Literary References

Latin American Literature and Culture on GA

From 101 "A Hard Days Night"

I have been thinking about why the set people thought to put up the "Anna In the Tropics" poster. I watched 107 last night and this is the epi where Claire Rice decides to go to Mexico with her friends to have illegal laproscopic surgery to have her stomache stapled. The surgery causes complications and leaves Claire in the position where she will never be FAT but she will also have to be very careful about her nutrition for the rest of her life. The trip to Mexico was wrong, was disregarding the warnings of her Mom, but it left Claire in the position where she will have to be contientious for the rest of her life in order to stay healthy. Claire can never fall asleep on her nutrition lets say. She will never be fat either. Claire's mother did not appreciate the effort Claire had already put in to being just like her mother. Claire got A's, she worked hard and she followed her Mom's suggestions for staying thin. But Claire wasnt a bombshell like her Mom. Claire's Mom was outstanding in many respects because she was born that way. She was still a major b!tch though. This reminds me of how Ellis was. There were things about Ellis you cannot deny which made her incredible. But she was still very tough on everyone for not being extraordinary as she was. Recall, how she wrote about the dinosaur as adequate. But could it be that the course that Mer followed was like the course that Calire Rice chose? In some ways, Mer cheated, crossed the line countless times, and didnt head the warnings of her Mom. But she wound up extraordinary in the end because she if she isnt she will die? She just has to be what Ellis envisioned? IDK.

I am also interested in the going to "Mexico" theme on GA. Something tells me that the Latina/o aspect of this story might be very interesting. I think the writers would do some really interesting things with it. Recall, I posted about the VARGAS patient who was the Seize the Day patient for George. Vargas was the one who tried to commit suicide. He came up again because of Anthony Molloy who jumped in front of Dan Gates' car on the way to the bank, etc. But the name Vargas is famous because of the Allende story "The Gold of Thomas Vargas." He was the wife beater, drunk who wound up with nothing, being left for dead for a gambling debt. His wife and mistress turned him in.

Some other themes from Latin American Literature is this idea of NORTH and SOUTH. There is a wonderful film called "El Norte" where two young people flee the political turmoil and poverrty in Guatemala in hopes of having a better life in the North, in America. I recall watching this film and being struck by how "the North" is so often considered "the good guys" whereas the expression "went south" often means something went bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Norte_(film)

Also, I love the idea of Latin American Magical Realism - a literary device where illogical or magical things happen in the story though the characters carry on as though this is just part of normal life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism

The sparkle pager and Denny was something like this. If 108 is part of S6 I think it would be great to have the aspects of Mr. Duff's story emerge again. Keep hoping for some magic! Cant give up on that one, lol.

One of my favorite stories also is "Like Water for Chocolate."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_Water_for_Chocolate

I wonder how that would work in the hands of the GA writers! lol. The ordinary girl in this story, Tita, reminds me so much of Mer. No matter what life gives her she makes something beautful. The love between Tita and Pedro definately is a match, in my mind, of the love between Mer and Der though I think Tita and Pedro have something even greater because they dont have the over-educated heady indecision that Mer and Der have. There is no psychology in their story. They just know what they want and it is awesome to see them in love.

So I hope we see more of what it means to "go to Mexico" on GA. I cant stop thinking about what "Anna in the Tropics" really means. We got a bit of it with the father of the TS girl. Recall he wanted to go to Mexico for some experiemental treatments. Also, Mexico is mentioned in 101. Anways, more Spanish speaking Callie I say!