Quinceañera
20 sep 06
Emma and I saw Quinceañera tonight, preceded by a delicious Mexican dinner. Mmm… I love enchiladas.
I’ve been wanting to see this movie for a while, from previews and because it’s gotten good reviews. If you haven’t heard of it, here’s the plotline from IMDb:
As Magdalena’s 15th birthday approaches, her simple, blissful life is complicated by the discovery that she’s pregnant. Kicked out of her house, she finds a new family with her great-granduncle and gay cousin.
What’s really remarkable about this movie is not so much how it tells Magdalena’s story, touching on teen sexuality, tradition, culture, parental expectations, but how effortlessly it weaves in issues of gentrification, death, gay acceptance, socioeconomic classes, familial relationships, and I could go on and on. Like her great-uncle, this movie is quiet and observant and never judges, when it could have easily made light of the arguably ridiculous hoopla associated with the fifteenth birthday celebration.
My only real complaint here is that the actors playing Magdalena’s female friends and cousins put in really poor performances, and their group conversations were painful. But the main characters, while stereotypes on the outside, are given depth by the filmmakers, and you’ll find yourself on their side immediately.
Kelvin / 21 sep 2006 / 1:58 a.m.
Coming of age celebrations exist in many if not all cultures, so it’s hard to find fault in a tradition shared by so many and so different. I can say that watching “My Super Sweet 16” is probably the most disturbing use of cash my eyes have seen, but the general idea of both presenting a girl as a young woman, and making her the focus to all of a society for one day is there. What you may allege as ridiculous might just be some girl’s fondest memory of her young adult life. Years ago I was asked to be a formal escort to a Debutante at a Filipino Cotillion; where it is more about tradition, family, and the young adults’ lives and futures than it is about lavish excess. The particpants in the cotillion were already social peers, while their family and our friends all intermingled in one night to show the support of the community that in essense, raised us to be young adults.
I haven’t seen the movie but I’ve heard of it, but how close to home can a movie titled Quinceanera that takes place in LA be… when it was written and directed by two gay white guys, one from Queens NY, and one from Leeds, UK? Just an outside observation by me. From the surfing I’ve done around the web it seems it’s well done, so I’m looking forward to enjoying the film.
Speaking of lavish celebrations, I should really be packing for this wedding i’m flying to…