The Last Colony by Juan Agustin Marquez is a documentary about the ongoing mutual civilizational interconnectedness of former colonies and empires. The movie compares two countries’ societies, including mine, and subtly predicts their hypothetical futures through the analytical lens of their past and present. The director claims that the United States and Puerto Rico’s fates are intertwined. The director ends his video with the words, “let’s move on and demand our sovereignty, but… this ultimately up to the United States to determine how this conversation will end” (Juan Agustin Marquez, 2017, 1:28:27-1:28:35). I agree with his message that only a dialogue between two nations will resolve the territorial and legal paradox of Puerto Rico.
Interdependency of Empires and Colonies in The Last Colony
I knew the US and Puerto Rico have a paradoxical political, societal, economic, and territorial relationship. However, it surprised me that these two states have similarities of the civilizational scale. As many experts note, Puerto Rico’s current history repeats the early US during its existence as colonies (Juan Agustin Marquez, 2017). I felt upset that America is still behaving with Puerto Rico as with a colony. Over the past century, the US has exercised unilateral economic and political influence several times. Moreover, it even has used force to crush the will of the Puerto Ricans (TYT’s The Conversation, 2018). For me, this behavior of politicians seems cruel, outdated, and childish.
The relationship between former empires and their colonies has been significant to me in world history. I have noticed that this topic has also become relevant to close ones, friends, and persons around me in recent years because it needs to be discussed and analyzed more. Marquez addresses it with a question, “how does it feel to be colonized?” (Juan Agustin Marquez, 2017, 6:48-6:49). Other strengths of the text are its informativeness and simple wording. I think the documentary’s critical flaw is that the director does not offer his solution to the paradox.
Analyzing the Video
As an educational product, I loved the visuals and information delivery methods of The Last Colony. For example, when explaining the geopolitical interests of the United States of the past, the director uses a simple black-and-white map of North America, highlighting the areas of the US interest (Juan Agustin Marquez, 2017, 11:32). As a means to call the audience to action, this movie fully fulfills its function.
References
Juan Agustin Marquez. (2017). The last colony – Full film – Emmy winner Juan Agustin Marquez [Video]. YouTube. Web.
TYT’s The Conversation. (2018). The war against all Puerto Ricans. Nelson Denis interview [Video]. YouTube. Web.