The Mexican Revolution of the 1910s alone is considered to have inspired some hundreds of border films, mostly documentaries and docudramas. The Mexican film industry has a nearly equally long history of representing the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. According to Norma Iglesias-Prieto, one of the leading scholars in the field of Mexican border cinema, more than 300 border films were produced in Mexico between 1936 and 1996. “By the 1930s, Mexican producers were beginning to view the border as a profitable theme for Mexico’s national film industry” (Iglesias-Prieto 1998). Referring to Iglesias-Prieto’s classic book-length study "Entre yerba, polvo y plomo: Lo fronterizo visto por el cine mexicano" (1991), Fregoso argues that Mexico produced 147 border films in the decade between 1979 and 1989 alone (cp. 2003). Charles Ramírez Berg also points to a boom in 'cine fronterizo' in the 1980s: "Border films have flourished on the lowest end of the economic and aesthetic Mexican moviemaking scale for decades. The 'narcotraficante' film, a Mexican police genre, is the most popular (...)
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
2 THEORIZING AND HISTORICIZING THE PHENOMENON OF BORDER CINEMA
2.1 The View from the North: The U.S.-Mexico Border(lands) According to Hollywood
2.2 The View from the South: Mexican Border Cinema and la frontera
3 TRANSNATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE U.S. BORDERLANDS: OUTLAW WOMEN IN CONTEMPORARY BORDER CINEMA
3.1 Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel: Border Cinema Goes Global
3.2 María Novaro’s Sin dejar huella: Border Cinema Meets Road Movie
4 CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
This interdisciplinary study, situated between American Studies and Latin American Studies, provides a comparative analysis of transnational filmic representations of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Its primary research goal is to investigate how recent "outlaw women" in contemporary border cinema challenge mainstream cinematic stereotypes, offering counter-images that address complex debates on migration, mobility, and globalization.
- Comparative analysis of U.S. and Mexican border cinema traditions.
- The historical evolution of the "outlaw" and "bandit" tropes in Westerns and border films.
- Analysis of gender representation and the subversion of traditional female roles in border cinema.
- The integration of "hyperlink cinema" and "road movie" genres into contemporary border narratives.
- Humanizing the experiences of undocumented immigrants and "outlaw women" protagonists.
Excerpt from the Book
Bandits, villains, and outlaws in Hollywood border cinema
The U.S. American construction of the border with Mexico has been particularly plagued with stereotypes of outlaw practices and Mexicans represented as evil, bandits, and outlaws:
Hollywood has perpetrated the image of banditry along the border through misuse of history, misrepresentation of socioeconomic conditions, neutralizations of political tensions, and other such sleights of hand that create and perpetuate a false mythology of the borderlands and its inhabitants. (Fojas 2008a: 5)
According to Fojas, the Mexican bandit is “not only one of the most abiding stereotypes of Mexicans in Hollywood history, but also the symbolic center and cardinal icon of the borderland narrative”. The roots of this stereotype date back to 19th century dime novels11, silent-era greaser12 films, and/or “films with plots structured around Mexican villains” (cp. Fojas 2008a: 5). As Allen L. Woll puts it in The Latin Image in American Film:
Although the majority of early silent films emphasized action and violence, the Mexican bandits were clearly among the most vile. They robbed, murdered, plundered, raped, cheated, gambled, lied, and displayed virtually every vice that could be shown on the screen. (7)
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: This chapter contextualizes the U.S.-Mexico border as a central trope in both national cinemas, outlining the prevalence of stereotypical representations and introducing the research focus on "outlaw women."
2 THEORIZING AND HISTORICIZING THE PHENOMENON OF BORDER CINEMA: This chapter maps the generic terrain of border cinema, tracing the evolution of cinematic stereotypes and the contrasting ideological perspectives from both North and South.
3 TRANSNATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE U.S. BORDERLANDS: OUTLAW WOMEN IN CONTEMPORARY BORDER CINEMA: This chapter provides close film analyses of Babel and Sin dejar huella, exploring how these works utilize female protagonists to challenge established border genre conventions and rework themes of migration and identity.
4 CONCLUSION: This chapter summarizes the study's findings, highlighting how the selected films attempt to humanize marginalized subjects and offer a more nuanced, empathetic perspective on border realities.
Keywords
Border cinema, Borderlands, Outlaw women, Migration, Hollywood stereotypes, Mexican cinema, Babel, Sin dejar huella, Transnationalism, Gender representation, Hyperlink cinema, Road movie, Globalization, Identity, Stereotyping
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this thesis?
The thesis explores the transnational representation of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, specifically analyzing how female "outlaw" characters are portrayed in contemporary cinema.
What are the primary thematic fields addressed in the work?
The study covers the history of the border genre, the construction of "otherness," the evolution of gender roles in film, and the intersection of politics, migration, and cinema.
What is the central research question?
The research asks how cross-genre border films utilize female protagonists to offer counter-images to traditional stereotypes, thereby influencing contemporary debates on migration and globalization.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The work utilizes an interdisciplinary approach, blending textual analysis with film and cultural theory to compare U.S. and Mexican cinematic traditions.
What is the focus of the main body (Chapter 3)?
The main body offers deep film analyses of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel and María Novaro’s Sin dejar huella, focusing on their specific narrative strategies and the characterization of female outlaws.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include "Border cinema," "outlaw women," "transnationalism," "gender representation," "migration," and "identity."
How does the film 'Babel' integrate hyperlink cinema?
Babel uses a multi-protagonist, fragmented narrative structure that intertwines separate stories across different continents, inviting viewers to explore global interconnections.
In what ways does 'Sin dejar huella' subvert traditional road movie norms?
The film combines the road movie with the border genre to focus on female solidarity and a journey from North to South, challenging the masculine bias typical of the road movie archetype.
- Quote paper
- Jeanette Gonsior (Author), 2014, Transnational Representations of the U.S. Borderlands. Outlaw Women in Contemporary "Border Cinema", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/502500
