Colaboraciones especiales: Marzo

WHO PAVE THE WAY FOR PARASITE?
By: Yael Martínez
Between screams and cheers, this Sunday a South Korean film made history
at the Oscars.
Parasites is a South Korean drama, suspense and black humor film of 2019, It
premiered at the Cannes festival on May 21, 2019, where it became the first
Korean film to win the golden palm. This film was directed by Bong Joon-ho
and starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and
Park So-dam.
Parasites follows the story of members of a poor family who live in a small
apartment in the basement and live on the pay of temporary and poorly
paid jobs.
A stone was their stroke of luck, a blow that would bring them much wealth,
that is where a family plan emerges to become employees of a millionaire
family, posing as unrelated and highly qualified individuals.
What they don't know is that upon entering that house, a series of events will
jeopardize their true identity.
Parasite became the first non-English speaking tape to win the award for best
film.
The film, which has also been a blockbuster and won three important awards
at the Oscars in the categories of direction,
original screenplay and international film.
Parasite swept the odds against becoming the
first film to achieve a similar feat. This is a hit that
showed that the aggressive campaign of the
Academy to include new members, expand its

voter base and bet on inclusion, begins to have concrete real results.
The Oscar seemed to have receded to an outdated and conservative era in
Western culture and, in particular, the American culture, taking precedence
over any other history and vision. But specifically in the fact of reflecting a
very specific bias in the way in which prizes are analyzed as a reflection of
popular culture.
"I will drink until dawn," said director Bong Joon-ho upon receiving recognition
as the best director, and he thought it would be the last prize he would
receive from this 92 edition of the Academy Awards. After imposing himself
on the other foreign films and having risen in the best original script, the South
Korean director ended his American route.
How did Parasite achieve such success? How
did the resistance to change of the main voting
unions overcome to build a phenomenon of
considerable importance? Maybe the answer
is much simpler than it seems.
THE KOREAN WAVE
It was in 2012 when the world turned to see
Korean culture with the great musical success
"Gangnam Style" by PSY. This song was well
accepted by world society, but did it have a
lasting impact? Not really, all his popularity was quite fleeting, as a wet
cement, not solid enough for other artists to intervene.
After the Gangnam style, everyone in the world thought that K-Pop is a
strange Asian genre and, therefore, was treated more as a joke than as a
genre. I don't want to undermine Psy, he is the legend that everyone in the

K-Pop industry respects, but that is the truth that no one can deny. Since 2013,
K-pop has made very little progress. Things were paralyzed until about 2017,
when BTS broke out with the Billboard
Music Award, but wait, who is BTS?
Bangtan Sonyeondan or better known
as BTS, is a Korean band that was
formed in 2013 by the company Big Hit
Entertainment, but it was in 2016, when
everyone recognized the band. The
band is made up of 7 boys who are
Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi,
Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim
Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook, and
are known for their great musical
successes such as: DNA, Blood Sweat and Tear, Fake Love, Not Today, Boy
Whit Luv, etc. They were responsible and pioneers of this great Korean wave,
everyone was talking about this phenomenon, they even came to compare
them with "The Beatles".
BTS, broke the stereotype that one day Gangnam Style created. Before
them, nobody has been nominated for BBMA, AMA or even Grammys. It is
only after its global recognition that K-Pop is beginning to gain more
worldwide attention. A serious one this time. American artists began
collaborating with many K-Pop artists, and some K-Pop groups even began
to be nominated in different American awards. So yes, BTS paved the way
and opened the door at the same time, not only to the music industry but to
the entire Korean entertainment industry. I wish more people would admit
this.

Unfortunately there are locals who do not agree that BTS break world records
and rank high on the charts such as Billboard, iTunes, Spotify, etc. Nor do they
agree that a non-American film will reach awards such as the Oscars, Golden
Globes, SAG Awards, etc. This shows that not only the cinema but that the
entire entertainment industry has lagged behind in regards to cultural
globalization.
After all, it was the Internet, not national broadcasters, which made K-pop
an international obsession. The parasite film can hardly be the cinematic
equivalent of BTS, but there are parallels in the way they cultivated their fan
base: they speak the same language in more ways than one. In addition,
that Bong movie also takes advantage of a global well of class outrage, in
addition, it has given it a universal resonance for young audiences with social
awareness, hungry for texts to fuel their discourse of having against those who
do not have in the middle of a disorder Global politician: the Parasite class.
"The Oscars are not an international film festival," the director of Parasite said
cheerfully when asked about the issue.
"They are very local."
This is how, thanks to the entry of BTS into the entertainment industry globally,
it gave the opportunity to other bands, series and films such as Parasite, to
amaze the world with their great talent.
If I am sure of something, it is that this Korean wave will last even longer, each
of the representatives of this phenomenon, have said that they will give their
best effort to continue staying on top, and that we prepare, because this is
only the principle, because behind them are
many more artists, waiting for their
opportunity to be able to stand out in this
great world of global entertainment.

Mexican Horror Movies
Omar Garcia Martinez
Mexico has a lot of talented people, their creativity is huge, and thanks to the movies, this
creative minds can express themselves; in the last years mexican directors have been
recognized by the Academy: Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu and Guillermo
del Toro, are the most prominent in the industry; the last one has a different style: del Toro
likes monsters sometimes, this monsters are very creepy, the horror movies are one of his
favorites.
Talent in the mexican directors and actors has been growing and with this, the number of
good movies. The history of the horror movies in Mexico goes back to 1930 with the first
exponents of the genre; here, films like El fantasma del convento or Nostradamus made their
appearance, two well-known directors made these films, Fernando de Fuentes and Juan
Bustillo Oro; the last one is the most recognized in the genre in Mexico. It can be said that
from the beginning, these films had a religious theme which would not change until the
decade of the 70’s with the Golden Age of Mexican Horror Cinema.
In the begins of 1950’s fashion was having wrestlers in horror movies, this trend was a little
bizarre because we saw them fight against vampires, werewolves and many supernatural
beings; people were delighted with the addition of wrestler so much that in the 60’s and 70´s,
El Santo and Bluedemon had their awn films, which today area a classic.
At the end of this decade, Hasta el viento tiene miedo was released, this film was made by
Carlos Enrique Taboada, one of the genre's most famous directors, considerated by the critic
and audience as the master of the golden age of Mexican horror films. His work inaugurates
the 1970s with El libro de piedra (1969), enters the slasher with Más oscuro que la noche
(1975) and culminates his classical tetralogy in the 1980s with Veneno para las hadas (1984).
His contributions would mark a part of the national production, moving away from the afore
mentioned subgenres, taking topics ranging from the supernatural to the psychological,
mixing the everyday with the extraordinary. It would influence the following generations of
authors, during the decline of the old forms, to make a more raw and violent genre.

In the 1970’s, Mexico was joined the gore, american slasher and italian giallo subgenres,
with its main representative Juan López Moctezuma. Starting with La mansion de la Locura
(1973), where his surreal and bloody tints are already seen, he will continue with Mary, Mary,
bloody Mary (1975) and her best-known Alucarda, la hija de la oscurida (1978), all with
large odds of controversy of excessive horror they presented by carelessly addressing issues
such as religion and sex.
In the 80’s directors from latin América wants to do horror films with the mexican support,
an interesting idea emerge, Santa Sangre (1989) was written and directed by Alejandro
Jodorowsky, unfortunately it fails to have an impact in the mexican public. The films bring
a fresh idea, charge with a lot of symbology and psychoanalytic references, with à mystical
tone, Jodorowsky made a serious film with à huge and deep philosophical-psychological
analysis.
In the 90’s we saw the born of one of the most incredible directors of the last decade,
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos is his first movie who takes back Taboada’s style.
Early in the 2000’s Las lloronas start a new trend along with Kilometro 31; this film shows
a new point of view about mexican tales; some directors take the Taboada’s films and make
a remake. Original productions bring to us: Somos lo que hay (2010) and Visitante; the thriller
and the slasher takes a new path and gains experience and a lot of fans.
Táu (2012) was directed by Daniel Castro Zimbrón, the film starts a new way of horror
movies, from here the movies would be more serius and artistic; this movie was screened in
My French Film Festival and won some awards.
Zimbrón returns to the movies in 2016 with the film called Las tinieblas also premiered in
My French Film Festival and win some awards: Mexican Film Audience Award and Mexican
Feature Film Section.
Daniel became a promise of the horror genre; however, he has a carrer ahead and he hasn’t
earned the public affection all in all.
The new mexican horror movies gain strength with a feature film, México Bárbaro premiered
in 2014, is an anthology horror film composed of eight shorts, each by a different Mexican
horror film director. The film is divided in eight chapters by eight different directors, each

relating to a different Mexican legend or myth. The directors were then given free rein in
choosing a subgenre to create a story involving the legend. It premiered at the Sitges
International Fantastic Film Festival 2014. The film was sold to six countries during the Le
Marché du Film at Festival de Cannes 2015, including MPI/Dark Sky Films. México Bárbaro
II was released in 2017 but the film didn’t have the same popularity as the first part.
The good Mexican horror streak continues in 2019 with the film Belzebuth, which went on
to premiere in international cinemas having very good reviews and good ratings. This film
was directed by Emilio Portes.
By January 2020, the film La marca del diablo was released, with the main attraction being
the union of terror with the myths of H.P. Lovecraft, however it fails to capture the attention
of the audience and received split reviews.
The history of horror cinema in Mexico is quite long, with films and directors that have made
history, although this genre is not one of the most loved in the country, but has a good number
of followers, it is only a matter of time for the genus to cease to be so undervalued and is
given the place it deserves, talented people are all over the country, there's a lot of time ahead
and good stories full of suspense and horror are waiting to be told; only the time will tell that
so much progress is Mexican cinema, or if it becomes popular as before, all the fans of horror
cinema will be waiting.

Why The Beatles still sound so good?
Rodrigo Daniel Hernandez Cid
Do you like The Beatles? Is a timeless question in my mind because who doesn´t like The
Beatles? These Liverpool guys open the door of the American musical market for all the
British bands (like The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, The Kinks), tasting marihuana
after met Bob Dylan on 1964 in New York they became in the creators of psychedelic music
and all the youth movement for the free expression or, in simple words, peace and love, the
godfathers of hippie culture
Their first record was recorded on 1963 and it was one of the first moments on history when
the music changed forever. A year later, the Fab Four came to USA for the first time with
their image of boy band, their mushroom haircuts and their suit. Making an esthetic
revolution before the flowering of the counterculture.
From 1963 to 1966 The Beatles made a tour around USA and in that time they recorded 2
films (A Hard Day´s Night and Help) and 7 studio albums. Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver
(1966) are the most important of the tour period ´cause these albums shows a lyric and
musical evolution, before those albums their music was good but they felt tired of creating
simple pop music.
Rubber Soul is the band's fifth album,
considered the best album of The Beatles
by George Harrison and it is (perhaps) due
to the evolution of lyrics that crossed And
I Love Her to I'm Looking through You, this
is because of the encounter with Dylan a
year earlier. Becoming an antecedent of
the nascent psychedelic rock with songs
like The Word and Norwegian Wood. The
Word was written by Lennon, who was

influenced by the first hippie ideas and in Norwegian Wood the sitar was introduced by
George Harrison (the sitar is an Indian instrument like a guitar with 12 strings and bigger),
this instrument had a particular sound that made him famous in the 1965 rock scene (just
listen to Paint It Black).
When Brian Wilson listen Rubber Soul he recorded Pet Sounds with The Beach Boys and
they created an original Avant musical
work who (ironically) influenced at The
Beatles to create some albums that
made history. Revolver is the sixth
studio album of the band and it still
continues the line of his predecessor
with the mature lyrics (Listen I´m only
sleeping), more LSD (Listen She Said She
Said and Dr Robert), the debut of
Harrison as a singer (listen Taxman and
Love you Too), the born of the
psycodelic rock with the song Tomorrow
Never Knows and more avant-garde sound (listen Eleanor Rigby).
Other record albums who influenced Revolver were Freak Out by The Mother of Invention
(or Frank Zappa) and Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan.
Are you still asking why The Beatles are so beautiful? The answer
is that in 1967, after a large tour Paul McCartney crated his opus
magnus: Sgt Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band. This master piece
is considered the best album of History by Rolling Stone

magazine. How we describe this album? Perfect? I don´t know, maybe the word is
revolutionary and sublime because it raided in new ways to experience with sounds
following the same continues line of Revolver.
Some people said that Sgt Pepper is a precursor of conceptual album (a conceptual album
is this kind record that have a central topic, for example The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink
Floyd. The conceptual album became famous in the 70s for the rock progressive bands)
because when the records began Paul McCartney thought in fictional band named The Sgt
Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band. The reason as McCartney said: “We were tired to be The
Beatles. We really hate the mop-top haircut it was immature. We weren´t boys, but men
we weren't boys, but men and we saw yourself as an artist and not just like simple singers”.
Let's talk about the cover: one of the most famous covers in history with John, Ringo, Paul
and George dressed in
psychedelic military uniforms, the
name of the band written for red
flowers, a tree of Mexican life
(this tree was a gift of Mexican
actor Tin Tan for The Beatles, he
and Ringo Starr were friends),
there was a doll that said:
"Welcome The Rolling Stones"
and then there is a collage with
wax figures and cutouts
representing famous people who influenced The Beatles as Edgar Allan Poe, William. S
Burroughs, Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Carl Jung and Alistair Crowley. This
cover page represented the burial of the old Beatles (represented the with 4 wax figures)
and born of the new Beatles.
(Previously on George Harrison life´s he was practiced sitar with Ravi Shankar but he learned
about Hinduism and the teachings influence not just him at The Beatles too)

And they really reborn with a hippie style, mustache, long hair, sideburns and colored
clothes. Which is best song of the album? That is a hard answer because in the album there´s
a part to each beatle to show their musician abilities for example in Within You With Out
You the eighth track, is like a soloist song because George Harrison plays all the instrument
and of course the voice, about the instruments, this song had a variety of Indian instruments
like the sitar, tempura and swarmandal.
On the other hand we have Lucy In the
Sky with Diamonds, probably the
polemic song for it´s “allusion” to LSD.
Lucy was written by John Lennon and he
inspired in a draw made for his son
Julian, this draw literally said Lucy in the
Sky with Diamonds and Julian draw it
based in a classmate named Lucy (it´s
funny because if a child say something
like that everybody says ok and then
they laugh but if an adult say the same
every judgment and say that the song is
about drugs).
Lucy is a surrealistic song but not all the album is surrealism, the classic beatle essence still
continues alive in this album specifically in Paul with Lovely Rita (my favorite song), but I´m
not going to tell you more about the song, you must listen the tree albums and answer my
question why the Beatles still sound so good?