MONDAY, OCTOBER 07, 2019
"America": Filial responsibility in Mexico after
an elderly woman, neglected, falls (and someone goes to jail)
The film America, directed by Erick Stoll and Chase
Whiteside, was presented on PBS on Monday Oct. 7, 2019. The 76-minute film (Lifelike Docs) was
compressed to about 53 minutes.
'America' is the name of a 93-year-old grandmother in
Colima, Mexico (on the southern Pacific coast, near a volcano), in the Serrano
family. One day, due to her oldest son's
negligence, she falls and is seriously injured and lies in her own excrement.
The older grandson and brother takes care of her, but
the youngest grandson returns from his own beach life to care for her.
The Mexican state prosecutes the father
and the boys wait for the trial on a charge of neglect of an elder. This charge is relatively uncommon in the
U.S. but can happen. Judging from the film, the laws on eldercare in Mexico
seem to be very strict. The older grandson was almost arrested.
The boys offer to take custody of her, as their dad is also
a senior citizen. He had been in jail
for eight months.
The directors do a brief commentary, about young men showing
intergenerational intimacy that may compromise their independence and sense of
masculinity.
The link for the PBS trailer is here. PBS did not offer a YouTube trailer. But it
showed at a ReelAbilities film festival in NYC.
Wikipedia attribution link for p.d.
picture
Posted by Bill Boushka at 8:00 PM
Labels: eldercare, filial obligation, foreign language, indie documentary, PBS-related