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Configuring Desire and Social Order in the Contemporary Mexican Youth Road Film

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The Latin American Road Movie

Part of the book series: Global Cinema ((GLOBALCINE))

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Abstract

This chapter analyzes two Mexican youth road films, Por la libre (Juan Carlos de Llaca, 2001) and Viaje redondo (Gerardo Tort, 2009). Cosentino scrutinizes the expression and resultant suppression of incestuous and queer desire in these two films. She highlights the figurative (and paradoxical) stagnancy that characterizes the Mexican youth road film. Por la libre prioritizes the traditional nuclear family while Viaje redondo rejects queer desire as nothing more than a longing for heterosexuality. The Mexican youth road film masquerades as a progressive exploration of Mexican youth, but in reality it is conservative and heteronormative in nature. Both films as well as the blockbuster Y tu mamá también (Alfonso Cuarón, 2001), present endings that align with a traditional conceptualization of the social order.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Olivia Cosentino

Authors
  1. Olivia Cosentino
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Spanish, The University of Kansas , Lawrence, Kansas, USA

    Verónica Garibotto

  2. University of Kansas , Lawrence, USA

    Jorge Pérez

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© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)

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Cosentino, O. (2016). Configuring Desire and Social Order in the Contemporary Mexican Youth Road Film. In: Garibotto, V., Pérez, J. (eds) The Latin American Road Movie. Global Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58093-1_10

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