Volver is a film full of examples of strong Spanish women. Raimunda is determined to take care of her family when her husband loses his job. Her husband is content to forget about his troubles with a beer. Raimunda works several jobs. One night when she gets off the bus her daughter, Paula, meets her. Something terrible has happened. Paco, the husband, had been drinking and attempted to molest Paula. In an attempt to stop Paco, Paula threatens him with a knife. Paco doesn't take Paula seriously and she ends up killing him. At this point I was surprised Raimunda chose to hide the body. In our country, the daughter would have had a fair trial and could have pled self defense. From other films we have seen about the disarray of government, I can see why this may not have been an option. Raimunda took things in her own hands and hid the body. She even tried to take the blame of the murder from Paula. It is also amazing to me that she loves and cares for her daughter so much even though Paula was a result of her own fathers incest.
Sole, Raimunda's sister, is also very strong. She runs her own beauty shop from her home. When faced with what she believes is the ghost of her mother she takes her in and tries to change her identity. Irene the mother of Sole and Raimunda has been strong caring for Tia Paula until her death. Irene stays inside at all times since everyone believes her to be dead.
The superstitions of the Spanish people are very evident. The winds are said to make people crazy. There are strong beliefs in spirits. The graves are cared for to keep the spirits happy. There was a lot of evidence pointing to someone caring for Tia Paula. The village people could have figured it out but were quick to believe Irene's spirit was back. Even in the end, when Augustine sees and is cared for by Irene, she believes Irene is a ghost.
Brenda Johnson
Brenda I agree with you that in this country there would have been a trial and all that jazz, but I also want to say that you hear sometimes about fathers and mothers taking the situation into their own hands and ya know going and shooting the molester of their child, it happens a lot here. I agree with you that Raimunda is a very strong willed determined mother who would not take crap from anyone let alone her own husband. I feel the movie tried to make light of the situation as Raimunda hide the body in the freezer and how she got her friend to help her get rid of the freezer. I feel Raimunda knew what happened to her a such a young age with herself being molested and getting pregnant as such a young age that she felt she wouldn't let her own daughter have to go through the same thing and that is why I feel she reacted the way she did.
ReplyDeleteMiranda Miller
In deed, the theme of "abused women" is present throughout the entire film. I wonder if maybe the sub-topic of "incest" has been offenssive for any body in the classroom. It is not quite mention in the US so much anymore as it is in the Hispanic World. Mainly, in the rural and poor areas, where children do not have the care and attention they need.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Raimunda's mother never did anything to help and help her daughter after she found out the incest had been committed?
Incest is a horrible thing, that I agree is often not dealt with. It happens in our country as well as in Hispanic cultures. Some statistics I found include: 2/3 of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, 60% are not reported, every 2 minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted, and sadly 44% are victims under age 18. In searching for more information on this topic (I was curious to see if it is thought to be more prevalent with Hispanics), I found the "Machismo" culture is blamed for an increase of incest in this society. One source stated women are treated similar to women in the Taliban. The man is the macho one who sees women and children as objects to be used. In southern Mexico a practice of kidnapping a woman for sexual purposes was called "romantic and harmless" by the local legislator. Frequently stealing a cow will receive more punishment then rape. How sad.
ReplyDeleteI believe Raimunda's mother did nothing because there would not have been support in her culture for her to get help.