Fathers, Masculinity, and Authoritarianism in Latin American Cinema

How contemporary Latin American filmmakers are using

the father figure to critique political leadership

In this book, through

an analysis of twenty-first-century films created in Latin America, Irina Dzero

argues that contemporary filmmakers are using the figure of the father as a

metaphor for political leadership. Dzero makes the case that the abusive and

controlling fathers in many recent films reflect a growing rejection of predatory

and coercive authority in the region.

The chapters in Fathers,

Masculinity, and Authoritarianism in Latin American Cinema focus on films

made in Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Chile. Dzero

identifies different types of authoritarian leaders represented in these works—the

histrion who basks in the admiration of crowds; the disciplinarian enforcing

rules; the profiteer without principle; the backslapping charmer; the rapist

who awes with transgression; and the scold who berates and gaslights. Many of

these films are based on plays, novels, and memoirs written under oppressive

dictatorships in the 1970s, and Dzero shows how today’s cinematic retellings

revise the original stories to portray children confronting and even defeating

their fathers.

Dzero’s thought-provoking

interpretations establish an innovative new way of understanding societies with

political histories of authoritarianism. By tracking the shift within these

countries toward accountability for leaders and their actions, this volume

demonstrates the potential of creative work to represent, shape, and change cultural

beliefs.

Publication of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities

through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the

Humanities.