The star of the Mexican film 'Roma & # 39; elicits a raw discussion about race and class

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Oscar-nominated film "Roma", which tells the story of a young housekeeper in the 1970s in Mexico, has focused on class divisions, ethnic and race of the nation, sparking mixed reactions woman in the lead role.

Yalitza Aparicio, who was nominated Sunday in the Best Actress Oscar category, made the cover of "Vogue", attracting more than a million followers on Instagram and was celebrated with a mural in her image in a modest neighborhood from Mexico City.

With her tanned skin and short stature, this 25-year-old woman from a poor indigenous family in southern Mexico has become a symbol of pride for many. It contrasts strikingly with pale women and men to the European films that dominate Mexican television and cinema, even though they represent only a small part of Mexico's half-breed and indigenous population.

But the reactions to Aparicio's fame after his hard-hitting portrait of a young domestic worker for a middle-class family in "Roma", directed by Alfonso Cuaron and nominated for 10 Oscars, also revealed to what point the prejudices are deeply rooted.

An actor from the telenovela denigrated it with rude and racist language, one of the many shocking remarks that followed the nomination of his Oscar Oscar and which prevailed especially in social media. When magazine leader Hola! Aparicio on a recent cover, the skin of the actress seemed to have been lightened numerically.

Although Hollywood was forced to cope with its lack of diversity following criticisms of #OscarsSoWhite, the Mexican film industry rarely returned to the mirror.

"We are discovering this racism that we have had for centuries," said Itza Varela Huerta, a postdoctoral researcher who studies Indigenous and Afro-Mexican groups at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology of the South. State of Oaxaca. , where Aparicio grew up.

"When we are with an Aboriginal person, it is always: she knows nothing, she can not do anything, she is not pretty, she does not know how to act."

The actress who broke the stereotypes was studying for her teaching degree in the small town of Tlaxiaco when Cuaron discovered it during a local casting.

In interviews, she gives her opinion on Mexican politics and insists on strengthening the rights of domestic workers and indigenous peoples. Media coverage in Mexico and beyond has depicted its elegant and comfortable appearance, wearing fashionable dresses from Mexico City to Los Angeles.

Aparicio, which has roots in the indigenous communities of Mixtec and Triqui, is one of more than 120 million people in Mexico, home to about 120 million indigenous people, according to government data. They speak about 70 different languages ​​and many live in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas, which are also two of the poorest states in Mexico.

The indigenous peoples of Mexico were decimated during the Spanish conquest of 1521 which, according to some estimates, wiped out nine tenths of the population. After several centuries of colonial enslavement, many of Mexico's modern centers of power in politics, business, and entertainment have stubbornly closed to them.

'DAMN INSULT'

Carlos Cubero, head of academic projects at the Museum of Remembrance and Tolerance in Mexico City, said that "Roma" had forced Mexicans to deal with the glaring social inequalities, both of the theme of the film and the reactions that they had. he provoked, including outpourings of admiration. for Aparicio.

Ideally, he said, the public will persevere in thinking about itself even after the disappearance of the spotlight on the "Roma".

After the telenovela actor, Sergio Goyri, was filmed last week on the pretext of being a "fucking Indian", Aparicio responded that she was saddened by the fact that people did not know "the correct meaning of words".

Mexican singer Yuri, who has been playing since the 1980s with blond blonde hair, complimented Aparicio when she praised her talent, but also seemed to deny her Mexican identity while calling her unattractive.

"A lot of people say that if you're in Hollywood, you have to be very Mexican, extremely handsome and have a hot body, and it's just the opposite," she said in a local interview.

"It means yes, it's possible to succeed if you have talent," she said.

Others have accused Aparicio of not having any talent at all and simply playing a version of herself.

"She did not play! That's what she is! Said former TV host Elsa Burgos de Siller on social networks. "You get an Oscar with a performance that has nothing to do with you, a" monster "for Charlize Theron, but not a Yalitza being Yalitza."

The hypothesis that all women who look like Aparicio also act as her quiet and submissive Cleo de "Roma" domestic worker is disturbing, said Citlali Fabian, a photographer specializing in indigenous culture in Oaxaca.

She explains that Mexicans seem to embody a contradiction: they celebrate the achievements of their distant native ancestors while slaughtering their contemporaries.

"We are proud to be from the Aztecs," she said. "But call me Indian and it's a damn insult."