As weird as this might seem, I watched this year's Oscars. Those who
know me, know that I don't watch the Oscars. As the week after the
Oscars goes by, I unintentionally find out about the winners, and that
usually turns into a TODO list of movies to watch. Through social
events, lunch with friends, and dinner with my parents, I get caught
up with all the movies I didn't notice. Those conversations usually
uncover how much I care about the films that Hollywood outputs every
year. But this year is different, oh you don't understand, this year
is special. This year, the Oscars felt like the Worldcup to every
Mexican that cares about the Oscars. To the point, that I was watching
my favorite Sunday podcasts (Harmontown and Mega64) while at the same
time watching the TV, and listening to my wife's predictions.
It was Mexico vs everybody else in Hollywood. Not that all the other
nominated movies turned into our enemies, but this year's Mexican
representation was more than just accomplished directors. The most
representative animated movie for most Mexicans, Pixar's Coco was
nominated for Best Animated Movie. Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of
Water was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. Del Toro is a
well respected Director in Mexico, and aside from that, he represents
Mexico in the correct manner. He's faithful to his influences, and
shows a proud side, his Mexican view of life. Del Toro's success is an
influence on every Mexican that works in the creative world.
To most middle-to-low income class Mexicans, working in any creative
discipline is a huge risk to take. Not only there's not fair
employment in Mexico for the creative fields, but it's undervalued and
limited to a select network of individuals. You can find people that
are now YouTube stars and famous actors, that were forced to take an
STEM undergrad by their family, in order to secure financial
stability, while pushing their creative career to the background.
Del Toro's success with The Shape of Water proofs that Mexicans don't
have to stick to creating stories that export Mexico's culture and
politics. He sends a clear message, it's fine to have influences
and tastes from every corner of the world. We all know that he loves
Japanese culture and early Hollywood Cinema Monsters, but you can see
how he plays with the mixture of life and politics, a mixture not
strange to any Mexican. But he also allows for other projects that
don't reflect the latter, for instance, the action packed Hellboy
saga. Movies that if you weren't aware wouldn't even notice that Del
Toro directed them, of course, if you don't notice the physical visual
effects. Del Toro's work message is clear, your nationality and your
culture should not dictate what you can express and what you can work
on.
Regarding Coco, there isn't much to say, the movie is a great work of
anthropology, creativity, and thoughtful pacing. It's a movie that has
all the elements that make us Mexicans, and that champions our values.
Without setting itself in typical stereotypes to sell, Coco sets
itself in a human way above the stereotypes.
By now, you already must know that both movies won. If you haven't
seen the Oscar's Del Toro and Coco's memes by now, go check Twitter
for them, you're in for a treat.
The national favorite to win was Get Out. It won Best Screenplay, and
it was well deserved. Get Out has a fantastic plot, I am in a hard
position, while I really think Get Out was a brilliant execution, The
Shape of Water marked all the checkmarks of what a beautiful movie is
made of. To the point that, the movie contains the most muted scenes
count than any modern movie.
I hope next year's Oscars will be as important as this year's.
Representation matters.
