The Wall – MOTW3

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Flesh and blood actors are migrant workers: we travel all over the world, we build families, we construct stories, we build life that cannot be divided. As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, I’m against any form of wall that wants to separate us.

Gael García Bernal on February 27, 2017

I will build a great wall (and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively). I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.

Donald Trump on June 16, 2015

Facts about Trump’s wall

  • Length: Border is 1,900 miles long, Trump says he’ll cover 1,000 miles with natural obstacles covering the rest.
  • Cost: Trump says $10 to $12 billion. Could be higher – The Washington Post estimates $25 billion.
  • Current fencing: 650 miles – cost $7 billion
  • How will he charge Mexico? Raising tariffs, taxing remittances, increasing travel visa and border crossing fees
  • Negative impacts: environment, private property rights & economy
  • Effectiveness: Nearly half of all undocumented immigrants arrive by plane
Map of Mexico

Map of Mexico, 1827

Recommendations

In honour of his statement at the 2017 Oscars, here are some films starring or featuring Gael García Bernal:

  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B000KGTURS” locale=”US” tag=”mexicooverthe-20″]Amores perros[/easyazon_link] (Love’s a Bitch) – a complex urban tale directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, Birdman & The Revenant).
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B0057COYDK” locale=”US” tag=”mexicooverthe-20″]Y tu mamá también[/easyazon_link] – a road movie directed by Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men & The Prisoner of Azkaban).
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B005KGPOFK” locale=”US” tag=”mexicooverthe-20″]Diarios de motocicleta[/easyazon_link] (The Motorcycle Diaries) – a dramatisation of a road trip taken by Che Guevara as a young man directed by Walter Salles (Dark Water).
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B00BZB1P6Q” locale=”US” tag=”mexicooverthe-20″]La mala educación[/easyazon_link] (Bad Education) – a tale about sexual abuse in the Franco era directed by Pedro Almodóvar (Los abrazos rotos, La piel que habito & Todo sobre mi madre).

I would also recommend [easyazon_link identifier=”B000ZM1MJ6″ locale=”US” tag=”mexicooverthe-20″]”Walker”[/easyazon_link], a film directed by Alex Cox, for a satirical examination of the concept of manifest destiny.

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