Relatos Salvajes won’t win the Oscar. Here’s why.

– Reading guide

Discuss:

1. How can the article be related to Chimamanda Adichie’s TED Talk “The danger of a
single story”? What is Latin America’s single story? Refer to paragraph 3.
2. How can the notion of “hegemony” be related to the article? In what way has the
hegemonic discourse about our country and other Latin American countries been
addressed?
3. What connection can be established between the notions of narrator and narrated in
relation to the article?
4. How has the US come to conceptualize us (Argentina/LA) in terms of otherness? What
purpose does this conceptualization serve?
5. What parallelisms can be drawn between Latin America’s single story (in the eyes of
the US) and Africa’s?
6. Focus on paragraph 8:

a) Comment on the effect of irony in the following excerpt: ‘Relatos Salvajes’

characters are too middle-class, too free from repression to be “authentically”
Latin for US audiences.’
b) What is the effect of crossing out “Mexicans” and writing “Latinos” instead?

7. Focus on paragraph 9:
a) Comment on the relevance of mentioning Sofia Vergara’s experience as a
Latina in American show business.
b) Why does the author begin the paragraph with the conjunction “or”?
c) What is the metaphor at play regarding Vergara? Focus on “the perfect way to
sell her as Latina” and the revolving platform.
d) What effect does the clincher achieve?

8. Comment on the register and its impact on the content of the article.
9. What point is the author trying to make by mentioning several cases of foreign films
which did not win an Oscar? Also analyse the relevance of mentioning “12 years a
slave” in paragraph 15.
10. Analyse the use of “The Academy” in the following sentence. What metaphor is at play
and with what purpose? Is there any other linguistic device being used?
-‘The Academy seems to feel it fulfilled its quota of films about people of color for the
next few years by shutting out just about any non-white films from this year’s
ceremony.’
11. Why does the author claim that the translation “Wild Tales” is not suitable for
“Relatos Salvajes”? What does “tales” entail?
12. Comment on the clincher at the end of the article and the ways in which it reinforces
the claim that the film wouldn’t win the award.
Focus on the following language items:

1. I’m emotionally obliged to root for Relatos Salvajes as it competes for the Oscar.
(Paragraph 1)
2. Loyalty aside, Relatos Salvajes was one of my favorite movies of 2014. (Paragraph 1)
3. [Ida] …since it’s gotten the most buzz, … (Paragraph 2)
4. Relatos Salvajes won’t win because it doesn’t fulfill popular US stereotypes of Latin
America. (Paragraph 3)
5. Despite perfectly capturing the feelings of frustration and ineptness that can come
with living in Argentina… (paragraph 3)
6. Nueve Reinas, a drama about two con men that … (Paragraph 4)
7. Moreno earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her turn in María, llena eres
de gracia, a rare feat for non-English language roles. (Paragraph 5)
8. Both Sandino’s performance and the movie itself earned widespread acclaim in the
US. (Paragraph 5)
9. Vergara is the most recent incarnation of the “feisty, fiery, sexy Latina” (paragraph 9)
10. Vergara and her publicity team found the perfect way to sell her as a Latina in a way
that is palatable to mainstream American audiences. (Paragraph 9)
11. The Academy’s resistance (…) is notable in its recognition (or lack thereof) of black
filmmakers and actors. (Paragraph 11)
12. Flash forward to 2012 and Octavia Spencer wins the same award for playing a maid
in The Help. (Paragraph 12)
13. This is not a criticism of Spencer or Nyong’o or any of their cohorts. (Paragraph 13)
14. Alejandro Gómez Iñárritu represents the only non-white person in the major
categories. (Paragraph 14)
15. Historical dramas are usually total Oscar bait. (Paragraph 15)
16. The Academy’s resistance to award diverse stories isn’t just limited to Latin
American films. (Paragraph 11). Compare: It was widely criticized for portraying
President Lyndon B Johnson as resistant to promoting the Voting Rights Act.
(Paragraph 15)
17. Brad Pitt as the benevolent Canadian hippie he imagines he would have been had he
been alive in antebellum Southern United States. (Paragraph 15)