BLOG 17

The American Dream

The American Dream is life, liberty and happiness. Everyone believes that’s the ideal life but many people can’t find this in the environment they grow up in. This is why they seek it in different places that don’t always have positive impacts on their life. Memo is a good example of someone who was tricked trying to reach the American Dream.

            Memo is a young individual that lives in an area where he can’t accomplish his dreams in comparison, to many immigrants. Living in the small village Memo’s biggest dream is to leave his small city and work for a high – tech company in the United States. In his free time, Memo builds an antenna so that he could hear voices from different places all over the world. One night he overheard a conversation between Rudy, a drone gunship operator and his colleagues. When his signal was detected Rudy received orders to kill Memo and his family since they were “aqua terrorists.” The next day Rudy blew up their house and killed Memo’s father.

            After his father’s death Memo moves to Tijuana to support his family. His biggest dream finally comes true. Memo starts to work at Cybracero, a virtual labor factory, where people can work distantly for many US companies without leaving their country.

His father never understood Memo’s fascination because Americans built a dam upstream and they destroyed his plantation, which was something that he worked for all his life. After a while Memo realized that his father was right.

           The American Dream was only an illusion. Although Mexicans can work for American companies, they could never cross the board to the United States. Americans exploit them because they only complete the jobs the Americans do not want. Americans don’t pay for the health problems the workers face since this is going on in Mexico and not the US.  The image that media creates is also different from reality. The TV shows that his brother loves to watch when the good defeats the bad guy, has nothing to do with the truth. Someone like Rudy is presented as a “super hero” even though he kills innocent people with cold blood. Rudy has been uncertain about the Santa Ana operation occurring. When he found out the truth he wanted to meet Memo and confessed that he killed his father. Rudy offers Memo help for what he has done to his family and Memo finally accepts his help.

             Memo and Rudy destroy the dam, which made all the residents of the town excited and there is water flowing again. The movie isn’t mainly about two different backgrounds competing over a dam but more about not having boundaries. Everyone should have the right to live how he or she wants. There shouldn’t be any exceptions based on your background. Individuals should be willing to help each other out instead of battling between themselves. Sticking to your traditional values is more important then trying to live a different unknown life that you imagine.