Blog 24 ( Race)

Jarvis Emery
Professor Smith
Eng: 101

Influenced by The Matrix is a stretch outside of the plugs in their bodies I really didn‘t see the connection. I did research the film a little before I wrote this and found nothing on how it was influenced by The Matrix. In an interview I found with the Director Alex Rivera ( http://www.sf360.org/features/qa-alex-rivera-sleep-dealer) he says Star Wars, and El Morte were the influences, while other people say Blade Runner, The 1982 film starring Harrison ford. That‘s like saying, The Matrix was influenced by Total Recall, or Showgirls was influenced by A Chorus Line There might be some similarities, but it’s more coincidence than planned.
For starters The Matrix is more about a revaluation. Its man verses machine, when they’re in the Matrix they are fighting and working for freedom, the world as we know it does not truly exist, as for Sleep Dealers it is how it is. When they go in to “The Matrix” there not fighting for anything, there working. You’re living in Mexico, and working in New York all at the same time. There is no fight for freedom, or the truth.
Race in this movie is not an issue. It is a Latino/Mexican film because it takes place in Mexico with migrant workers, and ninety seven percent of the film is in Spanish. There is no type of race issues or racism going on. Just a big American company went there and took over their main water supply, but I don’t feel that had anything to do with them being Mexican, and it was a tiny fraction that had little to do with the story.
Urban life is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it, and rural life are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low population density. I think the movie just showed that, which made it a little more important in understand why so many people go to urban areas to get jobs, to help their family back home. It’s a lot easier to make money in a place where there’s actual people, and actual jobs and that’s what the film was pointing out.
Considering it’s a low budget sci-fi film, for what it’s worth. Overall it was a good film (aside from having to read it) I didn’t care for it, but I liked it because it stayed true to how the future could be with technology progressing in the way that it is, without being so over the top, like most sci-fi futuristic films are like, Terminator, Back to the future, Total Recall, Johnny Mnemonic, Minority Report, I Robot. Just to name a few.