Clash in Paradise: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of A Day Without a Mexican

We have lost our pride, we have lost our dignity, we have lost our Mexicans. - From the film trailer of A Day Without a Mexican (2004)1 Our Lost "Mexicans" The filmmakers of the mockumentary A Day Without a Mexican (2004) ask their audience to participate in the following fantasy: What if all the "Mexicans" in California suddenly disappeared? The film portrays the state of affairs caused by this mass disappearance. The immediate effect is that grocery shelves are not stocked, garbage is not picked up, food is not cooked, houses are not cleaned, kids have no caretakers, etc. The governor of California is forced to declare a state of emergency, and the "Anglos" left behind seek out the lost "Mexicans." But do whites seek the socalled Mexicans out because they genuinely miss them or because they need them as labor? When will Latinos be appreciated for their contribution to society? Are there differences in how Latinos and other minorities are treated in the United States? These are some of the questions posed by the film and the message that the filmmakers aimed at both Latino and non-Latino audiences. A Day Without a Mexican is told from the point of view of television reporter LiIa Rodriguez (Yareli Arizmendi, COOTO agua para chocolate/Like Water for Chocolate, 1992). Her identity as a Latina becomes an important asset for a local TV news team when all of the "Mexicans" in California disappear but Rodriguez. The situation raises immediate questions. Why did all the Mexicans disappear? Why was Rodriguez left behind as a witness? As a TV news journalist, she has much to report: California is in a state of emergency and basic domestic needs are not met. But on the bright side, and for comic relief, the highways in California are empty. The news team reports a number of explanations for why the Mexicans have disappeared. A fog has shrouded the state of California and has isolated the state's transportation and communication networks. The station also reports that scientists are exploring the government's secret research into genetically locating the unique qualities of Latino blood, called the L-factor. And a UFO expert is interviewed and claims there is a connection between the disappearance and an "alien" mother ship that would have been shaped exactly like a Mexican sombrero. As all the Mexican characters are missing but Rodriguez-and her Latino roots are later called into question-the film shows the disappearance from the Anglo characters' point of view. The hardship that results for the Anglos reveals the basic thesis of the film: the Latino community has not been appreciated and the Anglo community will only appreciate them when they see how miserable life can be without them. But when the Mexicans reappear at the end, the director (Sergio Arau) shows us that they have no clue that they have been gone, they have been missed, or they are essential to the economy. The film is a political satire and so the filmmakers hoped for a reaction, but there are important reasons why that reaction was delayed. Initially, it was not the film's underlying message about the Anglos' lack of appreciation or the Latinos' wish for it that first brought the film to the public's awareness. Instead, the film struck a chord because its filmmakers, namely the husband-and-wife team Arau and Arizmendi, and its promoters focused on ethnic divisions. In the most controversial example, Viacom was said to have taken down its billboard advertisements for the film because of complaints (de la Fuente). While the English language billboards read, "On May 14th, there will be no Mexicans in California," the Spanish language ads translated as, "All the Mexicans will be missing and the Gringos will be crying."2 The promotion's reliance on a fantasized segregation instead of on assimilation and cooperation had created a wedge issue between Anglo and Latino audiences. The film is about how Latinos see themselves in a white society and it is important to note that it was released in what Richard Dyer in White called a system of "white cultural production," or a backdrop of media that primarily reinforces a white norm (1). …