catharine I want to talk a little bit about the music from Tango Feroz, which is a movie I am embarrassed to have never watched, but want to! I’ve been heavily influenced by the soundtrack.
I first encountered it when I was 18 because my Spanish teacher asked me to bring it back with me when I went to Argentina with AFS (during a gap year), and I did. I got a copy for him, and a copy for me. I listened to it throughout the year that I was there, and it became very important to me.
So many of the songs are about bravery of one kind or another. El Oso is about a bear that gets trapped and taken to the circus, then escapes and makes it back to the woods.
Argentina has a horrific and bloody history. During government crackdowns, college students were “disappeared,” tortured, and presumably killed. Their parents- mothers, specifically- marched around the Plaza 25 de Mayo (a park) holding pictures of their “disappeared” ones for years, and now it is their grandmothers, or great-grandmothers who do this.
This song says “si aquí los muertos siguen vivos”- if here the dead ones continue alive- it is a reference to the disappeared ones whose families have kept their memories alive. That as long as the dead ones continue alive- they can throw you in jail, steal your heart, but love is stronger. It’s a very important part of Argentinian pride to keep the memories of the Disappeared Ones alive. It’s hard to overstate.
“Puedan lavarte la cabeza, por nada” (they can brainwash you, for nothing) “Pero el amor es más fuerte” (but love is stronger)
“Pueden jurar que no es verdad, el viejo sueño de volar, puedan guardate en una jaula… por nada. Pero el amor es más fuerte” (they can judge that it isn’t true, the old dream of flying, they can lock you up in a cage, for nothing. but love is stronger)
and then this one about living in the present…
“Todo me demuestra que al final de cuentas termino cada día empiezo cada día… creyendo en mañana, fracaso hoy” (everything shows me that at the end of the story, I end every day, begin every day… believing in tomorrow I fail today)
“¿Cuánta verdad que hay en vivír solamente en el momento en que estás? ¿Sí el presente.. en el presente y nada más?” (how much truth is there to live only in the moment you are in? yes- the present…. in the present and nothing more??)
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It’s hard for me to figure out how to put into words what the reasons are for me wanting to draw attention to this music, because of how big and painful these topics are and because of how much respect and shame I feel, at some level. My life in the US has been excessively privileged, and honestly, most people in the US have gotten very used to the idea that they will be safe, that the government will function in basic ways, that leaders will have at least the tiniest spark of altruistic motivation… all kinds of things that are pie in the sky for most people to experience. I can’t really talk about any group of people having any type of experience, really. Like, even what I just said about “most people in the US…” [chagrin]. White, rich people in the US. White, rich Christian citizens? There are too many little additional labels that could be added but obviously people will have very different experiences based on how they are treated by others.
I guess I feel chagrin about myself, sometimes…. well, a lot of the time. And I feel chagrin about the types of things I pay attention to- the arguments I’ll get in that are a pure waste of time (ie on Twitter). Like, when I consider current events. They aren’t always pointless, but do you know what I mean? Many things that make no difference at all.
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The reason I find this music so inspiring is because of the tiniest taste (TINY) I have been on the outskirts of witnessing in terms of seeing the pain carried by the people of Argentina, and how much bravery the country brings overall as a culture towards embracing life despite horrors that are truly ongoing.
Valuing of friendship, the family, love, relationships, humility, generosity, and valuing of the present reflect what has persisted through many years of oppressive governments and economic instability. My own culture seems to value productivity, planning, and money over most things. It’s what has allowed people to persist (sometimes at great cost to relationships, health, and other things that one might argue are far more important)- why those values remain, but now, in times of greater uncertainty, fierce individualism is a weakness, as are pride and disconnect. The white church in America’s overall dupedness by Trumpism reflects decision-making based on rule-following principles without any consideration for the human consequences of those decisions. It’s a rich mindset when people fear no consequences themselves for policy changes, and view “the poor” as “others” “homeless” “mentally ill” or any other variety of labels. People can only dehumanize immigrants when they don’t know any. It’s form over function, productivity. It’s why fascism can happen in a country. “Business is business.” “Rules are rules.” It’s sick.
The message that “love is stronger” I think applies to a whole lot of things. I’m thinking of it, and I’m trying to apply it. I guess that’s why I wanted to write about it. Love is stronger than fear, and it’s stronger than efforts made to try to make people be afraid.
Living fiercely in the present is also a form of resistance, in a way, when pressures would have us spin in circles of dysfunction and panic
I apologize if this isn’t making much sense. Maybe I shouldn’t publish it. I’m just trying to say I really find this music inspiring, and I find the beliefs and attitudes underlying the culture beneath it utterly inspiring, and I see applications for it pervasively and things that we could do better in as Americans, and I see our weaknesses getting exploited. Fascism can only bloom where there are lemmings willing to leap, and where no one feels responsible for the suffering of others, but people only feel responsible to principles.
I don’t know the solutions, but I know that doing the opposite of those things work in the opposite direction of harm. Psychological experiments done after WWII showed shifting of responsibility as the primary reason why atrocities were able to take place- “I was just following orders.” Empathy and love are the weapons that can and do fight that, as well as narrowing communication about problems to those who can feel it is their problem: ie telling a specific person to call 911 verses muttering it to a full room.
Please feel free to comment with your thoughts.
Love is stronger. and (imo- I know not everyone will agree) it’s better, too, as a response, when chaos and violence only cause the loss of power. I think we can each focus on the tools we have, even small ones, and the social circles that we have (and that we can work on expanding), to find ways that we can apply love, and relying on coping strategies like focusing on relationships and the present take back power, because no one else can take those things, not really, and a lot of people really need help right now
