Movie Full of Crap - Maria Full of Grace (2004) Discussion

[–] bombblasts 18 years ago

*SPOILERS*

Well, I thik at the end of the movie you are wrong. Maria decides to stay for the sake of her baby, and for a chance to send money back home. In fact, the whole thing was done so she could help out at home. Anways, this does raise a current issue we are having in American with illegal immigrants. I have no objection to forieners wanting to come to the great America for a better life and to help family back home but I do believe they should go about it the proper ways, and not just "sneak" it like Maria's doing.

"If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything"

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[–] joannmoss 18 years ago

She didn't sneak in; she had a choice of returning to Columbia and forever having to serve as a mule and possibly hurting her baby, or staying in America where she could give her child a chance. Not much of a decision, is it?

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[–] chet19 13 years ago

Joanmoss says that Maria didn't sneak in? Did I miss the part of the movie where she legally filed the legal paperwork at the embassy to get a work visa on her flight to New York? Maybe that was a deleted scene? Maybe after her near drug arrest at the airport, then Maria went straight to the consul to file for legal immigration status?

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[–] Desertman84 12 years ago

This movie is not full of crap.
It shows humanity in the characters in the drug trade.

RON PAUL 2012!!!

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[–] drexlermcstyles 11 years ago

Maybe you missed the scene where the guy in the bar says that he will procure all the needed documents (passport, visa, plane ticket) for her.

Alcoholics Don't Freeze, They Chill

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[–] chet19 11 years ago

LOL...getting your passport from a "guy in a bar" is hardly the legal way to enter a country.

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[–] drexlermcstyles 11 years ago

I guess you dont really know much about much, do you? A legal passport in Columbia cost about $100-150. The "guy in the bar" is in the mule end of the drug smuggling business, the girl was probably carrying $75,000-100,000 worth of coke. Do you really think they would risk making a fake passport and visa (which is more expensive) for a girl who can get one legally? How does that make any sense? Her papers are real, why wouldnt they be? Because they had someone else fill out the paperwork and do the footwork for her? Do you not think TSA wouldnt have figured out it was a fake passport once they took her into custody?

Alcoholics Don't Freeze, They Chill

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[–] chet19 11 years ago

Wow, you continue to miss the point.

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[–] drexlermcstyles 11 years ago

She has a real Columbian passport and US visa, so she is therefore in the US legally. Please, enlighten me on exactly what point it is that I am missing.... Unless you are talking about some moral crap..

Alcoholics Don't Freeze, They Chill

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[–] craigbhill 10 years ago

A LOT of people post the proof of their stupidity on this site, who have their heads shoved too deep in their bucket of popcorn to actually WATCH THE MOVIE before they think they have the sense to comment on it.

~ Native Angeleno

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[–] Errington_92 8 years ago

Although the film attempts to put a positive spin on Maria's final decision, I feel it will result in less defiance and more relentless struggle. Even if Maria makes the decision for the sake of her unborn child, will it be enough? This is certainly a divisive question amongst this board.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.

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[–] vestdennis 10 years ago

She didn't sneak in, since she had the Visa, passport and other documents. However, she, like many who are here illegally, simply overstayed her Visa. They do not return & then become illegal. These days most are not apprehended unless they are pulled over by the cops or arrested. Even then their legal status may not force them into returning. The current Administration is extremely lax about deporting illegals.

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[–] WileyDairyGnome 12 years ago

It's "COLOMBIA" look at a *beep* map sometime.

-- I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been

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[–] vidvuk 18 years ago

I don't think she just wanted to help out her folks in Colombia. Why did she escape with the heroin and then leave it to Blanca? She didn't think about the danger of Javier hurting her family.

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[–] hermajesty06 16 years ago

She was scared and wasn't thinking clearly...she was around a duo of guys who'd slice up a body simply to get drugs out of it. Would you stay around?

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[–] julas 10 years ago

A person like Maria has virtually no chance of getting a work visa in the US. There is no US work visa that wouldn't require at least a bachelor's degree. Even if you have a diploma, your chances are pretty slim unless you do something that is in a very high demand (engineering) and you are really good at it.

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[–] niptuckfan87 8 years ago

Exactly. Anchor Babies are a big issue in the US.

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[–] vinceoc65 18 years ago

I saw this movie and thought the same thing. I think if the intent of the filmmakers was to portray the "victims" as sympathetic, they totally missed that point on me. Maria was pretty greedy, selfish and lacking in all character with little regard for taking responsibility for her own consequences. By the second half of the movie I muted it so I wouldn't have to listen to her whiny complaining.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] caseyjjr 18 years ago

Can you actually say anything else?

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[–] heather32200 18 years ago

Any other movies that are based in colombia that are translated in english? i would like to watch more but i dont know about any others. thanks guys!

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[–] jaime-varela 17 years ago

Rosario Tijeras. Great movie

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[–] Godasse 18 years ago

You have to think in terms of proportions. If you lived in a very poor country maybe you'd understand her and not call her greedy, what do you think.
Saying that people are greedy who live in Sudan for instance and who would do anything they can to come and live in Europe or US is a bit... (fill the gaps) ...

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[–] Sebs_in_Norway 18 years ago

Personal Greed? The 2 main charachters Maria and Blanca did it for their families.

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[–] vinceoc65 18 years ago

Are you for real comparing Maria's "plight" with the people in the Sudan? There are many, many people the world over throughout history who have had much less than the Maria character in this story that still had values, morals and limits to what they would do in order to better THEMSELVES. I mean relatively speaking, Maria had a roof over her head, a job and wasn't exactly starving. I had no sympathy for her either.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Godasse 18 years ago

I call greedy my colleagues who cry when they don't get the huge bonus they were expecting at the end of the year (i work for a sort of financial institution). I also call greedy my neighbours who don't want to have children in order to buy a huge television instead. I call greedy people who never give to charities when they could afford it. I call greedy people who are always paying taxes because they don't want to pay for 'chavs' education.

On the other hand, I struggle a bit to call greedy someone like Maria. Maybe she is, maybe she's not. I didn't feel that the makers of this movie wanted us to like or dislike her. They just wanted to tell us that this sort of things happen. So if you want to dismiss her as greedy, you probably do the same with farmers who grow coco instead of potatoes.

Blind yourself if you want.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Righteous_Bitch 18 years ago

LOL, i agree with Godasse and ChungChungxavier.

------------------
Life's A Bitch...Then You Die.

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[–] caseyjjr 18 years ago

perhaps, but it obviously wasn't you

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[–] kristofdehantschutter 18 years ago

Godasse (Sun Jul 9 2006 02:10:12 ) "I also call greedy my neighbours who don't want to have children in order to buy a huge television instead"

I didn't know that it was obligated to have children. You're telling *beep* To have or not to have children is a choice you have to make for yourself, and not something you have to do cuz people like you thinking they have to. It's even better not to have children than having them and not raising, educating and loving them in a good way. So who are you to judge them?

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[–] djrosenblatt 18 years ago

Godasse, could you explain the line, "I call greedy people who are always paying taxes because they don't want to pay for 'chavs' education"?

Aside from having no clue what a 'chav' is, I'm trying to figure out how greed plays into the act of paying taxes. It sounds a bit like the kind of odd logic one would expect to hear from the likes of Grover Norquist or Tom Delay.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] MTulliver 15 years ago

I agree w. you about Maria, however, there is nothing greedy about chosing not to have children. Where'd you get that idea from? So what if someone wants to buy a television instead? Isn't that their right?
I would personally rather not support another person for the next 20+ years. So what?

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[–] ikareni-1 18 years ago

BUT: you gotta do what you gotta do.. i'm sure people would'nt like to lie in dirt... sometimes you just have no other choice.

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[–] Dambala 18 years ago

Whether Maria is greedy or no I guess depends on each viewer's interpretation but her character is definitely hard-head, irresponsible and just plain dishonest (your average teenager, I would say!). The danger of her attitude is that she thinks she is being responsible by takign those decisions. She puts not only her life but her baby's and her whole family's life in danger because she couldn't see herself working hard for a few pesos. Yeah, life wasn't easy for her there but she was living, she wasn't in the street eating dirt. Like a lot of teenagers today, her attention was drawn by the fast dangerous easy money life.

Maria is not totally bad (as evidenced throughout the movie) but it's not like her decision make her all likable because of the condition of her life, which I repeat wasn't as desperate as some may think.

And let's stop with this nonsense that you have no other choice. What that means? Her mom obviously chose otherwise, her sister chose otherwise, many of her neighboors and coworkers in the same situation chose otherwise, many people in the exact situation around the world choose otherwise. I chose otherwise. What are we who choose to stay on the straight path doign so because we are suicidal? Because to hear some people, the minute you're living a hard life, you're supposed to drop all your dignity and morals and do anything at all cost to get a better life. Thankfully it doesn't work that way for most of us who had to go through hardship in our life.

My parents always said to me: We may not have a lot but don't you ever let that be an excuse to deviate on the wrong path. A modest but honest living is always better than a rich but but empty dishonest life.

I'm sure if her family were to hear how she got her money they would not accept it from her; it happened all the time in my family. So there goes the "she was in such a desperate situation that she had to do this"

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[–] shaolin-master 18 years ago

andysmith1 said: "I found the characters in this movie competely unsympathetic and motivated by their own personal greed and nothing else. You lie in dirt you gonna get dirty". You know nothing my friend, it's you who's full of crap. Need I explain? Certainly not...

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[–] RedRibbon 18 years ago

It's gotta be so easy for fat kids watching this movie in HDTV while eating Cheetos and drinking Sprite and then log on to their brand new computers and talk about values, morals and integrity and ridicule someone's honest plight for a better life (or just to survive) even if it means breaking some immigration laws that are so flawed that's no even funny.

Yep, so easy.

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[–] alwaysflaca 18 years ago

"It's gotta be so easy for fat kids watching this movie in HDTV while eating Cheetos and drinking Sprite and then log on to their brand new computers and talk about values, morals and integrity and ridicule someone's honest plight for a better life (or just to survive) even if it means breaking some immigration laws that are so flawed that's no even funny.

Yep, so easy."

Beautifully said, RedRibbon. I applaud you.

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[–] nitesilent 18 years ago

While I don't say I agree with any specific criticism of the character, the point is that movie characters are meant to be examined critically -- along with the character's actions, the laws, poverty, drug problems, etc. I dare say the director probably wants such criticism and thought, because that leads to new ideas. Contribution consisting only of dull-witted sarcasm and derrogatory comments about weight don't foster new ideas.

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[–] Raksha_Keller 18 years ago

I dont think Maria was greedy in the conventional sense. She wanted something better for herself and the method she choose was wrong. I think this film really is thier to just show us how people in the Mule business, become Mules. The director has chosen to show us the fact that many Mules are actually not all dirt poor as we imagine them to be and that basically they have a choice. For Maria could have become a maid, stayed at the flower factory, gained skills for a better job and used protectin and not gotton pregnant.But this is the story of a teenager who due to her rebelious nature makes the wrong choice. And I think her option to stay back in the states was a good one, for she did think about her baby. If you go through the film you realise that the only time she is really happy is when she sees her baby.
I think because she wasnt so to speak 'dirt poor', she is being judged to harshly. We tend to forget that the people specifically of colombia are goinf through 40+yrs of a Civil War and their circumstances, upbringing and choices are naturally gonna be differnt from ours. And not everything is as good as it appears to be for her.
I absolutely loved this film and hope more honest films like this are made.

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[–] Dambala 18 years ago

No I think it's the opposite: because deep down inside she's a good kid (but irresponsible one), many people who have seen the movie and felt for her refuse to admit her flaws. I still think she's a good kid and I root for her when in the end she decided to stay and give up that mule thing. But there's no wrong in highlighting her flaws as well.
Maria is not a innocent soul cornered and forced to do what she didl; throughtout the movie we've witnessed both her strength and her weakness.

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[–] vidvuk 18 years ago

I couldn't agree more. That's just not the way a movie is supposed to be made.

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[–] thefantabulousthatz 18 years ago

You are completely right if you are talking only about Blanca, who is just a greedy idiot.
But María and Lucy are both doing this for their families. Lucy wants to see her sister, and María wants to give her baby a good life in America and help to support her mom, grandmother, sister, and nephew.

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