CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Habanastation

As the semester has progressed our class has been exposed to Cuban society at many different stages of revolution and progression. Through the movies, documentaries and videos we have seen, we have experienced Cuban society during the special period, and post special period but have not, until now, really gotten a view of Cuban society today.

monumento de Jose Martí

In the movie Habanastation we are given a direct, if not somewhat biased, view into what Cuban society has become. Through the eyes of Mayito, an upper class child with an internationally recognized father and a ‘blonde” mother, we are shown a modern day Cuba. Although the movie is quite recent (2010) there are certain values and ideals from the revolution that manifest themselves in the daily lives of Cubans. We see these revolutionary ideals as the movie opens in the gathering of students before the start of classes and their communal celebration surrounding the 1st of May. The gathering ends with a with a shout of ” viva el primer de Mayo” and a response of “Viva” from the students. Providing similarities to the documentary we watched earlier in the class where students and revolutionaries alike used call and response chants to invoke a sense of united togetherness.

los padres di Mayito

The movie has a carefully selected cast to shed light on the issues of race and identity in Cuba. Actors are chosen from a wide range of backgrounds, skin colors, races and ethnicities to prove that Cubans come in all colors and that the racial boundaries of the past have been broken down. While they may try to show a raceless Cuba, issues of class and race do appear in the movie. Mayito’s father self defines as a mulatto and his mother is a blonde but not a natural one, Carlos, the story’s antagonist, is darker skinned and lives in Guanabo, a slum unlike anything Mayito has ever known but Carlos is not that much darker than Mayito himself and it goes to show how class factors into the interpretation of skin color in Cuba. Along similar lines the movies’ visual message provokes sentiments of national pride and history. We are treated to a plethora of flags, colors and music along with strategically placed vistas of the Jose Marti monument that subtly convey a sense of cuban’s continuing pride and nationalism.

Habanastation sends a deeper message as well, that even with fancy technology and play stations galore there is still something to be said for the attractions of traditional amusement without electricity or electronics. Habanastation is a beautiful movie gaining international recognition for its portrayal of Cuban society and Cuban ideals and gives us much needed insight into the Cuba we will soon be visiting.