Tag Archives: Piñeiro

10/14/21

In God we Tru$t

In Claudia Piñeiro’s Widows on Thursdays, the gated community of The Cascades have almost unanimously elevated money into the position of religion, and thus, they have constructed a new morality based on capital gain. Tano begins the movie preaching to the other husbands about the role of money as religion — in an incredibly ironic moment, he says that they must have faith in money. To some extent, everyone that lives in this gated community has subscribed to this religion because if they had not, they would not be here — clearly demonstrated by Ronnie and Mavi’s family departure at the end. Tano banks on the death of others to take their life insurance, and he is unabashed and even proud of this scheme. He explicitly expresses his belief that he cannot be doing the wrong thing because he is only doing what he has to do to achieve success. Morally, the religion of money does not subscribe to the good and bad of ethical norms, good and bad is in relation to earning and losing. In all fairness, Tano is not a hypocrite. While he banks on the death of others, he also understands the value of his own death. Him and the other husbands’ suicides demonstrates the extent of how much these people truly do believe in the religion of money. They genuinely believe morally that their death is for some greater good, that their death is spiritual as it relates to their religion. Money has truly become God, and they are willing to kill themselves in service of this god. 

The most bleak part of the movie is that Tano was right — his and his associates’ death do help propagate the lives of their wives. In a way, Tano’s death has illuminated the fact that Tano and Teresa are alike in ways — this is exactly what Tano would have wanted Teresa to do. In death, Tano and Teresa are truly partners in this crime.

10/14/21

What would happen if we lived underwater?

I would like to discuss the motif of water in “Thursday’s Widows.” As we discussed today, the opening scene is surprisingly relaxing and calm despite the fact that we are watching dead bodies floating in the water. This tranquility associated with the water suggests to me that water in this story acts as a refuge from the chaos in the characters’ worlds, it is almost like a utopia. Tano even alludes to this, he asks “what would happen if we lived underwater?” (I have a screenshot of this but I am not sure it is copyright-free to post), additionally acting as an element of foreshadowing of his death. For Tano, Gustavo, and Martín, the economic and personal stressors in their life become too much to bear and the three of them fantasize about death as an escape from it all. I think that this is reflective of capitalist societies and the idea that there is no peace in capitalism, and so the men resort to finding peace and freedom in the water because the economic stress becomes overwhelming.  

Thursday for Widows is definitely a complex piece of detective fiction, with multiple crimes and criminals. The important message to take away from it is that when death becomes glorified over living in a broken economic system, there is a problem, and there are many victims. It is interesting because while three characters are dead, I would hesitate to say they are the true and only victims in this story. These characters caused just as much damage as they endured, they represent the ways that capitalism causes pervasive damage by creating an unlivable world. Claudia Piñero creates a story that unveils the intricate ways that the economic collapse in Argentina caused widespread tragedies with multiple victims. In the scene in which Tano attempts to convince his friends to end their lives, there is an overpowering sense of defeat; as if they have lost this game of survival. They are resigned to their fate, not even Ronnie attempting to change their perspective works. This attitude is what makes me consider that the water is a symbol of freedom and escape, the ultimate end to a hopeless system.  

10/14/21

The housewives of Altos de la Cascada

As I watched “Widows on Thursdays” I could not help but laugh at the country club depicted in the movie as I’m very familiar with these gated communities. Growing up in Argentina, they were the norm for many upper-class families and ex-pats. My friends used to live in them, and I remember just how different their lives were there in comparison to other people living in the suburbs such as myself. Here we were able to do things like roam around freely at night, which during my teens it was almost impossible to do outside without the fear of something happening to you.

Despite the amazing qualities that many people see with these communities, there’s always a fakeness that comes to it. Argentina is no stranger to economic crises, and in those people are forced to make life changes, such as how we see with Tano, Ronnie, and Martin. But it becomes so hard for them to accept their new realities. They’d rather die than have to face their wives and families with the truth, which is that they must leave this idyllic community with their friends, sports, and security.

This need to appear successful and wealthy is common in Argentine society, and we are shown the extreme measures that people would go to maintain this. What the movie is able to demonstrate is the erraticness of the Argentine economy, and that even the people living in the most secure communities are not safe from being unemployed and joining the rest of society in their struggle to make it through yet another crisis.

10/14/21

Escape from Death

In the theatrical depiction of Claudia Piñeiro’s Thursday’s Widows we are invited to view the dynamic between four men as they gather each Thursday. These men hold a position of power in relation to their perceived wealth and status of their jobs. One of the members of this group is not like the others. Ronnie stands out from his peers, as he doesn’t have a job at any point in the film. However, while this is viewed within the society depicted in the film as a negative thing, or perhaps a failure on Ronnie’s part, I argue that this saves him.

Around the 1:40 mark, after Tano’s idea of dying, Ronnie gives a moving speech on his life, showcasing the love he has for his wife and son, we as viewers can compare this to how none of the other men can claim to have the same family dynamic as this. How Ronnie and Mavy and Juan are the only family depicted with any sort of relationship. One that doesn’t revolve around money, or lying, or sex. Rather their family relationship showcases what some would consider “normal” challenges, like a troubled child. This is an active critique of the upper class issues we see depicted in Tano and Teresa’s marriage, as well as Lala and Martin’s family. As the only one of the four men who doesn’t kill himself at the end of the movie, we see his separation from the capitalist ways of the others.

Ronnie’s absence from the world that killed his friends, and then his and his family’s escape from that world at the end of the movie showcases the negative connection to capitalism and the high paying jobs of the upper class.

10/13/21

Gates cannot keep away violence

While Claudia Piñeiro’s Thursday’s Widows, sets itself up as a mystery thriller when one of the affluent wives, Teresa, discovers the death of her husband along with his two friends floating dead in their pool, the story unfolds to be a social commentary about how even the most “untouchable” communities are strictly dependant on the economic system that brought them up in the first place. In this case, the “tragedy” the characters were subjected to was the failure of neoliberal capitalism in Argentina. There is almost a sense of apathy for the deaths of these prominent men because as Tano put it, their success or “well-being was based on the ill-being of others.” The scenes where the camera pans up to reveal a ghetto right behind the walls and where Ronnie is watching the news of protests and crowds fighting for rations, juxtaposes the opulent and nonchalant lives of the wealthy, but also foreshadows their inevitable downfall.

Although the rich do segregate themselves from the rest of society, they are not immune to violence especially when the men start losing their jobs and prominence. Consumption is a facade of their class status and signals the idealistic lifestyle that neoliberalism purports. However, the facade that it’s normal for people to have power over and exploit others can quickly turn to depression, domestic abuse, and ultimately suicide on an individual scale because it’s clearly unsustainable in terms of economic growth and improving standards of living for all. While detective fiction stories usually restore some sense of order when the crime has been solved, Argentina in the early 21st century is still far from it. Additionally, the act of the men committing suicide was also a crime because they committed insurance fraud by framing their death as an accident. It can be interpreted that justice has been restored because their death symbolizes the failure of neoliberalism, but given the aforementioned context of the purpose of their death and the prevailing conflict in Argentinian society, it is unclear whether the story ends on a hopeful note.