Resist

I’m greatly encouraged by the possibility of part of the film focusing on the site of Tijuana, as Gael discussed with Annie Lennox. Not only is it clearly an important site of cultural exchange, migration flows and inequalities but, as with many border areas, the creation of difference is on some levels only imaginary because the strict lines of cultural division that national borders insist upon, do not accurately embrace the realities of movements between and against them.
Importantly the factory culture of female workers in Cuidad Juarez, would also be an interesting inclusion perhaps, where the many unsolved “femicide” cases speak volumes on some of the extremely negative aspects of machista culture. Of course, I do not intend to suggest that such gender violence is specific to Mexico, but rather that it is important to continue to highlight the greater inequalities between Mexico and her northern neighbour that are at least partially at fault in such extreme cases.
In addition to this, the importance of Mexico within Latin America, and the evident resistance against the labelling of the United States, “America”, terms which both the USA and much of the rest of the world freely exchanges as if the meanings were identical, is an important differentiation if global interconnectedness is to be separated from the notion of Americanization (which of course is again an incorrect and problematic term) and if the USA is to give up the reigns as uncontested “leader of the free world”.