A critical analysis of the film The worst of all (1990)
Introduction
His film is a representative of the efforts by women to find their way out of the control and domination of patriarchy. It shows the historical injustices occasioned against women by their male counterparts such as denial of knowledge about their history and so the feminist radicals in this film had to use a lot of energy, skill and time to liberate the women from patriarchy. Sor Juana and Maria Luisa are the central focus in this film for spearheading the struggle to affirm the position of the females and stamp out female subjectivity. The quest and struggle is really hard due to the ill treatment and ordeals that the ladies have to face. The ladies have been used as subjects of the male dominance, objects and even currency. The worst occurrence hit the women in the 1990’s when the male dominant patriarchal dominance saw women as empty shells that could not think or even generate any productive idea. The film portrays females as passive spectators who have no active roles to play or make any tangible contributions to life whereas men assume active players. The film shows the procedural deconstruction of the patriarchal domination. It is a representative of the male pleasure derived from using or viewing women as objects. (youtube)
This is an iconic brilliant minded woman in the colonial Mexico a period when women were never allowed to enjoy any public appreciation or recognition for their outstanding qualities such as intellect. Her intellect and prowess were however recognized because of her wonderful works of writing. She was born in the modern day Spain, at a place near Mexico City in the year 1651. Her intellect and unique traits started revealing themselves as early as at the age of three and by the age of eight she had read a lot of books: having exhausted all books in her grandfather’s library. She became a nun in 1669. The fact that women in colonial Mexico were not allowed to join the University forced her to seek other ways of pursuing her intellectual ambitions and interests. She did this through various writings on the topics of court, religion, nature and women’s rights. Her writings and other works were supported by the Viceroy and his wife who were eventually called back to Spain: this gave the political and religious leaders an opportunity to stifle her intellectual development and pursuit for knowledge as a woman. She finally succumbed to death in 1695.
It is such patriarchal aristocracy that fuelled even the Mexican wars of 1821 which were occasioned by a section of the oppressed indigenous Mexicans. The war condition endured until 1827 when the national power was consolidated. The ideological conflict occasioned ideological differences and oppression are evident in the life of Sor Juana as she pursues her intellectual growth and critique for women oppression.
Primary points of conflict that drive the narrative film and the life of Sor Juana.
The film is an entirety of patriarchal domination in the Colonial Mexico. It was a time when women were not viewed as beings who could contribute anything knowledgeable to the society. Sor Juana was born at that particular moment when women were not even allowed to go to the University despite their intellectual abilities. The conflict between patriarchy and the emerging feminism are the basic drivers of the film as well as the life of Sor Juana who sought to develop her intellect. The film is a series of powers fighting against ability and intellect. (Mulvey, 40) Sor Juana cannot join the University despite her quest to grow her intellect, she relies upon political protection of the Viceroy to keep on writing and in particular against patriarchy. Being a nun, she is also expected to serve like the other nuns and at some point she is compelled to sell out her library in Mexico. The political leaders could also not tolerate this radical woman who was all against the oppression of women and their pursuit for knowledge. The storyline here is made by serial struggles and conflicts. The tenacity of the church however serves to contain Sor Juana and stop her from achieving her goal; she is a real iconic lady in history who asserted herself as unique in a male dominated world.( Mulvey,44)
The film is a real confirmation of the general social dynamics of the colonial era when women were almost the victims of all kinds of discrimination. The women during the colonial era were hardly allowed to access education, or even take up leadership positions, not only in Mexico but also elsewhere in the world. Those who attempted to stand out against the patriarchal domination were subjected to real opposition and viewed as social outcasts in the society. Women were only supposed to be seen, never to be heard. (mulvey, 64)
References
Youtube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTI7H1ohD2M
Mulvey, Laura, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema: Issues in Feminist Film Criticism. Ed. Patricia Erens.(1990), Bloomington: Indiana.
