Blog for Week of February 24th

 What I enjoyed talking most about this week was the learning community activity regarding Viva Zapata and The Underdogs. I think we've all learned about historical events through fiction at some point or another in our lives; however, I don't remember any instances where there were media so different from each other. Although they were both about the Mexican Revolution, Viva Zapata and The Underdogs had different authors, objectives, and publishing dates. It was eye-opening to see an event like the Mexican Revolution portrayed in different manners. On one side, Viva Zapata was written by an American author with retrospective insight to the past in 1952. On the other, The Underdogs was written by a Mexican author with direct involvement in the revolution in 1915. The learning activity and the sources have helped me to learn about the impact of perspective. Azuela could have been influenced by personal bias in his book, but his account would have been more historically accurate. Steinbeck, the writer of Viva Zapata, was influenced to depict the events in a "friendlier" manner, but he would have been aware of the broader context of the Mexican Revolution. It's an interesting idea to think about how unique these depictions are of the same event. It makes you wonder if everything that you have learned about history is skewed based on someone's perspective.

Comments

  1. Emma RoseFebruary 25, 2022 at 6:47 PM

    Hello friend! I think that everything that we learn about history is skewed based on someone's perspective. Some depictions are incredibly different, like the examples that we discussed during class. I think that this is not an uncommon trend. Historical movies are not often created without some ulterior motives to influence the people who watch the movie. We have already discussed this concept in class this year in the movie we watched about Columbus!

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  2. Professor StarkMarch 3, 2022 at 7:22 AM

    Thank you, Ben, for the blog. I agree there are differences in the novel and the film based on when they were created and by whom. However, I am curious what leads you to believe that Azuela's account is more accurate, especially if he was associated with a particular leader (Pancho Villa). Doesn't this mean that he might favor Villa in how he describes what he did or stood for? Also, the novel was written after the war ended; might this have influenced the portrayal of Villa? Finally, Steinbeck leaned to the left politically but he was not a communist sympathizer which might impact how he wrote the script and downplayed any actions or beliefs that may have suggested sympathy for the communists.

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