizzying movement, from conflict rate trick, “Sigo siendo la misma” (“I’m Lerdo de Tejada.” Some critics might Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 to resolution in a wink, arrives in the still the same”). dismiss the script for its mistakes, but a static results. Though all characters are Adela’s main conflict with Heidi more creative, pirate friendly approach frenetically busy onscreen, none con- seems to boil down to the latter’s ho- takes delight in Maca’s inability to sistently changes from scene to scene mophobia, exhibited against the les- keep her story straight. In view of the in a constant direction. In other words, bian character Valentina, played by the inconsistent background, the possibility the open secret of Adela’s stationary director’s real-life daughter, pop singer emerges that Maca’s “intensive course “journey” to stardom, which comes to Ximena Sariñana. Heidi gives up her on femininity” is pirated and that is why seem no more impressive than the feat homophobia by way of rather sudden the lessons never seem to impart a useful of boarding a plane to London, has to agreement with Adela’s idea that Heidi tip for the audience on ironing, embroi- do with her superficial mutations, or the is identical to her. In other words, Ad- dery, baking, or sex. Apparently, Maca, charms of a screen pirate. In response to ela’s pansexuality means that all the much like Adela, is making it up as she the benevolent comment near the end of characters can be sucked into Adela’s goes along. Once the audience sees that the film, “Eso de andar cambiando de star vortex and assimilated to her slick Maca is a pirate teacher and the pupils personalidades te va muy bien” (“This charm. Given the pressures on this inter- are pirate “señoritas” (only one student [habit of] changing of personalities suits connected group to get along in the end, is a self-declared virgin and for only part you really well”). Adela explains the pi- Valentina seems wise to ignore Heidi, of the film), it becomes clear why the Starring Pirates 203

teacher and her students, all studying to Like Niñas mal, Casi divas exploits be “domestic goddesses,” need a maid, pansexuality and its accompanying trick especially one dressed in nineteenth- For the homophobia. The would-be star of this century garb, complete with a black pirate plot, the pirate woman character, ankle-length dress, a long white apron, characters in Yesenia, from Ciudad Neza, turns out to and a white cap. The sympathy that sur- be a gay transvestite, though still played faces between rebel Adela and Maca by a woman actor, Daniela Schmidt, elicits additional signs of piracy. Maca Niñas mal, whose ambiguous looks suggest that and Adela share a taste for cigarettes Sandra Bullock might find some luck and tattoos, the latter at least being a pe- and perhaps playing cross-dressers. Schmidt, in the rennial pirate joy. Even if Maca had a role of Yesenia, kisses a homophobic serious lesson to impart, Adela is hardly woman character, Francisca, played by a serious student. The absence of an to the escapist Maya Zapata, in a fake lesbian moment older generation of artistic performers that is, given the presence of two women in the film means that two budding art- dreamers in actors, actually real. For the character ist pupils take their lessons from abroad, Francisca, a conservative young woman a pirated lack of originality evident in from Oaxaca, no matter how she views Adela’s move to England to study acting the audience, it, homophobia condemns her friend- and Valentina’s imitation of global pop ship, and this predicament perhaps in- music styles. Adela’s pirate charm ulti- to aspire to forms her swift decision to overcome mately stems less from being the origi- her prejudice and keep Yesenia’s secret, nal personality that everyone else wants allowing her transvestite friend to take to imitate, and more from acting as the status within the runner-up position in the all-female character who is fastest to change imi- reality contest. Under various angles of tations and thus the most hypnotic and the known homophobic thinking, Francisca is at therefore seductive. risk of being judged to have behaved Niñas mal overcomes its insults to no better than Yesenia had, because the non–upper-class audience by insist- structure is Francisca experienced what she thought ing on the mobile fascination of being was a lesbian moment during the kiss a star pirate. This magnetic mechanism not to imagine with Yesenia, and the two have already has to do with the “pirate” that threat- been chastely sharing a bed. The char- ens to emerge from the middle of the acter difference between Yesenia and word “aspiration.” As noted, piracy is a new one, Francisca, as far as a lack of hypocrisy not about originality, and neither are the goes, remains murky ,because Francisca aspirations in the star-themed plot of but to want shares Carlos/Yesenia’s would-be diva Niñas mal. The inconsistent characters aspiration. This pansexuality or star as- merely respond to the situation at hand, similation relates to the complexities of much like a pirate who exploits with- to tweak the pirate politics. Adrian Johns puts this out rebuilding the system around him point about contamination in terms of a or her. For the characters in Niñas mal, system and “culture of piracy,” which by the eigh- and perhaps to the escapist dreamers in teenth century was thriving “far be- Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 the audience, to aspire to status within yond” home-base London and ensured the known structure is not to imagine a adopt a that the honorable and dishonorable new one, but to want to tweak the sys- “could never be distinguished into two tem and adopt a credited role within it. credited role neat camps” (48). In other words, under This explanation of Niñas mal applies to a culture of piracy, “Everyone involved the film Casi divas, in which the char- was, to some extent, compromised” acters compete as reality show contes- within it. (Johns 48). By the end of Casi divas, tants who dream of pirating their own Yesenia feels that she has been unfairly credit by becoming the next “María En- denied star status since she is the best amorada,” a soap opera star. That lucky actor—after all, no one realizes that she credited role will instantaneously move Llaca), the “real” María Enamorada, is a transvestite— but the audience is the winner from the category of “nadie” and the former lover whom the director free to realize that, notwithstanding the (“no one”) to “alguien” (“someone”), or wants to replace, proves irreplaceable dream of democratic divadom, fairness from a status of anonymity to one of ce- by the conclusion, the premise of the is not a value of piracy, because piracy lebrity. Complications abound though. reality show turns out to be just another has no stable values, aside from that of For one thing, because Eva (Patricia pirate play. the constant instability of immediate 204 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

convenience. Yesenia handles the disap- change between contestants Francisca pointment with pluck and her direct ad- and Yesenia, who attempt to remake The star piracy dress to the audience near the end of the themselves as pirated stars and fail in the film delivers a message of perseverance: attempt to gain the additional credit. It is inherent in the “Le vamos a seguir chingando. Y un día no easy feat to become a “María,” and the vamos a ganar nosotras y se van a joder, notion of leaving behind aspects of one’s ¿no? Sí.” (“Let’s fuckin’ keep at it. And personal experience in order to earn the concept one day we girls are going to win and role of celebrity could be understood to they are going to be screwed, no? Yes.”). instill an ageist ideal of permanent youth of Star credit cannot be earned in the that resists gains in wisdom. It seems mathematical way that regular finances both unsustainable and yet unchangeable accumulate, and from that radical un- that the plot require the “true” star in the manufacturing predictability stems part of the appeal of film to retain her status in the face of celebrity as a democratic dream force. younger challengers. Casi divas explains “casi” The star piracy inherent in the concept that Eva attained her pirated role as a star of manufacturing “casi” (“almost”) di- after moving out of a career in prostitu- vas by way of a reality show, which in tion, but in spite of this proof that suc- (“almost”) itself turns out to be a false promise, an- cessful occupational moves can happen ticipates the superficial handling of se- on the fly, as the film’s “first woman,” divas by way rious topics that should be unavoidably Eva refuses to evolve. Pirates in the ce- sticky, such as homophobia or femicide. lebrity role are not necessarily a commu- In evidence of the latter theme, contes- nally minded bunch, and like the “son of of a reality tant Catalina (Diana García) in Casi di- a pirate” dynamic that elects either the vas leaves the reality show in order to father or the son in the starring extralegal show, which battle femicide in Ciudad Juárez. This role, it seems that only one “legitimate” supposed life lesson remains hollow be- pirate diva can exist per film plot. cause earlier, the film has cut from the Like the simultaneous criticism and in itself turns presentation of Catalina’s world of ma- celebration of stardom in Casi divas, the cho threat and maquiladoras to a conver- film Te presento a Laura, written by the out to be a sation by the director (Julio Bracho) on star Higareda herself, seems jaded and the studio lot in Mexico City, which ar- yet helplessly enamored with the unsus- gues that good ratings demand the inclu- tainable, inalterable star role. Without false promise, sion of, “Uno que otro caso patético. Y presenting another credible option, Te sabes, eso vende: comedia, melodrama” presento a Laura hints that aspiring to anticipates (“One or another pathetic case. You stardom is not worth the suicidal urge know, that sells: comedy, melodrama”). that it provokes. In an exaggeration of The sought-after highly produced per- the television ads in Casi divas that at the superficial sonalities make the characters into pirate first seem to be merely another scene personalities, able to swerve on a dime, rather than a game with (fake) product handling of from jokes to tears and back again. Casi placement, Te presento a Laura makes divas meditates explicitly on the goals of the meditation on consumerism more Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 the audience that would watch the aging blatant and “authentic” with the repeti- serious topics “Eva” struggle to retain her role as the tive and distracting placement of Tri- nationally admired, youthful “María.” dent gum, the financial institution Sco- that should be The film plays on visual tricks, which tiabank, the newspaper Reforma, and include the presentation of two televi- the sporting goods store Martí. Just as sion commercials that the film spectators the script advertises consumer products, unavoidably view first without the frame of a televi- so it plugs star actors and the concept sion screen. Thus, Casi divas at times of stardom. The reputed “star” of Te sticky, such as proposes itself as the filmic equivalent presento a Laura is Sebastián (Kuno of the experience of watching television, Becker), who runs from paparazzi, re- which supplies a pirated consumer “les- sponsibility, and suicide and into Laura homophobia son” with one advertisement for bottled (Higareda), whose screwball predica- water and the slogan, “Deja en el pasado ment (she has hired someone to kill her or femicide. lo que no necesitas.” (“Leave behind so that the insurance money will benefit what you don’t need”). The voiceover children with cancer) encourages strug- for the commercial overlaps with an ex- gling actor Sebastián to get a “real” life, Starring Pirates 205

protect Laura, and meet up with her in ending, both actor Sebastián and non- not-Mexico-City Mexico. The motive profession-attributed Laura join forces for suicide and the failed benchmark of in starry heterosexual coupledom with The audience true stardom in the film appears when a the goal of just “living” or “vivir” (“to photographer observes that Sebastián’s live”), as the word appears scrawled of Te presento film has been canned and one by “Gael” across the screen in the overdetermined is premiering. However, by the happy script during the final moments. The stardom fantasy that this conclusion a Laura is supports is the notion that for the glamorous, “work” can be subsumed into liv- supposed Like the ing and a star is always a star, even after he stops acting in order to “vivir” with his instantly recognizable love interest. to want to simultaneous An underlying logic supports this quirky idea, as perceived by the filmgoer who be absorbed criticism and finds it impossible to forget that Hi- gareda and Becker are actually stars, regardless of the “non-Gael” roles that into this star celebration of they play in a given film. Between the first and final acts, sui- play, after the stardom in cidal Sebastián and Laura check off the activities on their mutual bucket list, and just in case the audience misses the desire that the Casi divas, point of each endeavor, once a goal is completed it materializes on the screen characters the film in merry handwriting, punctuated with a checkmark. As anticipated by the star topic, Te presento a Laura emphasizes in Niñas mal Te presento a the fun of eating a cake without con- suming it, or the magic of credit without and Laura, written debt. Some of the deeds accomplished during Laura’s headlong rush to “vivir” include donating money to a group of ill Casi divas by the star children in need of a (cash) transfusion. Laura somehow manages to witness her evince for Higareda donation in life—complete with a party for her—before her planned (and ultimately foiled) assassination by hit man. wanting to be herself, seems In another relatively illogical scene we see Sebastián and Laura strip down to or just wanting their underwear and give their clothes

Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 jaded and yet to indigent men sitting on the side- walk in front of Sanborn’s Casa de los to sleep with helplessly Azulejos; the screen message informs us that the star characters have now do- the woman enamored nated clothes (check), although few men could wear Adela’s trim size, and few indigents are allowed to sit in front of figure with the the highly policed Sanborn’s restaurant in Mexico City. At any rate, this glamor- perceived unsustainable, ously ineffective philanthropy manages to retain its characters’ entrancing self- centeredness. In a quirky intertextual as the true inalterable coincidence that proves the shared sty- listics of the films, in Niñas mal, Adela’s pirate star. star role. father worries that if she does not learn to function in society in an attitude of 206 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

a more compromising and less starlet are related. Oh to be a star, or “alguien” (“actricita”) nature, she will end up in with credit. The “vacation appeal” or downtown Mexico City (el Zócalo), “a It would seem consumer “interest rate” of a Mexican pasear en calzones” (“walking around in film, to judge from the domestic box of- her underwear”). Check! Te presento a that fans, fice results, increases if it features a boy Laura fulfills another life goal for Hig- actor who promotes the “son of a pirate” areda’s repertoire of madcap characters. or “imitation adult” adventure, and the The audience of Te presento a Laura is critics, same kind of “vacationability” or re- supposed to want to be absorbed into turn on consumer investment rises if the this star play, after the desire that the and Mexican film features a young woman characters in Niñas mal and Casi divas as a pirate “señorita,” or nonvirgin in- evince for wanting to be or just want- génue who chases the tease of stardom ing to sleep with the woman figure per- corporations and exercises hypnotizing pansexual- ceived as the true pirate star. ity. If the film audience dreams about It is important to note that the star- all aspire to access to credit, an appealing glamour dom-themed films use young women fantasy or reputation lottery awaits in actors whose roles also play into the these movies. “pirate family” metaphor, because many credit, and Perhaps because piracy offers one of the ambitious young women charac- way for the little guy to “make it,” ters lack one or more parents. This iso- among us there Johns’s massive history of intellectual lation makes the leads all the more apt property proposes that the contempo- for assimilating others, since they stand, rary specter haunting Europe—along in one way or another, incomplete or lurks a shared with the rest of the planet—is not com- needy and yet admirably independent. munist, “but a pirate” (4). Certainly, For example, protagonist Adela in Ni- admiration the figure of the pirate is spectral, and ñas mal lost her mother to illness, and all three metaphors studied here strad- Laura in Te presento a Laura seems to dle binaries. These easily apprehended have been at the wheel during a car acci- of the pirate surface tensions further reveal how dent that killed her parents or at least her pirates, celebrity, and credit prove so little brother, who was sick with cancer solution. entrancing on the big screen. Credit is on top of it. Most of the characters in also debt. Stars “are just like us.” Piracy Casi divas lack visible fathers, although depends on brands. Credit, piracy, and the exception, Ximena (Ana Layevska), stars crisscross elegantly among cat- the wealthy contestant from Guadala- of Depp’s pirate mean that Captain egories of fake and authentic, insider jara, manages to get her banker father Jack is always at work, but since his and outsider, and someone and no one, on the phone and thus make herself even work is playfully extralegal, he is also without settling into any one classifica- less sympathetic in her whiny privilege. permanently on a Caribbean vacation, tion. In other words, piracy explains the The democratic urge in Casi divas that much the way stars can be seen (or at contemporary fascination with celeb- would level Ximena’s material privilege least imagined) to live professionally rity in the sense that because no human and ease other characters’ economic and make money simply by allowing is literally a “star,” actors are seen to disadvantages as they compete for the themselves to be photographed while manufacture their own reputation and Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 chance to become a star, relates to the living—again, professionally—on va- thus enter the paradoxically terrestrial connotations of piracy in the popular cation. Credit matters to this illusion. “heavens” of celebrity wealth in the imaginary. Ultimately, the inescapably The twentieth-century invention of context of an otherwise frustratingly im- superficial meditation in Te presento a credit cards has unleashed an imagina- mobile global society. Thus, while stars Laura on the star persona leads me back tive force and changed the way consum- are just like us, they may be much better to the slickness of Johnny Depp as Cap- ers aspire to spend (Applbaum 66). As at playing pirate. A relevant quotation tain Jack Sparrow. a result, a habit of, or at least a desire rounds out the thought here. Apropos of for, grand travelling vacations has de- piracy, David Bordwell has asked, “If veloped in conjunction with the credit Disney can’t collect from people who Conclusion on card (Applbaum 67). Travel becomes have downloaded Pirates of the Carib- Credit easier with credit because, for reasons bean 3 for free, why should you or I Depp seems a likely figure to inter- that probably pertain to the realm of the expect to be paid for talking about it?” rogate for the conclusion of the present abstract, the money that consumers do (Bordwell and Thompson 61). It would analysis on the dynamics of stardom, not have is accepted as the coin of every seem that fans, critics, and corporations credit, and piracy. In the Pirates of the land. Under the pirate metaphor then, all aspire to credit, and among us there Caribbean films, the unchanging goals vacations, credit, and the lure of stars lurks a shared admiration of the pirate Starring Pirates 207

solution. In recognition of our common Films, Mr. Mudd, Fondo de Inversión y Parrill, William B. The Films of Johnny aspirations, greater tolerance for the pi- Estímulos al Cine, and Televisa, 2010. Depp. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and rate theme in commercial Mexican film Film. Company, 2009. Print. Applbaum, Kalman. The Marketing Era: Petersen, Anne. “‘You Believe in Pirates, Of might help academics avoid the limiting From Professional Practice to Global Course…’: Disney’s Commodification job of taste police. Because it is up to the Provisioning. New York: Routledge, and ‘Closure’ vs. Johnny Depp’s Aes- real police to arrest a pirate, we critics 2004. Print. thetic Piracy of Pirates of the Caribbean.” can assign ourselves more flexible du- Bond, Richard E. “Piratical Americans: Rep- Studies in Popular Culture 29.2 (2007): ties, such as pointing out why piracy is resentations of Piracy and Authority in 63–81. Print. Mid-Twentieth-Century Swashbucklers.” Pomerance, Murray. Johnny Depp Starts so arresting. Journal of American Culture 33.4 (2010): Here. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 309–21. Print. 2005. Print. NOTES Bordwell, David, and Kristen Thompson. 1 Quinn, Michael L. “Celebrity and the Semi- For the titles of 2000–2009, see “10 Minding Movies: Observations on the Art, otics of Acting.” New Theater Quarterly años.” For the top 10 list of 2010, see Franco Craft, and Business of Filmmaking. Chi- 6.22 (1990): 154–61. Print. Reyes. cago: U of Chicago P, 2011. Print. 2 Sánchez Prado, Ignacio M. “Innocence In- Perhaps as a result of these pervasive ex- Braudy, Leo. The Frenzy of Renown: Fame terrupted: Neoliberalism and the End of tralegal tactics that ensure access to the oth- and Its History. New York: Oxford UP, Childhood in Recent Mexican Cinema.” erwise off-limits, one official Mexican study 1986. Print. Representing History, Class, and Gender found, “Only 1% [of Mexicans] expressed Casi divas. Dir. Issa Lopéz. Perf. Patricia in Spain and Latin America. Ed. Carolina concern that piracy led to greater corrup- Llaca, Julio Bracho, Maya Zapata, Ana Rocha and Georgia Seminet. New York: tion” (Cross 319). The cited governmental Layevska, Daniela Schmidt, Diana Gar- Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 117–33. Print. consumer protection agency, or PROFECO, cía, and Mónica Huarte. Columbia Pic- ———. “Niñas mal y la Culminación del study also revealed, “Only small minorities tures, 2008. Film. cine comercial en México.” El Blog de [of Mexicans] expressed agreement that pi- Cross, John C. “Mexico.” Media Piracy in Ignacio M. Prado. Ponencias, artículos, racy imposed social costs: […] 31% agreed Emerging Economies. Ed. Joe Karaga- notas y comentarios. 6 Nov. 2011. Web. that it hurt producers, 26% that it caused un- nis. New York: Social Science Research 9 Oct 2012. employment, and 21% that it hurt the econ- Council, 2011. 305–25. Print. Te presento a Laura. Dir. Fez Noriega. Perf. omy” (Cross 319). Franco Reyes, Salvador. “Taquilla 2010: Ne- Martha Higareda, Kuno Becker, and Adri- 3One U.S. poll discovered that 80% of gocio Millonario.” Función. Excélsior 25 surveyed undergraduates agreed or strongly ana Barraza. Bazooka Filma, Salamandra Dec. 2010: 6. Print. Films, and Santo Domingo Films, 2010. agreed with the statement, “Top stars are Greenhouse, Linda. “High Court Upholds usually in good movies” (Levin, Levin, and Film. Law Extending Copyrights by 20 Years.” “10 años del siglo XXI.” Kiosko. El Univer- Heath 179). For that 80%, celebrity presence Business Day. The New York Times 15 supplies “heuristic devices for making the sal 25 Dec. 2009: 5. Print. Jan. 2003. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. Vaidhyanathan, Siva. Copyrights and Copy- decision to see a new movie,” and this trust Johns, Adrian. Piracy: The Intellectual in celebrity overrides the need to consult wrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property Property Wars From Guttenberg to Gates. and How It Threatens Creativity. New criticism (179). Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2009. Print. 4 York: New York UP, 2001. Print. In some ways, this conversation is already Leeson, Peter T. “Pirational Choice : The out of date. As Siva Vaidhyanathan notes, Economics of Infamous Pirate Practices.” copyright is being replaced—or at least sup- Journal of Economic Behavior and Orga- plemented—by contract, and on the Internet, nization 76.3 (2010): 497–510. Print. Emily Hind teaches in the Department of “Clickwrap” or “Shrinkwrap” license agree- Levin, Aron M., Irwin P. Levin, and C. Ed- Modern and Classical Languages at the ments often ask users to waive rights, such ward Heath. “Movie Stars and Authors as University of Wyoming. She has published as fair use and first sale, in order for access Brand Names: Measuring Brand Equity a book on Mexican women intellectuals to content (178). Access is not ownership, as in Experiential Products.” Advances in (Boob Lit, Palgrave 2010), a book of inter- Vaidhyanathan points out. In the case of re- Consumer Research 24:1 (1997): 175–81. views with twenty Mexican writers born in searchers who use the Billboard.com site, for Print. the 1970s (La generación XXX, Eón, 2013), example, investigators must acquire separate La misma luna. Dir. Patricia Riggen. Perf. and a book of interviews with fifteen Mexi- Downloaded by [University of Wyoming Libraries] at 08:59 04 December 2013 and specific license from Billboard’s par- Adrián Alonso, Kate del Castillo, Eugenio can women writers (Quince escritoras, Ver- ent company in order to use the information Derbez, vuert 2003). Hind’s analysis on lesbianism gleaned from the portion of site that requires Maya Zapata, and Carmen Salinas. Creando in the work of Rosario Castellanos won the a membership to view (178). Films, Fidecine, Potomac Pictures, and Feministas Unidas Essay Contest 2005. Liv- The Weinstein Company, 2007. Film. ing Mexican authors treated in her recent WORKS CITED Niñas mal. Dir. Fernando Sariñana. Perf. articles include Vivian Abenshushan, Mario Abel. Dir. Diego Luna. Perf. Chistopher Martha Higareda, Blanca Guerra, Camila Bellatin, Sabina Berman, Carmen Boullosa, Ruíz-Esparza, José María Yazpik, Karina Sodi, María Aura, Alejandra Adame, and Bernardo Esquinca, Guadalupe Loaeza, Fa- Gidi, Carlos Aragón, Gerardo Ruíz-Es- Ximena Sariñana. Columbia Pictures, bio Morábito, and Cristina Rivera Garza. parza, and Geraldine Alejandra. Canana 2007. Film.