The film A Day without a Mexican presents a fake documentary that centers on an imaginary event in which all Mexicans in California start disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Moreover, the state authorities in the film lose connection with the outside world due to mysterious pink fog, which does not transmit radio signals. The documentary features the footage before and after the event from the point of view of several white Americans. Although the film primarily targets entertaining viewers with a satirical outlook on how American society will collapse without foundation in the form of Mexican workers, the film also utilizes important sociological concepts.
The concept of diversity refers to the inclusion of people with different backgrounds in a social group. Diversity in society should favor positive interactions through cultural exchange and collaboration in knowledge development. For example, diverse teams are believed to promote efficiency and creativity in business practice. However, people can react differently to diverse populations due to cultural ignorance and negative stereotypes about representatives of different ethnicities. Furthermore, attitudes may also be based on wrong suggestions that diverse populations take away opportunities from the main social group. Thus, even though diversity should be welcomed in society, representatives of diverse populations and minority groups often face discrimination from resident citizens.
The film specifically addresses that most of California’s population appreciates diversity in service jobs while rejecting the benefits of diversity in interactions between citizens. For example, at the beginning of the film, one of the farm workers saves a child by shooting an attacking snake. The child’s father scolds the worker and intentionally refuses to thank the worker in Spanish, emphasizing that he has no problems thanking him in English (Arau. 2004).
Furthermore, the disappearance of all Mexicans in the film significantly affected the internal economy of the state. For example, due to a lack of sufficient distribution of food products, restaurant owners had to turn to criminals for help, who started selling food instead of drugs (Arau, 2004). Moreover, the overall economy suffered not only from the shortage of workers but also from the loss of a significant part of the consumer base. While it is clear that the film exaggerates the drama of the situation, it successfully conveys the message about the importance of cooperation with diverse populations for the nation’s economy and cultural enrichment.
Furthermore, the film provides several examples of how cultural ignorance barriers prevent positive communication between residents and diverse populations. For example, the farmer’s son denies that some territories of America, like the states of Texas and California, once belonged to Mexico (Arau. 2004). Thus, the denial of historical facts allows him to look down on the immigrants working for his father. Next, the film constantly emphasizes that Americans do not see the difference between Mexicans and representatives from other Latin American ethnic groups. In the plot twist, one of the main characters, who was initially perceived as the last surviving Mexican, turned out to be from a different ethnic group. However, after embracing her upbringing as a Mexican, she also disappears, emphasizing how the negative perception of one ethnic group affects the lives of all diverse populations within the nation.
In conclusion, this essay analyzed the use of the concept of diversity in society in the film A Day without a Mexican. The analysis defined the injustice in how California residents utilized the benefits of a diverse workforce without considering the importance of equality and cultural exchange in communication with diverse populations. Lastly, the essay pointed that barriers to positive communication in the form of cultural ignorance prevent the emergence of friendly relations between residents and diverse populations, regardless of their ethnic groups.
Reference
Arau, S. (2004). A day without a Mexican [Film]. Televisa Cine.