It is easily able to identify common Mexican stereotypes in this movie. For instance, "macho" gang members (bandido-violence), dark skinned men driving around piled in old beat up trucks, having long dark haired women around them, smoking frequently, drinking the beer "corona", and having dark hair and mustaches. This is a great movie to discuss Mexican traditions and a common day to day life of a Mexican.
I think that yes, bandido-violence is commonly associated with the Mexican culture, but it is different from what I think about when I think of the Mexican culture. I think of hard working manual labor, working in a field, building houses, sweating outside or a bunch of them crammed in a truck, not going around with machine guns shooting random people. I might not have known that about Mexican's though, but that is not one of the first things that pops into my head.
The "Mariachi" was the main character in the movie, going from bar to bar in a new city to try and get a job singing and playing his guitar. His purpose in life was to take after his father, grandfather and all of his ancestors to be a great singer and guitar player known as a Mariachi. That's what it means when he says "All he wants to be is a Mariachi.
I believe the role of music in a movie is very important. It is a way to let the audience know when something big will happen or when a scene or theme is changing. It can make or break a movie.
I like your innocence to the Mexican violence that it isn't the first thing that pops into your head when you think about Mexico. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about New York City? I asked my wife this same question and she said "culture, night-life, fashion, plays, and architecture". I think of gangs, thugs, pickpockets’, and the movie The Warriors comes to mind. I consider my wife an optimist while I am always the pessimist, or maybe it is a gender thing? I do agree with you on the other stereotypical attributes of the Mexican culture from their beer drinking and cigarette smoking to their loaded down pickup trucks, and working in the fields doing hard manual labor. Music did play a very important role in this movie; it seemed to set the stage and the tone of the movie from suspenseful in the jailhouse scene to romantic when the Mariachi was playing his guitar for Domino.
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