Heroes?

I think it is an interesting concept to try and pick a hero in this movie. We spoke yesterday about the incredible amount of ambiguity and contradiction we say amongst the characters and I think this in many ways discredits the opportunity for a true hero to emerge. I think in the end of the day if I was to choose a hero between Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel, it would depend on how we're viewing the movie - meaning from which perspective are we looking at it.

In this case I am going to look at the movie with Germany as Puerto Rico, and Sweden playing an outside country, like America. In this case, I think we would have to classify Don Pedro as the overall hero. He stands for stability within the country and the country's ability to maintain their independence and control over their people and their problems. His concern to keep the outbreak of the flu a secret demonstrated not only his fear of what might happen if the public found out, but what would happen if the international community heard of the outbreak. As we spoke about in class, the fear of international sanctions and intervention from another powerful country would mean Germany's loss of control over their fate. Don Pedro illustrated that his people were his primary concern, and I think a pivotal scene for this is when Don Pedro and Astree have their conversation about their son and the bull fight.

In this scene, Don Pedro stands up to Astree by letting her know that their son will participate in the bull fight. One thing I noticed throughout the movie was the lighting which is important in this scene as well. In the beginning of the movie when all seemed fine and dandy, both Astree and Don Pedro were filmed with a ton of light surrounding them, emphasizing their faces. However, as the movie progressed and we see Dr. Nagel come more into the light, Don Pedro fades into the darkness, with many scenes lacking light on his face, making it seem as if he became the bad character in the movie. But in this scene, Don Pedro is clearly lit up, with the light from the windows and from the film crew emphasizing his power and presence in this moment. He stands up not only for what he wants but what is important to the country, which is his son becoming a man and participating in this "national" event. He did not want Astree's "old" culture influencing his son any more than it had been and wanted to emphasize the importance of the land and Puerto Rico's cultural values, which he felt needed to be embraced. I think this is really important because it demonstrated Don Pedro's desire to keep foreign nations out of Puerto Rico's affairs, therefore keeping it independent and the keeping the control in his hands. His leadership, while in the end did not get him far, I think demonstrated a much more powerful hero what Dr. Nagel's character embodied.