'Problemista' film is uncharted territory for El Salvador representation
The trailer comedically references a war crime from 1980s El Salvador.
Yesterday, A24 released a trailer for the film Problemista written, directed, co-produced by and starring gay Salvadoran writer and comedian Julio Torres alongside the celebrated Tilda Swinton. The film centers Alejandro (Torres), a toymaker from El Salvador navigating the precarity of immigrant life in New York City. Torres known for his unique, unconventional sense of humor as highlighted in his HBO Special My Favorite Shapes. In my circles, Torres became beloved through the bilingual comedy Los Espooksys, where he played Andrés Valdez, a blue-haired hijo de papi with a mysterious past. He was also a writer for SNL from 2016 to 2019
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Judging from the trailer, it’s about an immigrant moving to NYC from El Salvador to pursue their quirky creative passion, and feels like it takes inspiration from Torres’ actual life. It’s important to note that Torres has always explicitly stated in the press that he’s not trying to be the spokesperson or representative for LGBT people, immigrants and Salvadorians. And I get that. Not only is it a lot of unfair pressure, but representation has often been a hollow constellation prize for tangible change to the conditions of marginalized peoples’ lives. However, for a diaspora group of over 2 million people, Salvadorans in the U.S. are mostly portrayed as stereotypes or just erased all together by competing, more marketable Latin American nationalities. So, we’re going to have lots of opinions, attachments to and critiques of said representation.
What stood out for me was the last bit of the trailer when unhinged art curator Elizabeth (Swinton) looked at Alejandro (Torres) and says “El Salvador. Pupusas. And those nuns they killed in the 80s.” Which is just so succinctly accurate because we all know when our origins come up in casual conversation, we’re usually met with the simple equation: pupusas + some human rights atrocity. In this case, it’s referencing the 1980 rape and murder of four Catholic missionaries, three of whom were nuns, at the hands of the Salvadoran military: Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Ursuline Dorothy Kazel, and Jean Donovan. They were more than nuns; they were engaged in anti-imperialist transnational solidarity work and were subsequently targeted for it by the fascist Salvadoran government. The book A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura by Eileen Markey provides an in-depth look if you want to know more. Their murders made headlines in the 80s, leading to the convictions for some of the perpetrators, and got many people to question the role the U.S. government played in supporting the Salvadoran government during the war. It’s a very plausible headline that would stick out to someone Swinton’s age.
Anyways, you can watch the trailer here:
El Salvador news highlight:
El Faro: Civil Society Leads Push for Unified Candidate in El Salvador.
Negotiations are underway between opposition parties to promote a single presidential candidate to face Nayib Bukele in his illegal, unconstitutional reelection in 2024.
In case you missed it
I explained El Salvador’s state of exception in under two minutes:
Also, watch and listen to me on the General Ed Kids Deserve Geography, Too podcast. I talk about the connection between Copy City and El Salvador:
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