Conversation between Domingo Castillo and Olivia Ramos.

 

CASTILLO:  ‪hey‬‬

 

RAMOS:  ‪hi‬‬

 

‪the film is so good‬‬

 

have you read the poem the film is based on?‬‬

 

at the end of the film‬‬

 

the whole thing feels so wrong, letting life pass you by

 

knowing you can do more, if only a vague sense of it

 

yeah but it's also i feel this weird system

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where in the ignorance of itself it's speaking so clearly about the issue

 

the 'repetition' felt

 

the fact that really, it doesn't change

 

we watch it not change‬‬

 

no change no change

 

‪we experience it not changing‬‬

 

we are paralyzed by it not changing‬‬

 

yeah, not knowing a way out‬‬

 

that’s that vague sense felt

 

‪i don't know... the scary part is knowing there is a way out but not doing anything about it‬‬

 

the vagueness

 

your assuming that people are aware‬‬?

 

and you are assuming people are asleep?‬‬

 

‪i think that notion is in the action of the poem itself‬‬

 

it's description is both an action and an awareness

 

more like awareness and no action‬‬

 

i think people don't have time to think about these things‬‬

 

it's not that their asleep, but the fact that there really is no time to let you mind reach a state of deep contemplation

 

why do you think that is?‬‬

 

is it this weird system you mentioned earlier?

 

that keeps us on the verge of survival to avoid revolution or action

 

well, because we've lost touch as a society to what’s actually important and what goals we need to be working towards collectively

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this i think is primarily 'American' due to the nature of both the poem and the film

 

the film complicates it a bit because it localizes this idea into a Miami centric position

 

another thing of note is that Campbell teaching at FIU

 

teaching = teaches

 

so it's a nice little trail of these American situations

 

I would question this "Americanness" in both the film and the poem

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in the film we hear the voice of a grandmother who obviously came from another country

 

and in the poem is a dishwasher who eats burritos every day, which suggest an immigrant as well

 

for me it has something to do with where they come from and adjusting to where they are

 

perhaps a sense of complacency because they are now in America and that's good enough

 

like this is not my country to change, I'm just here trying not to be where I used to be

 

hmm, i think that the film tries to include this idea you talk about, however it's not something that i feel is apparent in the poem

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it has to do with 7-11

 

‪if you are not from this country, you usually want to be around people you feel connected too, i.e. other immigrants from your country. you buy goods from your country or go to restaurants

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7-11 makes it very American, that burrito is a bastardization of something

it's a simulacrum

 

but if you are a dishwasher, 7-11 burritos might be as close as you can get to where you came from

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‪i was a dishwasher‬‬

 

did you go to restaurants while you were a dishwasher?

 

not at all, i did however eat a lot of sandwiches during that time‬‬

 

‪right‬‬

 

‪at the restaurant...‬‬

 

‪oh shush‬‬

 

‪i became friends with the cooks and they would just make me food‬‬

 

off the books

 

‪the Americanness would be the idea that there are restaurants from all over the world and one can feel at home

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and one can change this country because it belongs to us all

 

that's America

 

the immigrant lives another reality sometimes, like in this poem, they don't feel a part of while having a vague idea of what's going on, and get stuck in survival mode

 

‪i don't think thats just an immigrant problem though‬‬

 

‪i agree, it is more a survival problem than an immigrant problem‬‬

but it's common among immigrants

 

survival mode is the best way to dull the masses

 

keep them busy

 

till they reach old age and wonder what they did with their time

 

‪thats a good transition back into the film‬‬

 

looking at what actions are available to the film maker

 

manicure, shopping, a boat ride, forced drinking, a conversation with a grandparent, throwing burritos and duck tape

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plus that beautiful shot in the supermarket where you can clearly read "produce"

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