A Day Without a Mexican

I watched this on the DVD of the movie. I never got around to watching the full-length version.

The idea of this short film is that all of the Mexicans (or all Latinos - its hard to tell because the characters use the terms interchangeably) have disappeared from California. It is done in bad TV documentary style. It reminded me of the screwy UFO documentaries that run late at night on SciFi or Discovery. I guess the style is supposed to be ironic, but it just doesn't work.

There is some attempt to point out that not all Mexicans or Latinos (again, they can't seem to be clear on this point) work in fields, restaurants, or car washes. However, the talk of missing Hispanic college professors is just an excuse to make a lengthy rant about California immigration policies.

I guess if I lived in California, I might appreciate it more. Maybe not. I live in Texas and work in an area that is more than 90% Hispanic. The sad thing is the only memorable character is a beer drinking redneck complaining about how there are no Mexicans to fix his car and telling stories about the "good old days" when Mexicans would do the work for cheap. That is good, subtle social commentary. The rest is over the top stupidity that just makes you roll your eyes.