Movie review: Mexicans are the economy in ‘Day’

Alta Vista Films

By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner

California without Mexicans is like rap star Snoop Dogg without the chronic. It’s not going to happen. But what if someday somehow it did? This is the premise of the film “A Day Without A Mexican” set to hit theaters May 14.

The documentary, directed and written by Sergio Arua who was born in Mexico but resides in Hollywood, was presented by the Latino Student Social Work Network as part of its Cinco de Mayo Film Festival held in the University Student Union auditorium last week.

The event began with the presentation of the film followed by a panel discussion about Mexican immigration in California.

The mockumentary begins with a blond Caucasian woman trying to figure out what has happened to her Mexican husband who has mysteriously vanished. The husband is a musician in a band called Los Fugitivos.

The lady then hears on the news that all the Mexicans are gone. A reporter comes on the news telling viewers “All the Hispanics have ‘disappeared’ for lack of a better term. All of them.”

Now California is faced with its biggest crisis in state history. There is no one to pick fruit, wash cars, clean houses, serve customers in restaurants or do any other menial labor job.

As one upset customer in the movie said, “I came to wash my car and there is nobody here. I don’t understand what happened. Every time I come they are here and always wash my car. Now what am I going to do?”

The movie tries to get at the heart of the sensitive immigration issue in California in a humorous and mocking way, but fails miserably. Although there are some humorous scenes in the 97-minute documentary, most of the movie is unintelligible, poorly written and downright insulting.

One white male laments that without Mexicans he can’t get his car fixed because “only Mexicans know how to fix Japanese cars.”

This man is mild compared to what the same trailer trash man comments on later on in the film when he gives his thoughts of what kind of workers Mexicans are.

“Once upon a time you could find any Mexican that will do any job you want for a six-pack of beer,” he said. “You tell them you would give them beer and boy they would pick that row faster than they ever have before.”

The film goes back and fourth between different white people talking about what they believe has happened to the Mexicans and how they can deal with the situation. One theory behind the disappearance of the Mexicans is that someone in the state government hired David Copperfield to make them all disappear. A theory the government denies in the film.

Not all of the film is degrading by portraying Mexicans as mere servants and farm hands. A professor from UCLA in the film gives positive attributes of the Mexican immigrants.

“California thought they didn’t need Latinos. As it turns out it needed Latinos. They are the core of the economy and now they’re gone. I told them this would happen.”

Toward the end of the film all the white people in the movie including the U.S. Border Patrol lament the loss of all the Mexicans and beg for them to return.

It is important to note that the film shown at the event was not the same one that was directed by Arua. It was the original film done several years ago in a class for UCLA that Arua based this new film of off.

Still, if the new film by Arua is anything like the original short film than people are better off smoking some chronic and listening to a Snoop Dogg record.