Review of Making Cinelandia: American Films and Mexican Film Culture before the Golden Age. By Laura Isabel Serna. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2014. 317 pp

García Blizzard, Mónica

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	  	  	  http://alternativas.osu.edu	  	   	  5,	  2015	   ISSN	  2168-­‐8451	  	  	   No.	  5,	  2015	  	  	  Review	  of	  Making	  Cinelandia:	  American	  Films	  and	  Mexican	  Film	  Culture	  before	  the	  Golden	  Age.	  By	  Laura	  Isabel	  Serna.	  Durham,	  NC:	  Duke	  UP,	  2014.	  317	  pp.	  	  	  	  Laura	  Isabel	  Serna’s	  study	  inserts	  itself	  within	  the	  longstanding	  discussion	  concerning	  the	  relationship	  between	  Mexican	  cinema	  and	  national	  subjectivity.	  Many	  scholars	  have	  focused	  on	  Mexican	  cinema’s	  Golden	  Age	  (from	  the	  early	  1930’s	  through	  the	  late	  1950’s)	  as	  a	  privileged	  site	  for	  understanding	  the	  nationalization	  of	  spectators	  because	  of	  the	  period’s	  high	  level	  of	  domestic	  film	  production.	  Serna’s	  book	  invites	  readers	  to	  shift	  their	  perspective	  by	  arguing	  that	  although	  US	  film	  dominated	  Mexican	  screens	  during	  the	  latter	  part	  of	  the	  silent	  period,	  Mexican	  audiences	  were	  already	  being	  nationalized	  through	  film	  culture	  and	  exhibition	  practices,	  which	  effectively	  created	  a	  fertile	  terrain	  for	  the	  production-­‐led	  national	  film	  culture	  that	  developed	  more	  fully	  in	  the	  late	  1930’s	  and	  early	  1940’s.	  By	  unearthing	  the	  experience	  of	  the	  spectator	  during	  the	  silent	  period	  through	  the	  rigorous	  treatment	  of	  a	  variety	  of	  materials	  including	  newspaper	  articles,	  magazines,	  personal	  correspondence,	  theses,	  and	  film,	  her	  study	  is	  a	  model	  of	  how	  the	  national	  can	  be	  interrogated	  “at	  the	  site	  of	  consumption	  as	  much	  as	  at	  the	  site	  of	  production”	  (Higson,	  36).1	  	   The	  book	  is	  divided	  into	  two	  parts,	  the	  first	  of	  which	  focuses	  on	  film	  culture	  and	  practices	  in	  Mexico	  itself.	  Chapter	  1	  discusses	  how	  US	  film	  came	  to	  be	  prominent	  in	  Mexican	  cinemas,	  highlighting	  that	  although	  US	  representatives	  of	  the	  film	  industry	  sought	  to	  impose	  their	  formula	  for	  reaping	  box	  office	  profits,	  they	  were	  forced	  to	  contend	  with	  local	  tastes,	  values,	  politics	  and	  business	  practices.	  Chapter	  2	  examines	  how	  the	  movie-­‐going	  experience	  was	  put	  in	  the	  service	  of	  Mexico’s	  post	  revolutionary	  nation-­‐building	  project	  through	  the	  exhibition	  of	  public	  health	  information	  and	  patriotic	  celebrations,	  the	  delineation	  of	  appropriate	  behavior	  in	  theatres,	  and	  the	  construction	  of	  the	  family	  as	  the	  ideal	  spectator.	  2	   mónica	  garcía	  blizzard	  	  http://alternativas.osu.edu	  	   	  5,	  2015	   ISSN	  2168-­‐8451	  Chapter	  3	  addresses	  how	  the	  popular	  press	  in	  Mexico	  constituted	  a	  space	  in	  which	  Hollywood	  was	  translated	  and	  adapted	  for	  the	  Mexican	  reader/spectator.	  In	  particular,	  the	  chapter	  illustrates	  the	  ways	  in	  which	  these	  publications	  foregrounded	  “mexicanness”	  as	  the	  common	  lens	  though	  which	  US	  mass	  media	  was	  understood	  and	  made	  available	  to	  local	  audiences.	  	  	   The	  second	  half	  of	  the	  book	  deals	  with	  the	  cross-­‐border	  exchanges	  through	  which	  the	  movement	  of	  people,	  texts	  and	  the	  film	  generated	  a	  common	  film	  culture	  throughout	  greater	  Mexico.	  	  In	  Chapter	  4,	  Serna	  looks	  at	  the	  ways	  in	  which	  the	  models	  of	  US	  femininity	  in	  film	  incited	  local	  manifestations	  of	  modern	  womanhood,	  leading	  to	  debates	  about	  the	  place	  of	  women	  in	  post	  revolutionary	  Mexico.	  In	  particular,	  the	  emergence	  of	  “la	  pelona”	  (a	  name	  used	  to	  refer	  to	  women	  who	  had	  cut	  their	  hair	  short)	  represented	  one	  type	  of	  emancipated	  woman	  and	  proved	  to	  be	  source	  of	  anxiety	  regarding	  gender	  and	  class	  distinctions.	  Chapter	  5	  considers	  how	  Mexican	  spectators	  on	  both	  sides	  of	  the	  border	  reacted	  to	  Hollywood’s	  unflattering	  portrayal	  of	  Mexican	  people,	  showing	  how	  this	  common	  indignation	  points	  to	  a	  shared	  experience	  of	  spectatorship	  rooted	  in	  national	  identity.	  The	  book’s	  final	  chapter	  argues	  that	  the	  cinematic	  experience	  was	  a	  significant	  way	  in	  which	  Mexican	  communities	  living	  in	  the	  US	  understood	  themselves	  and	  maintained	  a	  sense	  of	  national	  belonging	  to	  their	  country	  of	  origin.	  Through	  the	  careful	  selection	  of	  quotes	  and	  images	  from	  varied	  archival	  materials,	  Serna	  elegantly	  demonstrates	  how	  the	  cinematic	  experience	  was	  already	  intimately	  intertwined	  with	  a	  sense	  of	  Mexican	  nationhood	  in	  the	  silent	  period,	  regardless	  of	  the	  national	  origin	  of	  the	  films	  themselves.	  	  	   In	  the	  elaboration	  of	  her	  claims,	  the	  author	  makes	  several	  important	  contributions.	  By	  locating	  the	  national	  in	  the	  filter	  through	  which	  cultural	  production	  is	  interpreted,	  and	  providing	  an	  example	  of	  how	  this	  understanding	  of	  the	  national	  can	  be	  examined,	  the	  study	  broadens	  the	  way	  in	  which	  the	  relationship	  between	  cinema	  and	  nationalism	  can	  be	  conceived.	  The	  name	  she	  gives	  to	  this	  liminal	  space	  of	  interpretation,	  adaptation,	  and	  translation,	  “cinelandia”	  is	  a	  productive	  term	  that	  I	  believe	  can	  be	  used	  by	  scholars	  discussing	  negotiated	  reading	  on	  the	  part	  of	  spectators	  in	  other	  periods	  and	  contexts.	  Crucially,	  this	  approach	  to	  the	  national	  is	  the	  basis	  for	  the	  studies’	  examination	  of	  film	  culture	  on	  both	  sides	  of	  the	  border,	  given	  that	  this	  interpretative	  lens	  does	  not	  depend	  on	  one’s	  geographical	  location	  in	  the	  mónica	  garcía	  blizzard	   3	  	  http://alternativas.osu.edu	  	   	  5,	  2015	   ISSN	  2168-­‐8451	  present.	  The	  book’s	  cross-­‐border	  look	  at	  spectatorship	  and	  reception	  is	  a	  valuable	  one	  because	  it	  speaks	  more	  accurately	  to	  the	  complexity	  of	  spectatorship	  than	  an	  understanding	  of	  national	  spectatorship	  that	  is	  geographically	  determined.	  	  	   With	  regards	  to	  Mexican	  film	  history	  in	  particular,	  the	  book	  adds	  texture	  and	  richness	  to	  the	  understanding	  of	  the	  Golden	  Age	  period	  by	  showing	  how	  the	  explicit	  and	  implicit	  national	  discourses	  of	  its	  films	  were	  received	  by	  a	  public	  that	  had	  already	  been	  rehearsing	  national	  belonging	  through	  their	  participation	  in	  film	  culture	  for	  several	  decades.	  Serna’s	  study	  also	  illuminates	  early	  cinema	  history	  as	  a	  productive	  place	  to	  interrogate	  racial	  constructs	  and	  race	  relations	  within	  and	  beyond	  the	  films	  themselves.	  	  	  	   Making	  Cinelandia	  is	  fascinating	  and	  meticulously	  executed	  scholarly	  contribution.	  The	  study	  will	  certainly	  be	  of	  interest	  not	  only	  to	  historians,	  but	  to	  film	  scholars,	  and	  those	  interested	  in	  Latin	  American	  Cultural	  Studies,	  Border	  Studies,	  Gender	  Studies,	  as	  well	  as	  Race	  and	  Ethnicity	  Studies.	  	  	  	  Mónica	  García	  Blizzard	  The	  Ohio	  State	  University	  	  	  	  Note	  1	  Higson,	  Andrew.	  "The	  concept	  of	  national	  cinema."	  Screen	  30.4	  (1989):	  36-­‐46.	  	  

Review of Making Cinelandia: American Films and Mexican Film Culture before the Golden Age

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Review of Making Cinelandia: American Films and Mexican Film Culture before the Golden Age

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