Week 5 – Fun in Acapulco

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the film Fun in Acapulco, moments of the film definitely had me laughing while watching it due to the ridiculousness of it. In the end I was just left confused as to what the whole purpose of the film was. The film opens with credits and we are introduced to Mike, (Elvis) a young handsome American working on a boat. The daughter of the boat owner he is working for flirts with Mike in the very first scene which right away makes him the so called “hunk” or “eye candy” of the film. However, Mike pays no mind to her and she seems to be upset that she threatens to have her dad fire him. Later on in the bar El Torito’s we come to see that this young girl does in fact use Mike when her dad sees her there and she blames Mike for bringing her and her underage friends there. In this same scene we meet Dolores Gomez a mexican bull fighter (and one of Mike’s love interests) who also seems drawn to Mike’s attractiveness after having watched him sing a song that says “Every day siesta, every day fiesta, I think I’m gonna like it here, your troubles are gonna disappear”.

The lines of the first song we hear remined me very much of the theme song in Down Argentine Way giving it a feel as if it were a commercial ad. I actually felt this way throughout most of the film due to the songs and the fact that Mike was working at what seemed to be an all inclusive resort making me think of a Sandals commercial. This first song though made me think of some approaches I have heard about Mexicans and latinos in general. Being half Mexican and half Salvadorean when I tell people my background I usually get the typical, “Oh, so you’re basically just full Mexican” which eventually leads to inappropiate “jokes” or the notion that latinos’s are lazy but they do know how to have a good party, eat tacos, and drink tequila. It’s honestly just the worst when I find myself in a converstion like this and the line of the song “Every day siesta, every day fiesta” although to some may be a fun jingle it can set up an inaccrutate represenation of a group of people. At least this is how I viewed it having that there seems to be a huge repetiton of the siesta idea in the film.

The relationship that Mike forms with the little boy Raoul brought me back to think of the films Flying Down to Rio and Down Argentine Way. Mike seems to push him away at first but then sympathizes with him when he comes to find out he has no mother or father. Raoul acts as Mike’s manager helping him find a job they call each other partners but in the end of the film they become true “amigos”, reminding me of the Good Neighbour Policy idea that was portrayed in the previous films. The one thing I found funny about Raoul is that his charcter brings the idea of latin american’s having big families with all the cousins he has. All his connections in getting Mike a job are done so because he has a cousin that can help or he has a cousin that heard this and that.

Mike is caught in this unusual love triangle with Dolores and Marguerita. Both woman become jealous of one another’s relationship with Mike creating tension between both. Although, Mike seems to want to pursue Marguerita more because she seems to be more of a chase whereas Dolores basically throws herself onto Mike telling him that next time she sees him she’ll bring her station wagon. We don’t know exactly where Marguertia is from but we do come to find out that her father would like her to marry him to gain U.S. citizenship. The end of the film is very ambiguous, we don’t know much of what will happen next or which woman Mike decides to choose. After his great dive we see that Dolores kisses him as Marguerita is right beside them but he later turns to Marguerita and says that is was just a reward from her and she in Mike’s arms. Overall, I am still unsure what purpose this film serves and am very interested in what others have to say.