This blog presented a bit of a sticky situation for me-first, I had to try to remember which pieces made up the immigration unit, and then I had to try to see which one (if any) affected me.
But, once I thought about it, I guess I must agree with many of my other classmates that Maria Full of Grace affected me the most. However, it was not due to any strong connection I felt to Maria, or even due to the fact that I liked Maria even remotely. As a matter of fact, I would go so far as to say that I disliked Maria. The reason the film affected me so much was that I, a person who is anti-drug all the way, never at one point stopped and said hey, this is wrong! This may sound a little odd, but let me explain.
See, I never had any misgivings or judged Maria for initially becoming a drug mule. Having known people who have been devastated by the affects of drugs, I surprised myself by not being bothered by the fact that Maria was enabling the destruction of so many lives. Actually, it never even occurred to me that being a drug mule was almost as bad as being a dealer until after the movie. So, then I sat a spell and wondered, why in the world didn’t this bother me?
And then I found my answer. Maria wasn’t doing this so that she can buy a new Prada bag or some juicy couture perfume. Maria did this so that she could put food on her family’s table, so that her sister’s child wouldn’t go hungry, so that she could maybe introduce some level of comfort into her family’s life.
Would you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family?
Watching this movie, I realized that the world isn’t divided into good and bad guys. People do what they got to do, and I actually find it somewhat noble that Maria was able to go to such lengths just in order to feed her family. Was it a good idea? That’s debatable, but Maria still risked her life just to be able to provide for the myriad of people who lived in her house. And she was how old? Seventeen? When I was seventeen, the most I did was work at a movie theater. Seeing Maria struggle to swallow those gigantic tablets, I came to another revelation. One about problems.
We all assume that everyone in the world has the same problems as Americans. But really, what are our problems? Nothing compared to people outside this country. When I watched this movie I realized just how bad things in other countries are, and actually began to understand why people cross the border illegally, began to understand it moreso than during Carlo’s one-man show. More importantly, this movie showed me just how rough life can be. I guess you can say I’ve been sheltered in my life, I’ve never had everything (has anyone?) but I’ve always at least had something. Watching Maria gag over the kitchen sink trying to feed herself grapes, I realized just how difficult it can be to stay afloat. It made me think about what I would do if I was Maria, and it really made me empathize with these people.
Again, I ask you, Would you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family?
Or, maybe the better question is would you ever have to?
