Harry Potter

I thought our class on Thursday was a perfect way to end a fun semester. Throughout the course of this class, we have learned many ways to identify different traits, styles, and habits of Latin Americans. Whether it be in music, film, art, or literature, Latin American artists seem to follow some similar patterns of behavior. Not always, but in general, we can identify some trends that seem apparent in their work. Our skills were ultimately put to the test while we watched movies that many of us had already seen, but had no idea that they were done by Latin American directors. This time around, we specifically searched for those same patterns that we learned in this class.

I watched Harry Potter 3 for this assignment. Although I have seen that movie several times, I had no idea that it had a Latin American director. I may never have known or noticed anything that would have made it apparent. With that knowledge this time around, however, I was indeed able to identify a few specific things that may have been done due to Latin American roots or preferences. And to me, they all worked. I loved this movie, and I think he did a great job. 

I even found myself telling my wife and two of my siblings that go to BYU about the things I had learned about Harry Potter 3. They, being big Harry Potter fans like me, were surprised to hear that the director was Latin American. They then asked what kinds of things we had talked about in class about what he had done in this film. I told them about how many noticed that the werewolf was awfully chupacabra-esque. I believe that the chupacabra had at least some influence on how the werewolf was portrayed in the film. We also discussed how there were spanish names on the wall of the school, how the movie was much darker than the previous ones, and how the magic realism theme of Harry Potter fits perfectly into the Latin American culture. Overall, I learned a great deal during the class, and it was fun to be able to put our skills to the test.