La Otra Conquista Review & Reaction Paper

What did nations do in order to become even more powerful? They colonized. Such was the case during the 15th to 17th centuries. An emerging Spain partook on a conquest to seize the world by imposition of their beliefs and lifestyles to different tribes. The film La Otra Conquista features the effects of this cultural imposition on the Aztec civilization and how colonialism was able to shape them into the people that they are today. Before continuing on, it is worth to note that there are certain similarities between the Aztec civilization and the pre-colonial Philippines, which were both Spanish colonies at one point in time. They both worshipped deities from nature, and were seen as barbarians by the Spanish conquistadores. The methods used by the Spaniards in conquering the Aztecs were pretty much similar to how they conquered us as well. Thus, this analysis also applies to us Filpinos and I will be applying my review from time to time in our own local context. One of the ways that the conquistadores imposed their own culture was by eradicating the intrinsic beliefs and lifestyles of the natives and swapping them with their own. The objective behind this was to make it easier to subject the natives into their rule if their old tradition was erased to take in new customs instead. There are two questions that this analysis aims to answer: Were the Spaniards successful in completely replacing the native culture with their own? Was it right for them to impose their own culture on a people? I believe the answer to both questions is no. To completely replace one’s tradition (furthermore for an entire nation) is incredibly difficult and close to impossible. It is also hard to distinguish whether the motive behind the cultural imposition of the Spanish is justifiable, especially since the conquistadores saw the Aztecs as barbaric and inhumane.
In order to support my analysis, I will be mentioning some theoretical concepts that will be covered and