Happiness Is Made In Mexico

Would you like to understand why Mexicans are the happiest folks on earth? Would you like to contract a little of that contagious gusto, rather than follow the herd of gringos who just want a reason and an audience for their misery as they stampede off the dying-with-dignity-but-no-fun cliff. If so, check out the film Hecho En Mexico. This is actually a documentary and a musical - a documentary musical - but it's not dull or gay. Only Mexicans can come up with crazy shit like this. I think it's illegal everywhere else.

Anyway, the movie traverses the cultural landscape of Mexico with an emphasis on the chilangos of the capital. The recipe for this artistic creation is totally insane. First, throw some traditional indigenous music and barrio criminal rap into a big terra cotta pot. Then, mix in hacienda cowboys, body-piercing migrants, and curvaceous putas. Finally, sprinkle liberally with Our Lady of Guadalupe - possibly the only virgin I've encountered in Mexico - and serve at a theater near you. Sounds bizarre, but it not only works, it truly inspires.

Now, Mexico does have widespread poverty, mostly-dysfunctional education, and just enough violence to keep the whimps out. However, that only makes the Mexican tradition of finding joy under every parched desert rock or jungle pyramid stone (while gringos snag Texas and California but still whine like little girls) all the more impressive. Are you tired of spending your almighty American dollars or stodgy European euros on drugs that just don't provide the kick you once got from a yo-yo or popsicle or holding hands with the loosest girl in kindergarten? Why not get a boost from the fun-loving folks who cross thousands of miles on burros and submarines to bring you drugs? Talk about service with a smile.

Even if you don't wanna be happy, show all the other miserable white people that you're a cultured and sensitive person by watching this quaint low-budget art film made by our brownish brothers and sisters from a developing nation. Maybe, the small price you pay for the ticket will be just the amount they need to finish developing and become like us. Whether you want to borrow a pinch of their primitive glee or help them to evolve out of it, this new movie could just do the trick. Speaking of doing the trick, a long lean cumbia dancer keeps smiling at me from the cantina stage across the room. Gotta go.