“Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals” (MLK).
“But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom” (MLK).
These two passages taken from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” capture for me two important thematic motifs discernible in Machuca: (1) Individuals who show a willingness to support changing the social system that benefits them are outnumbered by those who feel threatened by such change and who wish only to protect their privilege; (2) The clergy oftentimes plays an important role in the fight for equality and progressive change and indeed has done so in key historical moments (hence the figure of Father McEnroe in the film).
The most compelling framework, however, from which to analyze the interwoven narratives of class and racial discrimination in Machuca is that of intersectionality. This is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw that affirms the urgency of examining discrimination through a lens that brings into focus the ways in which race, class, gender, sexual identity (and other categories) overlap. The story told in Machuca is predicated on the interconnectedness of class discrimination and racial discrimination. I think that a wonderful final project could be done on Machuca that brings the concept of intersectionality to bear on the film and that teaches us a little bit about the colonial history of Chile.
It is prudent to point out, too, that every country on Earth that has been born out of the ruins of European imperialism is grappling today with racism and classism, including countries in Latin America. I suspect that some students may have been caught off guard to see a film like this about a Latin American country. Keep in mind, however, that Criollos (whites) are the largest ethnic group in Chile (53%), followed by Mestizos (39%), followed by Indigenous (8%). [Source: Composición étnica de Chile.]
Finally, I want to end by pointing out the relevance of the following four passages from Zavattini and Buñuel for situating Machuca on a continuum with Neorealism. For me, it is as if Andrés Wood thought deeply about these passages and took them to heart. Furthermore, Machuca is the most impactful neorealist film that I have seen to date and the one that makes me appreciate the radicalness of neorealism as Zavattini describes it, and poetic realism, as Buñuel describes it:
- “We have not yet reached the center of neorealism. Neorealism today is an army ready to start; and there are the soldiers—behind Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti. The soldiers have to go into the attack and win the battle” (Zavattini, “Some Ideas on the Cinema,” 54).
- “…if the spectator shares the joys, the sorrows, the anxieties of a personage on the screen, this can be only because he sees reflected in it the joys, sorrows, anxieties of a whole society, and therefore his own. Strikes, social insecurity, fear of war, etc., are the things which affect everyone today, and also affect the spectator…” (Buñuel, “Cinema, Instrument of Poetry” 46).
- “If I were not afraid of being thought irreverent, I should say that Christ, had He a camera in His hand, would not shoot fables, however wonderful, but would show us the good ones and the bad ones of this world – in actuality, giving us close-ups of those who make their neighbours’ bread too bitter, and of their victims, if the censor allowed it” (Zavattini, “Some Ideas on the Cinema,” 56).
- “The cinema is a magnificent and perilous weapon when yielded by a free spirit” (“Cinema, Instrument of Poetry, 46”).
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