In the Past

This semester in Latin American Humanities was fantastic! I loved all of the works that we read, but there were definitely some that I enjoyed more than others. My favorite movie was Black Orpheus, while I also really enjoyed reading Bless Me, Ultima.

The reason I enjoyed Black Orpheus the most is because not only was it a great story, but I loved what the director did with the fact that it wasn’t just a new version of Orpheus, but instead that story still existed. The symbolism was very interesting, and fun to look for. Also, while other people may not have liked how slowly the story went, with so much dancing and moments without any movement in the story-line  I enjoyed it! It did a great job of showing the atmosphere of the festival, as well as the lifestyles that the people lived every other day of their life as well.

In Bless Me Ultima, the comparisons with Jesus Christ were very obvious. The only way a reader wouldn’t have noticed is if they didn’t know the story of Christ’s crucifixion. The story itself was a great example of author’s life, but whenever a reference to Christ’s story appeared, I wasn’t sure whether to consider it a good thing, or sacriligious. Other symbolism throughout the story was not so easy to see. Ultima, the owl, the river, it seems as if everything and everyone in the story could have a hidden meaning. But I wasn’t able to pick up on them so well. I’m still trying to figure it out. However, that didn’t make me enjoy the book any less.

I’m also very excited for the things we are doing the rest of the class. Like watching the Prisoner of Askaban. I’m curious to see what differences I can see between the Harry Potter that was written by a Latin American director. Will it be obvious?