REVIEW
THE REAL CANCUN
Directed by Rick de Oliveira
Opens Friday, May 9
Check listings
I hear George W. Bush talking about how the "evil-doers" want to destroy the American way of life. I hear him saying that the "Axis of Evil" hates U.S. freedom. I hear him telling his people to be good little Yankee consumers. I hear him whining about how the world hates the United States. I hear all of this to the point of screaming.
And then I see a movie like The Real Cancun and I think, "No wonder they hate the U.S., no wonder they hate ‘freedom,’ no wonder the Axis of Evil-doers wants to destroy the American way of life.’"
If The Real Cancun is a representation of the mythic "American Way," maybe it would be a good thing for the American Way to come to an end.
But what is the American Way?
It’s the freedom to drink yourself into oblivion. It’s the freedom to have sex with whomever you want on hidden cameras and gain a few seconds of dubious fame. It’s the freedom to take advantage of an impoverished people and flaunt your riches on their beaches while giving them nothing in return. It’s the freedom to shop, pay no rent and party on your parents’ dime. It’s the freedom to choose between Coke and Pepsi. It’s the freedom to be so self-involved that you think you own the world and it owes you something because you exist.
It’s the freedom to watch the debauchery of an ordinary group of spoiled American twentysomethings celebrate spring break in Cancun and embrace the resulting film as entertainment.
That’s American freedom. That’s the American way. That’s the society the U.S. wants to impose on those who are not already living within it.
The manifestation of freedom that appears in The Real Cancun is not really freedom at all. It is indoctrination and control. It is the emotional rape of the individual and the undermining of community. It is imperialism and hegemony.
And it hurts anyone who comes into contact with it.
Whether it’s a virginal Midwestern boy being pressured into having his first drink of liquor, a pair of twins flashing their pierced nipples for a free return trip to the next spring break, or girl after girl after girl spreading her legs for a genetically perfect bartender, The Real Cancun exploits everyone it touches. And this affects the audience as completely as it affects all those who appeared in it or helped make it.
Don’t get me wrong. I am all for free love, substance abuse and a good time. But I am also capable of seeing what the consequences of these things are or might be.
The Real Cancun asks us to forget about consequences, to embrace the American culture of emotional victimization, to accept cultural hegemony and to promote the pursuit of happiness.
The Real Cancun is certainly not the real Cancun. Anyone looking for that will have to make a field trip beyond the borders of the resorts. But The Real Cancun is a representation of Real American Youth. And that makes it one scary movie. |
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