Critical Analysis of the Main Characters: Portrait of Teresa and Salt of the Earth - Essay Example

? CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS: PORTRAIT OF TERESA AND SALT OF THE EARTH The movie Portrait of Teresa revolves around the struggle of a Cuban woman who exemplifies the struggle and hardships of Cuban women during the times of revolution. They played a major role in making the revolution more effective. Teresa has been depicted a traditional Cuban woman whose life revolves around her home, her work and her commitment as an activist in the movement. Being a woman, she had to face a difficult time in managing her home and as an activist. As a wife, she was faced with the jealousy and infantilism of her husband. In later scenes, to cope with the hardships and growing hostility from her husband, she ends up throwing her husband out of her home. Even after this rough and hard decision, she still had to manage her life with the growing wave of revolution around her. The movie revolves around the typical life of a Cuban woman who had to deal with all the hardships and struggle despite being the fragile part of the society without any support from her husband and family. Many people underestimate the power of women during the times of war and revolution. During the wave of feminist movement in 1960 women played their roles as efficient workers and home makers at the same time. On the other hand, comparing the movie with another Hollywood’s revolutionary film, Salt of the Earth, triggered the critics to look into a different direction for its content and subject. The latter movie holds the same revolutionary wave with women in the leading roles as it has been depicted in Portrait of Teresa. The character of Esperanza was supported by showcasing the rapidly growing women’s movement. The character of Esperanza is shown coping with the troubles of unionism, leftists and at the same time, the emerging wave of feminism. In both the movies a strong wave of feminism can be felt. However, in the Portrait of Teresa, the movie revolved around the struggles of one woman whereas in Salt of the Earth, the subject of the movie projects the struggle of Esperanza with her sisters. But their struggle for sexual equality is the central idea that has been projected in both the movies. Women have been portrayed as the strongest gender as compared to men despite social barriers and minimum exposure to the world outside. Both the characters had to bear the same strenuous household responsibilities and later with their keen participation in the movement, they had to bear the disapproval of their involvement in the movement from their husbands. The theme of both the movies revolves around one thought - how to survive the struggle for your rights in a subjugated society filled with gender discrimination and bias. Both of the women are tied to fulfill their gender roles assigned to them by their societal traditions with little room to be accepted as anything other than a typical homemaker. Teresa’s resentment over inequality and growing anger over her husband’s ill treatment clearly project the time when women were gaining empowerment and awareness of the unfair living conditions and treatment. Similarly, in Salt of the Earth, Esperanza holds the same state of mind, when she was greatly undermined by her husband’s judgmental statement and strikes back in a bitter tone, “Have your strike. I’ll have my baby, but no hospital will take me, because I’ll be a striker’s wife. The store will cut off our credit, and the kids will go hungry . . . and then they’ll come and take away the radio” (Salt of the Earth, p.10). Even at this point, her husband scorns her while chastising for fear of losing the radio and being more self-concerned. Women are emotionally vulnerable but deep down inside they tend to project the stronger side of their personality, especially in times of stress. All in all, the movie Portrait of Teresa is a poignant movie which depicts the contradictions which exist in the male dominated Cuban society, no matter how much the Cuban Revolution and its ideals have attempted to bring women to the forefront of the society (Randall; p, 298). The Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) was one of the major feminist groups that emerged during the Cuban Revolution and apparently brought about a change in the economic and social fabric of the country. However, director Pastor Vega made a neorealist movie which challenged the general view about Cuban women by people of other countries (Randall; p, 296). The fact that the movie is still regarded as one of the most popular movies in Cuba is a testimony that more and more people prefer movies which they can relate to, rather than watching movies of fantasy (Rich; p, 30). Both the movies hold significant position in the world of arts and cinema. They represent the time when the wave of feminism was gaining power and more women around the world were seeking financial independence. It was the time when women were getting more participative in political movements. They knew that they could seek better opportunities and liberty out of their social bubble that revolves around their traditional gender role within the society. During their tough role as a perfect homemaker they had the burden to fulfill the responsibilities as revolutionary childcare providers as well. This was the time when women in Cuba and Mexico gained their supreme positions and contributed through their efforts in stabilizing the wheel of economy. The premise of both the movies, Portrait of Teresa and Salt of the Earth, as mentioned earlier, is the limitation a patriarchal society puts on women and their yearning for being more active in social and political resistance movements. Both the films depict how society imposes certain stereotypical roles on the women and curtails their wish to participate in movements to bring about a substantial change in the society and their families. There are however aspects where the two films differ in their perspectives. While Portrait of Teresa showcases the plight of a woman who toils day in and day out to make ends meet for her family, without finally getting acknowledgement from her orthodox and wayward husband, Salt of the Earth ends on an optimistic note, in the sense the woman is allowed by her husband to join the picketing. Hence if the quest of a woman to get equality from the men is the theme of the films, Portrait of Teresa ends with a pessimistic note while Salt of the Earth with an optimistic one. When one compares these two films with yet another feminist movie ‘Battle of Algiers’, we find the former films pale in comparison to Battle of Algiers, as far as the militant struggle for women empowerment and liberation is concerned. Battle for Algiers takes a bold step of portraying women as suicide bombers, who not only cross the demarcations set by a more conservative Islamic society, they shatter the notions of an ideal women by traveling alone to Europe, changing their attires and getting a European makeover for getting access to their targets. What’s more, the daring shown by the three women in the film through sacrificing their lives sends a clear signal to the audiences of the tremendous potential of women to bring about a revolution by resorting to violence- a forte which is generally reserved for the men. Then again, the three films have similarities, the most prominent one being women empowerment and the active role played by women to bring about a change for the good (Chanan, p.31). The filmmakers of these films have used neo-realism in order to make the films more credible. The films per say revolve around female protagonists, and their incessant struggle to break the shackles of prejudiced roles demanded by a male dominated society. Whether it’s Algeria, Cuba or New Mexico, the filmmakers harp on the same theme. Therefore the theme of women’s liberation cuts across geographical and cultural boundaries. Importantly, the refreshing facet of the underlying theme of all three films is the way women’s liberation is portrayed in the films. Contrary to the modern definition of women’s liberation which stresses the sexual liberties and opportunities for gaining equal financial status as their male counterparts, the three films focused on a different aspect of women’s liberation, an aspect which does not highlight the growing need of women to have more hedonistic independence, rather the films emphasized the struggle of women to bring about a positive change to the society, to the lifestyle of their children, to the hypocrisy and double standards in their society. Hence, the films delved into the subject of women’s liberation which is more humane and which strives to bring about a greater good for the society, not the modern kind of women’s liberation which is partly bereft of selflessness and idealism. And last but not the least, both the films have women as the main subject with suppressed voices and oppressed souls who are so willing to fight for their rights and high position in the society regardless of their traditional images. Works Cited B. Ruby Rich, "Portrait of Teresa: Double day, double standards," Jump/Cut 22 (1980), pp. 30. Print. Herbert J. Biberman, Salt of the Earth: The Story of a Film. Harbor Electronic Publishing, New York (2nd edition, 2004), 1964, pp. 10. Print. Margaret Randall, "Introducing the Family Code, in Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism”, ed. Zillah R. Eisenstein (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1979), pp. 296-98. Print. Michael Chanan, The Cuban Image, Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1985, pp.31. Print. Read More