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What's the social comment? And what does the ending signify?

posted 13 years ago by Sophia_Evenstar
9 replies | jump to latest

Every review I read states that WAWWA is a film rife with social commentary. Aside from the images reflecting the slummish life on the streets of Mexico (done before in many films), I couldn't quite grasp what the film was trying to say. Moreover though, I did understand some of the familial statements the film was making: the struggle to go out into the world and literally put food on the table; the sibling rivalry; the control of incest in families; coming-of-age (bildung's roman) complex mother-son relationships, etc.

But what's the wider picture? And what was the significance of showing Sabina looking out at the world like that? She's her father's daughter, she'll carry on with the rituals and teach her children the same, and I also picked up a note of hope at her almost challenging the world, as we all must have felt in the peak of our youths...

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Sophia_Evenstar 12 years ago

Agreed. That would have meant so much more - though I don't think the director wanted the film to end with so much of a family/love emphasis :/

[–] Garabombo_mx 12 years ago

My take is that by giving her the "You are alive" note he meant to make her understand she was now free. It was too late for the rest of the family, but he still saved her but not to follow the rules they had been taught. She was not forced to follow that ritual or any other family convention anymore. She is now on her own to go out to the world and make her own decisions. If that is possible in any society -as the movie implies- is a different issue. Oh, and as the last scene shows, her late brother's attemp for rescue her seems to be worthless.

[–] Frequency270 12 years ago

I was getting that, too...some attempt to show the social structure of poverty and lower incomes in Mexico...but the precise nature of the 'point' eludes me.

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[–] fatpie42 11 years ago

I think the point was the familial control. I don't know how common that is amongst families in Mexico, but it was certainly interesting here. The father has died and the oldest brother is trying to take over the role of head of the family, but it's not easy to get to grips with this role. It was interesting how naive and innocent these characters seemed at times, despite being cruel and violent cannibals in secret.

[–] mamidearest 11 years ago

The movie is filled with moments that are basically Mexican in-jokes. For example, when the police say they aren't going to look into the identity of the cannibalization victim because they "don't solve old crimes." After that, they decide they do want to solve the crime after all, not because they care about protecting people from cannibals, but because they want promotions that will bring them money. Even the sons pretending that they don't know which watch the irate customer is demanding. Later on, there is a shot of one of the sons holding the watch. All of these scenes plus many others will be familiar to anyone who lives in Mexico. Minus the cannibalism, they are common scenarios that everyone ends up dealing with in some version or another.

[–] balducci2 10 years ago

I appreciate what you are saying, but the particular examples you cite are pretty common elsewhere too. I would hardly describe them as Mexican in-jokes, more like big city urban in-jokes. Any big city has its corrupt / lazy cops, and street hustlers.

[–] camillacream-1 11 years ago

I think it's a social commentary on capitalism and poverty. Notice the victims are always society's throwaways--homeless street children, prostitutes, gay men, the poor--and most people wouldn't blink an eye or care if any of those people disappeared because they aren't considered worthwhile anyway. This is why the family has been able to continue its ritual so long--no one goes looking for missing prostitutes (that's why serial killers prey on them too--think Ted Bundy or the pig farmer who hunted junkie hookers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside). The family themselves are poor and live in the projects--crime is usually committed by poor people against other poor people: they prey upon and cannibalize each other. Finally, what is capitalism but the exploitation and, yes, cannibalization of other people (particularly the poor) for profit? But hey, the ritual must go on, right? What's the death of hundreds of Bangladeshi garment workers when the Western world must have its cheap consumer goods, damn it. It's noteworthy that the father dies in a mall looking at clothing on mannequins--and is then quickly taken away and his blood neatly cleaned so as not to disturb the shoppers.

[–] Tyler-A-Arse 11 years ago

When a movie doesn't fully explain itself very well, I think it's funny how everyone wants to try and make it into something metaphorical. How 'bout it was a movie that was almost pretty good, but failed to get it's point across by being somewhat thin in the plotl