posterchild
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Registered: 04-2004
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A Day Without a Mexican (4*)
I finally got to see this film. It first was released soley in California (I live in Chicago - but still had to drive 30 miles to catch it!)
The film caused controversy over its title, because the plot has Latinos from all countries suddenly disappearing from Calinfornia, not just Mexicans. The non-Mexican Latinos felt the title was giving them short shrift.
The film could not be a pure documentary (it calls itself a "mockumentary" ) given its impossible premise. Yareli Arizmendi, one of the films creators, inserts herself in a starring role as the sole-remaining Latino. While much of the story is set to explain the strange disappearances and gets silly at times, some of the drama is fascinating - drivers suddenly vanish from moving cars, drive-thrus go unattended, there are no nannies to cook meals, the LA Dodgers games are cancelled (8 of the players are Latino), tomatos and other fresh produce disappears from supermarket shelves as there are no field hands to pick them. You get the idea.
Nevertheless, the movie serves its purpose in demonstrating the contributions of illegal immigrants to the economy. A brief factoid explains that while California illegals consume $3 billion in public services, they pay $100 billion in taxes, putting to rest the myth that they strain state coffers without contributing.
Funny and enlightening, this country would be better off if everybody saw this film.
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11/17/2004, 2:46 pm
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