November Latina Flick Picks

TORTILLA SOUP

This Mexican-American adaptation of Ang Lee’s EAT, DRINK, MAN, WOMAN centers on widowed chef Martìn Naranjo (Hector Elizondo) and his three adult daughters who live in modern-day Los Angeles.  All the characters come to crossroads in their lives, each yearning for change yet struggling to take action towards who or what they genuinely love.  Oldest daughter Leticia (Elizabeth Peña) returns to Christianity after heartbreak but finds herself longing for a more temporal kind of love.  Middle sister Carmen (Jacqueline Obradors) plays it safe in the gray areas of both her love romantic and professional world.  Youngest daughter Maribel (Tamara Mello) follows her impulses in an effort to run away from her late adolescent existential angst.  Furthermore, the film alludes to a sisterhood that extends beyond bloodlines with the character of Yolanda (Constance Marie).   As with all ensemble pieces, the fate of the group is as important as that of its individual members, and TORTILLA SOUP definitely ties up all the loose ends. Get your media journal, cue the DVD and reflect on this month’s theme with help from the following questions.

1.    Sisters can be very similar and quite different all at the same time.  How are Leticia, Carmen and Maribel unique from one another?  In what ways, however, are they all Martín’s daughters?  What are the things they have a common that seem to stem from the fact that they were born and raised in the same family? If you have female siblings, what personality traits do you share that you attribute to the fact that you were raised in a similar environment? How has each of you distinguished yourself from the family traits?

2.    Make a list of your closest female friends i.e. the sisters you have chosen.  Beside each name, make another list of the qualities you most appreciate about her. Now ask yourself what role does the family traits you reflected on in Question #1 play in your choice of sisters outside the family? That is, what characteristics do your closest female friends share with your family of origin? Which of your friends’ traits are you drawn to precisely because they’re the opposite of what is natural to or valued in your value?  Things to consider:  communication style, spiritual or religious beliefs, attitudes toward money or sex, political beliefs, approach to handling conflict, etc.

3.    Although they are all adults, Leticia, Carmen and Maribel each has at least one moment in the film when she has to assert herself with Martín? With which of these instances did you most identify and why?

4.    Maribel’s “big moment” also becomes a scene in where certain unflattering things are revealed about her two sisters.  Even though Leticia and Carmen resist in the moment, Maribel’s outburst becomes a catalyst for each to move closer to their heart’s desire. Thus, her decision to speak her truth actually helps sets her sisters free (even if they would have much preferred a less awkward wakeup call).  Have you ever had an experience when a sister (whether by blood or choice) revealed her truth in a way that exposed one of yours?  How did that instance compel you to make a necessary change?  Have you ever been that woman whose truth set another sister free?

5.     The Naranjo sisters do not seem to have other significant relationships with other women outside of each other and, for the most part, lead separate lives although they live under the same roof.  Furthermore, their lives outside the family appear centered on men (and not exclusively romantic interests).  How might some of their choices have been different if they had sisters outside the home?  For example, how might Leticia’s response to her breakup been different if she could turn to other women than Carmen or Maribel?