Ben Kaczmar GVSU

 Good evening, Emma! I think the way that you claim how Evita represents Argentine culture as a whole is absolutely correct. Especially in the book, you can see both sides of the spectrum from those who adored her and those who despised her. To add on to your claim, I think the author used the uncomfortable scenes to purposefully draw attention to how high emotions were running in Argentina. Arguments in general will always have people on opposite sides, but they might find a compromise. I think the book portrays an idea that Argentina is not willing to compromise over anything, as seen through Eva Perón.

 Before this week, I had only vaguely heard of Eva Perón. However, after learning about Argentina and Juan Perón, and reading Tomás Eloy Martínez's book Santa Evita , I am surprised I had never heard more about her. I think it's really odd how someone as influential as Eva isn't really talked about in American schools. The way that millions of people showed up after her death to show their support, give flowers, and mourn out of respect isn't really seen in the United States or many other places around the world. I was taken aback by the sheer numbers in some of the pictures of the Argentine crowds after Eva Perón's death. In my opinion, the reason why Eva was so revered in Argentina is because she always kept others in mind. Whether Eva was participating in radio acting, running her own foundation, creating a school of nursing, or serving as an active first lady, she was always ready to get involved and make a difference. This idea can be reflected in the book, San...

 How are you, Linnea? I like the points that you made regarding the colors of Rivera's mural and how it relates to tone. It's intriguing how you interpreted the bright colors over violent scenes as "painting over" the bad parts of Mexican history. I wonder if that's Rivera actually intended, and it leads me to believe that there could be an infinite number of hidden messages in the mural and art in general. Even if Rivera didn't mean to use bright colors over violent scenes in his mural, I wonder if his subconscious thoughts influenced his art. Either way, intentional or not, I think that "painting over" Mexican history is a great way to describe the scene!

A really interesting coincidence happened this week between this class and my Spanish class. In The Making of Latin America, we obviously talked a lot about Diego Rivera's mural A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park. Interestingly enough, this same week in my Spanish class we are starting an interactive class game that is entirely based on Latin American art. The overall purpose of the game is to basically build an art collection that showcases Latin American art at the Prado Museum in Madrid. Everyone in the class has a different role either as an artist, curator, or representative that involves different art movements of Latin America. The crazy part is that one of the movements that are a part of the game is Mexican Muralism! We briefly talked about Mexican muralism as a theme in class, so it's really cool that I am going to be making such a clear connection between the two classes. Learning about Rivera's mural in our groups and as a class was actually a lot of ...

  Hello, Angie! I also found the rooster scene to be interesting. My DQ for Serrata's part of the class required me to mention scenes from part three that had made me uncomfortable, and the rooster fight was one of the ones I picked. Your interpretation is different than mine; I compared the violence of the rooster fight and end scene, while you pointed out the desire to fight against all odds. Your idea helped me understand that the two scenes are comparable not just in violent action but also through intention and feelings. Great post!

 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 ...

 Good evening, Lillie! I love how in-depth you covered the correlation between the typewriter and the power of words in the movie. Even though Zapata can't read, as you said, he's still a tremendous leader. The reason I think Zapata was successful is because he used his strengths to overcome his weaknesses (reading, writing, etc.). In any context, it's essential that leaders, historical and present, understand their strengths and weaknesses and find ways to overcome obstacles. It was great reading about how invested you were in this topic, Lillie!