Maria Full of Grace is a film which deals with social topics and about one girl’s path in life. The girl, whose name is Maria is from Colombia and she is dissatisfied with her life and the direction in which it is going and this is related both to her professional as well as to her private life. The main topic is the economic establishment in the world and the effect it has on common people, who are underprivileged and who live in countries full of corruption. Other topics in the film are related to corruption, friendship and the pursuit of happiness.
The economic situation in the world and in specific countries is related to the choices that people make in life because they have to be able to provide for themselves as well as for their families. Maria is seventeen years old working in the flower industry, but quits her job for being molested and takes up a position of drug carrier because it seems like the best solution at the time being. “If one way of dealing with the material inequalities in city life has been to aestheticize diversity, another way has been to aestheticize fear” (Zukin 133). There certainly is fear present in this film and in the countries with a great amount of corruption. The rich people are those involved in unethical businesses, while the poor people suffer and live in fear having to obey those who are in charge. There are even possibilities of murder and getting away with it because the police are always involved and owned by the criminals. This story is set in Colombia and in New York and there is a difference between these two countries which is why Maria decides to stay in New York and not to return to Colombia along with Blanca.
Another relevant issue in the film is corruption and criminal related to the drug business and the drug lords who export drugs illegally to the U.S. They use young girls for this business and Maria voluntarily becomes one of these due to the fact that she does not want to marry her boyfriend, although she is pregnant and because the needs the money. “Because they are neither practiced in conventional (off-street) establishments, nor in the homes of the workers, the street occupations are usually severely under-represented or excluded altogether in statistics based on sample surveys of establishments or households” (Bromley 163). The fact that people have to work in the streets and be involved in illegal business operations just to make a normal living in order to survive means that the social system has many flaws. These people are under-represented and not only their jobs because nobody cares about them or about their well-being due to the fact that everybody is only interested in generating profit in any possible way. Moreover, many people die during the business activities because they are often dangerous and people are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to get a chance of a better life. “Furthermore, work opportunities are usually scarce and insecure, and work is often inadequately remunerated, leading to poverty and deprivation” (Bromley 164). This is the exact reason for which young people like Maria decide to put their lives at stake and do something dangerous and illegal. The chance of earning money fast is alluring and makes people believe that they are invincible and that luck will be on their side. Even if they fail, they are ready to suffer the consequences because of the fact that their lives are without substance. It seems better for them to try and do something dangerous than to continue living in scarcity and eventually die because of the bad life conditions. It is more alluring for them to engage in a mission which might get them out of their current situation than to wait for the slow death and to watch their loved once struggle and live in poverty.
The issue which this film tackles is friendship and it gives the story its human side because of the fact that young girl support one another on their road to success they expect. Maria, Blanca and Lucy are drug mules and they support one another on their way to a new life. Friendship is an important concept because there would be no meaningful life without it. People need to support their loved ones and they also feel the need to be supported and encouraged by other people who are in the similar situations as they are. Another issue is illegal migration and: “Legal and illegal migration is a pre-eminent topic addressed in transnational cinema” (Mennel 204). There is always migration involved in illegal drug trafficking and people involved in this business believe that it is better to put their lives at stake than to wait and die of starvation. Most of the people who are in the drugs business get involved in illegal migration because they are already engaged in illegal operations. They do not always like their jobs and they are aware of the fact that it is wrong to do things illegally. In this film, Maria is a one-time mule, who develops a close friendship with Blanca, Lucy and her sister although the sister turns them her back once she finds out about Lucy’s death. “In eyes of too many people, street children are not even human, and so they are dispatched in much the same way one would step on a cockroach” (Macionis and Parillo 281). This is unfair because these children need help from the social institutions because they are neglected by the society. Under such conditions, it is not unusual for children to resort to doing drugs or selling drugs. People need to work on changing the economic systems so that everybody can at least live on social welfare. Nobody deserved to be degraded in life especially if the try hard to earn a decent living which involves having a place to sleep and being able to afford meals for themselves and for their families. Friendship is a crucial part of anybody’s life because nobody can survive on their own and having allies is important. Being able to have a positive impact on somebody else’s life is crucial for the self-esteem of a person.
The theme of the pursuit of happiness is also integrated in Maria Full of Grace due to the fact that Maria ultimately decides to stay in New York in search of a better life although she does not forget about her family or to pay for Lucy’s body to be transported to Columbia for a proper funeral. “María Álvarez: What is America like? / Lucy Díaz: Over there it's too perfect. Everything's straight“ (Marston, Maria Full of Grace). It is evident that people coming from countries with bad economic systems long for a lawful country where law-abiding citizend live. The fact that the economic situation is not corrupt may seem beyond he level of understanding for people who come from poverty. It is important for people to have the notion that they live in a country which cares for them and for the quality of their lives. It is sad to see that people who are longing for stability in life because it depend solely on the social, political and economic infrastructure. The pursuit of happiness is possible only in democratic societies where the citizens are encouraged to do their best in life ad where hard work is awarded. The citizens need to feel encouraged on their journey to success and young people are especially prone to feeling bad about themselves if the put in too much effort and get nothing in return.
The film Maria Full of Grace is very realistic and it describes the life of the people who are under-privileged. There is the notion that people cannot escape from their destinies which are determine by their geographical locations which is exactly why the possibility of migration seems the best option for some people. It is best to be a legal immigrant, but some individuals are too poor to be capable of entering a country legally. Experience is the best option in life and everybody shoul rely on their common sense when making life-changing decisions. Puttins onself in danger is never a good option, but sometimes taking a risk is a leap of faith that lead to happiness.
Works Cited
Marston, Joshua, dir. Maria Full of Grace. Fine Line Features, 2004. Film.
Zukin, Sharon. The Cultures of Cities. Hoboken: Blackwell Publishers, 1995. Print.
Bromley, Ray. "Working in the Streets: Survival Strategy, Necessity, or Unavoidable Evil?" Cities of the Global South Reader. Ed. Faranak Miraftab and Neema Kudva. London: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Mennel, Barbara. Cities and Cinema. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Macionis, John J., and Vincent N. Parillo. Cities and Urban Life. 6th ed. New York: Pearson, 2012. Print.
