Narco Cultura Documentary Analysis

Glorifying War and Death
With all the media available these days, everyone is familiar with the drug war in México, the damage it has caused, and the thousands of innocent people left dead in its wake. Every day hundreds of innocent people are killed because of this war, and media is misrepresenting the moral idea or it. What most people do not know however, is the culture surrounding the narco-trafficking war. Singers and songwriters are making “art,” that glorifies this horrible war, their songs are based in detailed descriptions of decapitations, executions, nights out, a consistent obsession with alcoholic drinks and name brand clothing. It sad to realize that this has become the culture of modern México. This trendy music genre called
narco-corridos, openly celebrates all the sides of the drug war. Narco-corridos is very well known to many Spanish speakers, the subject matter of the songs is what has become the concern. This kind of music is the most popular genre at the moment in México, and youth is the number one fan. The issue is that this music is degrading Mexico’s society, nowadays youth is looking up to be like the drug lords, they want to have their lifestyle and everything that comes with it.
“Narco Cultura,” a documentary by Schaul Schwarz, released on November 22, 2013, is described by Geoff Berkshire, as “an eye-opening examination of Mexico’s blood-soaked drug war and its unsettling pop-culture side effects.” The documentary demonstrates two completely perspectives towards this war.
It shows a way of life where is normal for people to idolize death, and the luxury life of the drug lords, while others see it as simply accepting the miserable reality of this new culture. The documentary alternates between the criminal investigations of Ricardo Soto, a member of SEMEFO (Forensic Medical Service) of the city Ciudad Juarez, and the rise in the world of narco-corrido of the artist Edgar Quintero. This documentary is very clear with both stands, and it lets the viewer take their own stand on the
issue.
Edgar Quintero is the lead singer in a band called “Las BuKnas (Buchanan's whiskey) de Culiacan,” and writing narco-corridos is his life.
He shows that working in the industry of producing narco-corridos is indeed a lifestyle and a culture. Quintero is gaining fame and power through his music, which is filled with violent content, taken from the real life drug war going on in México. “If there was not so much violence in Mexico, we wouldn’t have such badass corridos,” he says in the documentary. This singer looks up to many powerful and influential drug lords, he writes songs about their luxurious lives and their particular techniques of executing people. When the lyrics of his songs are listened carefully it is unbelievable that people actually like the content. These songs are just cruel narrations of killing. Deborah Hastings, a journalist from New York Daily News, wrote an Article called, “Narcocorridos,” in which she translates a verse of one of Quintero’s songs called “Sanguinarios del M1,” (The Bloodthirsty from M1) and the lyrics say, “"With an AK-47 and a bazooka behind my head/ Mess with my path and I'll chop your head off/ I’m insane and I enjoy to kill my enemies.” This is the music that Mexico’s young generations
idolize.
On the other side of the story there is Ricardo Soto, the member of the SEMEFO in Cuidad Juarez. His daily routine consist on identifying bodies, and collecting evidence for crimes caused by narcotic trafficking. Soto and the staff of SEMEFO, are always wearing masks to protect their identity and their families, he says, “You always go out with a prayer on your lips.” Meaning that he never know what could happen to him, because many of his coworkers have been assassinated by the drug cartels. In the documentary when Soto is being interviewed he tells Schwarz that only 3% of all the cases caused by the drug war go to trial, and that the other 97% is ignored by the government and by the families of the victims. Mexico is terrified by this war, no one dares to denounce, no one dares to speak up. “The only way I can help this city is through my work,” he says with a hopeless tone of voice.