Analysis Of The Film Gringos At The Gate - 1492 Words

Latin Identity The film Gringos at the Gate is a documentary about the interesting and dynamic relationship between the United States and Mexico. It uses the sport of soccer, futbol, to highlight the patriotism each country has for their respective country. The director also highlights the issue of identity for Mexican Americans. Many are conflicted with the idea of not knowing who they are supposed to (or in some cases allowed to) support. In this class we spoke about how through history Latin America has struggled with identity. As seen in Jake Silverstein’s article, â€Å"Grand Opening Ronald McDonald conquers New Spain†, and Gringos at the Gate, the interaction between two countries in Latin America can lead conflict in deciding one’s†¦show more content†¦Soccer gives a kid the opportunity to bring money to their family if they are good enough. The film shows the historical significance of soccer as well. It shows how the Europeans came and showed Me xico soccer and it attempts to argue that the feelings from the Mexican-American War are reignited when the two sides play . Gringos at the Gate explores the theme of patriotism through the soccer rivalry. An example of this is when the United States plays America in the Estadio Azteca for a world cup qualifier match . Mexico wins the match and immediately afterwards has an over the top celebration. They have marches in the streets proclaiming their pride and hazing anyone who seems like they do not support Mexico. As Juliette Levy points out in the film Mexicans take the winning and losing much more passionately . If Mexico wins it’s all about how great they are and how much better they are than anyone else, but if they lose the all blame shifts towards the white people. Every opportunity against the Americans seems to be a way to prove oneself. Up to the point of the film being made America had never one in Mexico. The extremely rowdy fans make it almost impossible to commu nicate for the opposing side and makes them concentrate on the crowd rather than the game. Whenever the game between the two countries is played in America, America tries its hardest to put it as far away from Mexico as possible, but even then American fans are outnumbered. Even though Mexico