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Reading and Film Presentations and Discussion

De Nadie ERA

This documentary was about the journey and process people from Central America have to go through when immigrating to the United States. During their travels, they have to go through Mexico, which can lead to very risky and dangerous obstacles they have to face as they ultimately put their lives in jeopardy. This documentary focused on interviews of the people making the journey, as one of them was a woman named Maria from Honduras. She had four children who she had to leave behind, and therefore, this may be the toughest part of the journey for many people who have to do it as they do not know how long or if they will ever see loved ones ever again. Additionally, they have to deal with other mentally challenging aspects as well as physical challenges, as they do all of this knowing that they may not even make it to the United States. Other people go along the journey with Maria who also have to deal with the tasks of avoiding the brutal gangs, the police, the trains, hunger and dehydration, and other factors to not only stay healthy, but also alive. 

This documentary was really interesting to actually see a first hand experience of what happens during these journeys. These issues are certainly important in our society today, as there are different stories, pictures, and other ways of communicating about what happens when immigrants come to the United States and have to go through tough obstacles. However, it was way more meaningful to actually see an entire documentary on what happens and see them along the way. This truly demonstrated not only the physical harm, but also the mental and emotional difficulties as well. While these people leave their homes in hope for a better life, it leads to the question whether it is even worth it due to the stressful journey and not guaranteed successful outcome? Additionally, was this experience and journey what you thought it would be like or was it more challenging than what you expected?

5 replies on “De Nadie ERA”

One of the most interesting things about the movie in my view is that the Central American migrants face such violence in MEXICO, and you almost never hear a peep about this in the American or Mexican press. Whenever their difficulties are discussed, it is always with respect to their experiences at the American border, when the reality is that the Mexican government basically allows gangs and criminal thugs to terrorize these people with more or less total impunity, and they get very little criticism for it.

Meanwhile, the same Mexican government constantly postures as an advocate of immigrants with respect to the United States on the international stage. The contradiction is recognized and discussed quite infrequently in the media and in academia, at least when compared to the amount of coverage given to the experiences these migrants have at the American border.

Russell summarizes the plot of the documentary, “De Nadie”, very well. I like how he added his personal opinion on the film, and the discussion question we are left with at the end leaves the reader wondering more about the film and how they would act and feel in such a situation.

Although this is what I expected the journey to be like, actually seeing it through a visual representation shined a new light on this topic and the struggles many must face doing escape poverty. They experience such mental and physical harm through the process.

This film was such an eye opener to the world of immigration and everything that they have to go through to get to this country and everything that already went through. Some of these people had gone through some tough times and they are just looking to escape from it all, but the road to get out is sometimes even harder.

I totally agree. The film was very touching and watching what these people had gone through to escape to a better life. And yes that is a good point, the road to escape poverty may be actually worse than the poverty itself, yet it could possibly be only temporary.That is a good question though for immigrants, if they think what they have to go through is worse than poverty itself. I think they would say yes, probably, but they also may think that it’s worth it. Or they may say the temporary travel and the infinite poverty levels out equally and the temporary pain and agony traveling is a better choice than poverty.

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