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What Are The Stereotypes In El Norte

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Gregory Nava’s 1983 film, El Norte, is by far one of the most honest and eye opening depictions of the experience many undocumented immigrants and refugees have when trying to come to the United States. By challenging the ethnocentric tendencies of the North American film industry and the general negative stereotypes of Latinos in film, Nava is one of the first writers/directors to break away from the typical representations of Latinos and give such true representation and discussion of many issues surrounding Latinos, immigration, and American society and values. The film focuses on two young Mayan brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa, from their flight from their village in rural Guatemala to their life of hardship and isolation in Los Angeles, …show more content…

The first in Guatemala, the second in Mexico, and the third in Lost Angeles (El Norte). In this first episode, named “Arturo Xuncax,” a small Guatemalan pueblo called San Pedro shows the life and realities of a group of indigenous Mayans. Arturo is a coffee picker and a father to Enrique and Rosa. Arturo explains to his son, Enrique, his views and opinions on worker rights. He notes that, "to the rich, the peasant is just a pair of strong arms." Tired of being treated terribly by employers and an oppressive government, the family discusses the possibility of going to a promised land called El Norte, where all people, even the poor, own their own cars and toilets. Because of Arturo’s attempts to form a labor union among the workers, he and the other organizers were attacked and murdered later that night by government troops. It is important to note that premise of the film takes place during the Guatemalan Civil War, in which various leftist rebel groups, mostly made up of poor indigenous rural farmers, fought against the corrupt (and US backed) Guatemalan dictatorship after years of genocide and oppression of the indigenous people. After nearly escaping death and abduction 24 hours later, Rosa and Enrique realize that everything and everyone they loved has been taken by military troops, and if they did not escape immediately they would fall to the same fate of their

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