Manohla Dargis, a New York Times film critic, describes Io Capitano (Italy, 2023, directed by Matteo Garrone) as “A Migration Odyssey,” but it is so much more than that. It is a bildungsroman or a coming-of-age story; a depiction of the Noble Savage or the glorification of native peoples living in communion with nature; it […]
Sadie Hawkins Day
During my training into American traditions, I learned that when February had an extra day it was not only a leap year but it was also Sadie Hawkins Day. Sadie Hawkins was not an actual person; she first appeared in the comic strip Li’l Abner by Al Capp in 1937 in the fictional hillbilly village […]
Ferdinand Forever
I saw on the front page of this past Sunday’s The New York Times that, after months of controversy, Mexico City opened its bullring, the largest in the world, for a bullfight. It surprised me to see so much coverage to this issue, with all the world conflicts taking place. I thought about bullfighting in […]
American Non-Fiction
Let me start by saying that my favorite film this year is American Fiction, directed and written by Cord Jefferson with a smart, funny screenplay. Jeffrey Wright plays a “normal” Black man: a college professor and author who has to deal with love issues, irascible academics, prickly siblings, a sick mother who needs help in […]
The Three Wise Men
With some of the holidays—Halloween, Thanksgiving—which have made it across the Atlantic to Spain, I wish that my favorite, the Three Wise Men, would be celebrated in the United States. Yes, here we have the Epiphany on the same day, January 6th, but it’s mostly a religious festivity. What is even sadder is that, since […]
Is Spain Collapsing?
When I go to Spain now, I keep thinking about all the strange things that are happening over there. We already know that Halloween is now in vogue and Thanksgiving has already started to show its head. I saw several restaurants that were advertising it in their menus. I hear words I don’t recognize or […]