What struck me most about Andrea Noble’s chapter was the role played by cameras in the emotional depiction of early 20th century caudillo, Pancho Villa. An emotional Mexican revolutionary is one thing, but the “mediatization” (264) of his tearful displays throughout his life seemed to bring him to somewhat of a ‘movie star’ status, in my opinion. Not to say, of course, that the nature of his emotional expression was purely strategic or political, but rather to highlight its significance in a cultural context- its ability to attract cultural popularity, and, in a sense, unify both the popular and wealthy classes. The political and cultural power of emotion is not something I had spent much time considering before reading this piece, but because emotion is so fundamental, so ‘human’, it is undeniable the impact public displays of it, such as those of Villa, can have on bystanders or onlookers- an ‘affective’, revolutionary power. 

Most notably were the time, context and societal standards Pancho Villa and his tearful displays took place in. A transformative, and fragmented political period in Mexico, the early 20th century met Villa’s tears with both unifying amazement and discomfort. His tears, whether in defense for his life or in public mourning, were powerful displays of rejection for what constituted a socially acceptable ‘masculine’ code of conduct or expression, and it was this deviation or ‘shamelessness’ that distinguishes Pancho Villa from those standing beside him in black and white photographs. Crying, sobbing or weeping in front of a camera was something almost entirely unseen in Villa’s time, expressions of feelings that Noble argues were “the ‘glue’ that, however imperfectly, came to cement the fragments of the Mexican mosaic” (251). Whether they are observed, photographed, filmed or described in writing, the relationship tears have with culture depends on how they are portrayed and by who. My question is, what role do cameras play in our views and perceptions of public emotional expression? How does culture play into that?