Dirty Water
05.08.05 (1:15 pm) [edit]I cried in an instant when I saw the scene where one of four border crossers gulped the water they took from a filthy pool in the desert to quench the thirst they suffered for. He slowly cockes the bottle and the filthy water taken from the pool pours into his mouth. He smiles to say,"It tastes good!"
This was the most concrete image that I ever encountered to desribe the visceral politics between Mexico and USA. In other words, this scene represents the battle of minorities against the visceral politics USA imposes upon us.
Mojados through the night is a movie about four Mexican men who attepmt the border crossing to get inside of US terrtory as facing death in every moments. The biggest and most anticipated trouble is dehydration and hyperthemia; they cross the Texas border by walking the desert area for four days and nights withuot having no access to 'clean' water in a regular meaning. All they can do is to scoop the surfices of filthy pools they can find in the area. Foods they sored in their backpacks go bad and they suffer for chilly nights when they take naps at nights.
This extreme travel only gets them to the extremely exploited labor situation US offers as everybody knows. But they still think it is worth crossing the border, swimming through rivers and walking deserts as drinking the contaminated and bacteria filled water.
This is an ethical question; if there is anybody who dares to do, what makes them do so? And more importantly, can we let thme keep doing it? If any economic prosperity US is previledged is based upon their drinking filthy water, is it ethical to benefit it?
I cried when I saw them the water and smiled because this is not what people are supposed to do. But they do. The dynamics between US and Mexico is best examined here. However, the strong image brings the most important metaphor how much sacrifices we have to make to get by. Not only making our own livings but we, minorities are actually making others livings; the internalized social roles assigned to each racial group is overt. Mexicans keep on drinking water while black males are confined in getthos or jails, female minorities are already assumed as cheap whores, etc, to make the mainstream white's life easier and secure. As they keep on drinking filthy water, so am I. We are literally sacrificing our bodies and health to let those not do the same as us.
The responsibility of the maker's side should also needs to be questioned; if he is really not exploiting and benefitting other's life risking sacrifices. However, just for making the scene accessible to audiences including me, it is not wasting those four's bravery and decency of human lives to seek out a way to live in the extreme condition.