A fresh and unexpected take on the immigrant tale, where the journey is…
Arid Zone
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What's it like to be a foreigner in the most conservative city in the United States? In 2001, Brazilian director Fernanda Pessoa was 15 years old and experienced being a foreign exchange student for one year in Mesa, Arizona, considered the USA’s most conservative city. Fifteen years later – and two months before Donald Trump’s election – she’s back to try to understand her experience there and the conservative ideas on topics such as the Mexican border, the cowboy lifestyle, religiosity, and patriotism.
Citation
Main credits
Pessoa, Fernanda (film director)
Pessoa, Fernanda (film producer)
Gonçalves, António (film producer)
Jinkings, Maeve (narrator)
Other credits
Cinematography, Rodrigo Levy; editor, Germany de Oliveira, Mari Moraga; music, Pedro Santiago.
Distributor subjects
Culture + Identity, Education, Migration Studies, Women, Sociology, Political Science, Religion + SpiritualityKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:21.959 --> 00:00:28.259
What you must do is enter the fiction of America,
enter America as fiction.
00:00:28.283 --> 00:00:35.783
It is, indeed, on this fictive
basis that it dominates the world.
00:01:30.290 --> 00:01:32.090
São Paulo,
00:01:32.414 --> 00:01:35.014
October 30, 2019
00:01:43.523 --> 00:01:45.523
Dear Fernanda,
00:01:46.547 --> 00:01:50.347
How could I begin to write
everything I have say?
00:01:53.071 --> 00:01:57.771
So much has happened, you may
not even recognize me anymore.
00:02:03.370 --> 00:02:06.470
Fifteen years is a funny age.
00:02:07.795 --> 00:02:10.895
You think you’re an adult
and that you know it all.
00:02:15.578 --> 00:02:19.078
But there are things you’re not
able to understand yet.
00:02:24.798 --> 00:02:28.898
Your greatest desire at the moment
is to live in the United States.
00:02:31.022 --> 00:02:35.322
Like many young people in your country,
you dream of an American life,
00:02:37.128 --> 00:02:39.228
set in the scenery you saw...
00:02:39.252 --> 00:02:42.952
in all those high school Hollywood films.
00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.500
The good news is you\'ll make it!
00:02:52.961 --> 00:02:56.161
Just perhaps not quite
how you imagined it.
00:03:01.331 --> 00:03:05.031
In a few days you’ll step into
a plane bound for Arizona.
00:03:05.155 --> 00:03:07.455
A place you didn’t
even know existed,
00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:10.179
before you came up with this
student exchange business.
00:03:13.013 --> 00:03:15.613
In the letter sent to you
by the student exchange agency,
00:03:15.637 --> 00:03:18.637
You find the name of your new city.
00:03:19.161 --> 00:03:20.561
MESA
00:03:26.675 --> 00:03:30.975
I remember as if it was yesterday.
Your excitement at the airport,
00:03:30.999 --> 00:03:34.899
as you said goodbye to our
friends and family.
00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.619
As you headed towards an unknown,
but long sought-after adventure.
00:03:46.588 --> 00:03:52.388
Over the next year, you\'ll
experience the American lifestyle.
00:04:01.716 --> 00:04:06.216
But there is something strange
in the warm air of the Arizona desert.
00:04:08.584 --> 00:04:11.684
And you can’t quite define what it is.
00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:21.840
You\'ll promise yourself
never to return to this place.
00:05:22.566 --> 00:05:26.266
And you\'ll keep that
promise for 15 years.
00:05:52.431 --> 00:05:53.321
Hi, Pam!
00:05:53.789 --> 00:05:55.633
Hi, Fernanda.
00:05:55.785 --> 00:05:58.550
Can you tell me who you are
and how you know me?
00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.235
Ok. I\'m Pam Hanny.
00:06:02.361 --> 00:06:06.451
My daughter Kristen was
going to Skyline High School.
00:06:07.011 --> 00:06:11.768
And she said: \"Mom, remember that
exchange student I told you about?\"
00:06:11.957 --> 00:06:14.725
Fernanda, she needs a place to stay
00:06:14.953 --> 00:06:20.173
She\'s gonna have to go back to Brazil
if thing don\'t work out with her host family
00:06:20.291 --> 00:06:24.186
Can you guys be a host family?
and I said What?
00:06:24.584 --> 00:06:26.884
So my husband and I discussed it
00:06:26.924 --> 00:06:32.491
and we thought, well this could be an
educational experience for the kids.
00:06:32.745 --> 00:06:35.095
It was challenging having...
00:06:35.128 --> 00:06:38.921
a 14, 15, and 16 year-old at home.
00:06:39.152 --> 00:06:44.270
So that took a little
getting used to.
00:06:44.311 --> 00:06:46.246
It was fun. We had proms.
00:06:46.492 --> 00:06:51.171
And you remember the prom and
all the situations with that.
00:06:51.202 --> 00:06:52.228
My gosh!
00:06:53.010 --> 00:06:56.015
What happened? What situation at prom?
00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:02.577
Remember when one of the guys were supposed
to go and buy the prom tickets?
00:07:02.606 --> 00:07:05.406
And they didn\'t buy the prom tickets.
00:07:06.656 --> 00:07:11.356
And you called him up and said:
\"What? You didn\'t buy the prom tickets?
00:07:12.447 --> 00:07:17.896
And they go: \"I forgot...\"
I remember what you said:
00:07:17.897 --> 00:07:22.554
\"What are you? Stupid?\"
Yes!
00:07:24.164 --> 00:07:27.664
Just what you wanted everybody
to know, right?
00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:32.733
You were living with a host
family you didn\'t like.
00:07:32.737 --> 00:07:37.617
So I asked my parents if you could live
with us until school was over.
00:07:37.624 --> 00:07:40.924
And if we could be your host family.
And they said ok.
00:07:40.949 --> 00:07:47.147
So you moved in with us and lived
there for almost a year.
00:07:47.216 --> 00:07:52.776
No...six months? I don\'t remember.
I think through summer, right?
00:07:57.169 --> 00:07:59.969
Why did you decide to have a
foreign exchange student?
00:07:59.988 --> 00:08:01.745
Because you weren\'t on the program.
00:08:01.770 --> 00:08:05.549
No, we weren\'t on the program and actually
it wasn\'t something we considered.
00:08:05.565 --> 00:08:07.233
It was just something that
was dropped on our lap.
00:08:07.265 --> 00:08:11.812
As I recall, you were staying
with another family.
00:08:11.844 --> 00:08:15.820
But it wasn\'t a good
chemistry at the time.
00:08:15.834 --> 00:08:18.969
You weren\'t really comfortable there.
00:08:18.998 --> 00:08:22.498
There weren\'t a lot of options. It was
either that or go back to Brazil.
00:08:22.812 --> 00:08:27.601
So our daughter asked us if we could
have you come stay with us.
00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:32.184
They came and checked us out.
And it was history ever since.
00:08:32.230 --> 00:08:34.910
We really enjoyed having you.
It was a lot of fun.
00:08:37.135 --> 00:08:40.069
Did you have any cultural shock
when I was staying at your house?
00:08:40.097 --> 00:08:44.431
Was there anything that you
thought was different?
00:08:44.441 --> 00:08:50.469
Yeah, I mean the biggest shock was obviously
the language barrier between the two.
00:08:50.493 --> 00:08:55.340
That was obviously the biggest obstacle,
although you were very fluent in English.
00:08:56.031 --> 00:09:02.746
In America we don\'t learn Portuguese as a second
language. It\'s not something that we focus on.
00:09:02.958 --> 00:09:10.875
So trying to listen and understand and put together
a conversation was probably the biggest shock.
00:09:11.036 --> 00:09:13.936
And do you speak another language?
00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:21.812
No. I attempted to learn a few different languages,
but I was never successful becoming fluent in any of them.
00:09:38.657 --> 00:09:43.357
You arrive in Mesa for the
first time on August 10, 2001.
00:09:45.544 --> 00:09:48.144
Your first family picks
you up at the airport,
00:09:48.168 --> 00:09:52.068
And drives you to your new neighborhood
and your new home.
00:09:56.818 --> 00:09:59.818
This is the first time you see the desert.
00:10:06.962 --> 00:10:11.562
At dinner, they drink warm milk
along with the food.
00:10:13.023 --> 00:10:15.023
You find that odd.
00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:17.700
But you drink it too.
00:10:18.839 --> 00:10:21.639
Only you\'re not used to it
and you feel sick.
00:10:24.897 --> 00:10:29.797
This won\'t be by far the strangest
dinner with this first family.
00:10:35.477 --> 00:10:41.077
They find it funny that you learned their
language just by watching movies and MTV.
00:10:46.640 --> 00:10:52.540
You know several slang words and references and
you\'re proud at how well you pretend to be an American.
00:11:19.134 --> 00:11:24.134
On your first day of school,
the size of the building amazes you.
00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.220
It\'s just like in the movies.
00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:34.759
the hallways with lockers,
the cheerleaders in uniform.
00:11:34.783 --> 00:11:37.483
The nerds are practically caricatures.
00:11:42.483 --> 00:11:46.083
Everything is so familiar,
yet so novel at the same time.
00:11:54.392 --> 00:11:56.792
You don’t really know why...
00:11:56.816 --> 00:11:59.016
but you hate the cafeteria.
00:12:00.696 --> 00:12:05.696
This is where all the students gather,
but soon split up into groups.
00:12:08.336 --> 00:12:10.536
The table with the Latinos.
00:12:11.146 --> 00:12:13.146
The table with the African-American kids.
00:12:13.826 --> 00:12:16.826
The table with the popular jocks.
00:12:19.130 --> 00:12:22.530
You feel anxious as you
don\'t know your place.
00:12:23.546 --> 00:12:25.746
Where will you sit?
00:12:34.917 --> 00:12:37.572
Can you tell me what sports
you played in high school?
00:12:37.598 --> 00:12:40.879
- I remember you doing a lot of things.
- Yeah, I tried everything in high school.
00:12:40.903 --> 00:12:48.297
Soccer, basketball, football, track.
I think those were the main ones.
00:12:48.741 --> 00:12:51.762
Do you still talk to a lot of
people from high school?
00:12:51.786 --> 00:12:54.619
Yeah. I actually talk to a lot
of people from high school.
00:12:54.658 --> 00:12:57.158
A lot of people actually come
in here to the gym.
00:12:57.185 --> 00:13:03.683
And it\'s really cool to reminisce and talk, and see
how people have changed, what\'s different about them.
00:13:04.241 --> 00:13:08.522
It\'s been a cool place for people
to come and link back up.
00:13:08.553 --> 00:13:12.978
To have those like-minded goals.
Being healthy, being fit.
00:13:13.003 --> 00:13:18.608
So it\'s been really nice to be able
to keep in contact with a lot of people.
00:13:25.658 --> 00:13:28.458
Can you explain to me what \"prom\" is?
00:13:28.544 --> 00:13:32.796
\"Prom\". I really don\'t know how to explain it.
00:13:32.822 --> 00:13:36.957
It\'s a big dance that everybody goes to
and you have your prom queen.
00:13:37.661 --> 00:13:42.081
I guess it\'s just a display of popularity.
Because you\'re voting your king and queen.
00:13:42.093 --> 00:13:46.323
And so seeing who the most popular
people are in the school.
00:13:46.363 --> 00:13:51.856
Maybe it\'s just preparing us for elections.
00:13:52.015 --> 00:13:55.257
So if you\'re gonna be part of politics,
or something like that,
00:13:55.280 --> 00:13:56.764
so it is very political.
00:13:56.822 --> 00:13:59.736
So I think when people naturally
get into that...
00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:02.024
they might end up going more
into a political field.
00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:06.940
I don\'t know, it\'s just my guess. But I think
it does prep you for what\'s out there in the real world.
00:14:07.002 --> 00:14:09.569
And popularity contests, things like that.
00:14:33.596 --> 00:14:36.007
My name is Ricky Gonzalez and
I met you at school.
00:14:36.590 --> 00:14:39.020
I don\'t remember exactly how we
met for sure the first time.
00:14:39.067 --> 00:14:41.195
But I just remember hearing about you.
00:14:41.736 --> 00:14:45.728
Like \" Brazilian foreign
exchange student in\"
00:14:46.025 --> 00:14:48.125
All the boys were happy.
00:14:48.286 --> 00:14:55.823
I just remember meeting you, and you were cool,
down to earth, got along with everyone.
00:14:57.091 --> 00:15:02.391
What’s up, you Brazilian hottie?
00:15:03.123 --> 00:15:08.423
Hey you sexy Brazilian, thank you for
being so awesome and having a nice body...
00:15:11.547 --> 00:15:16.847
My Brazilian hot mama...
00:15:20.171 --> 00:15:23.971
PS: Never lose the ass.
00:15:23.995 --> 00:15:28.195
You know that cute guy you
flirt with in biology class?
00:15:29.209 --> 00:15:33.009
He was the one who wrote this
last message in your yearbook.
00:15:36.917 --> 00:15:40.617
You want him to invite you on
a date, like in the movies,
00:15:40.641 --> 00:15:43.241
but this is the closest he\'ll get.
00:15:46.108 --> 00:15:49.108
This girl sits in front of
you in math class...
00:15:49.132 --> 00:15:51.232
and always wears heavy makeup..
00:15:53.686 --> 00:15:57.586
This other girl is the star of
all the high school musicals..
00:15:59.836 --> 00:16:02.336
They are part of your life.
00:16:03.453 --> 00:16:06.353
But I no longer remembered them.
00:16:11.709 --> 00:16:13.509
For the yearbook...
00:16:13.533 --> 00:16:17.033
some of the most memorable
events of that year.
00:16:17.057 --> 00:16:19.557
Are the threats with anthrax.
00:16:20.971 --> 00:16:25.871
The amnesty by President George W.
Bush to illegal Mexican immigrants.
00:16:26.511 --> 00:16:30.011
And the fact that your American
literature professor,
00:16:30.035 --> 00:16:31.835
Mr. Caruso,
00:16:31.859 --> 00:16:34.759
was elected as a Ricky
Martin look-alike.
00:16:37.651 --> 00:16:41.951
Can you believe Caruso is still
teaching in that same classroom?
00:16:42.788 --> 00:16:46.888
When I was here I remember that
we read \"Of Mice and Men\".
00:16:46.912 --> 00:16:52.312
That could be, in my opinion, one
of the best American pieces ever written.
00:16:52.336 --> 00:16:57.436
With that, students can learn brevity,
students can learn Americana,
00:16:57.444 --> 00:17:02.444
they can learn these themes
of family and brotherhood.
00:17:02.468 --> 00:17:04.168
I think it\'s very important.
00:17:04.192 --> 00:17:05.992
What\'s \"Americana\"?
00:17:06.016 --> 00:17:09.116
\"Americana\" is like things
that are American.
00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:14.440
Things that make America different
than other places.
00:17:14.464 --> 00:17:16.264
And what is that?
00:17:17.488 --> 00:17:24.988
The way celebrate things,
the way that we look at that life,
00:17:25.012 --> 00:17:27.512
the way that... you know...
00:17:27.536 --> 00:17:33.836
There\'s a simplicity and complexity
at the same time with everything.
00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:41.860
And just... American pastimes, I think
\"Of Mice and Men\" really captures that.
00:17:42.084 --> 00:17:47.184
Speaking of what\'s American, what does
it mean to be an American to you?
00:17:48.208 --> 00:17:53.708
Gosh, wow! What does it mean
to be an American...
00:17:54.332 --> 00:17:58.032
I\'d probably say individuality.
00:17:58.056 --> 00:18:03.556
I\'d probably say \"be larger than life\".
00:18:03.580 --> 00:18:06.280
At least thinking in those terms.
00:18:07.004 --> 00:18:11.404
Which I don\'t know that these are
necessarily all positive things, either.
00:18:12.828 --> 00:18:14.628
I think...
00:18:16.652 --> 00:18:18.652
What does it mean to be an American?
00:18:25.652 --> 00:18:30.352
There\'s certainly a certain amount of pride,
or maybe even arrogance that comes along with it.
00:18:42.179 --> 00:18:45.879
When I arrived here, 2 weeks later
they had the 9/11 attack.
00:18:45.903 --> 00:18:46.903
That\'s right.
00:18:47.027 --> 00:18:51.127
Do you remember the day? Were you in school?
Do you remember how that was in school?
00:18:51.151 --> 00:18:53.151
When 9/11 happened it was really odd.
00:18:53.175 --> 00:18:57.075
We were all driving to school and all
of a sudden the radio got taken over
00:18:57.099 --> 00:18:58.399
and we start hearing this and
we were like \"what?\"
00:18:58.423 --> 00:19:01.923
And then in every class we just
had the news on, in every classroom,
00:19:01.947 --> 00:19:05.047
I remember that pretty distinctly.
00:19:05.071 --> 00:19:08.071
And it was just talking about the
events when all of a sudden...
00:19:08.095 --> 00:19:09.695
the buildings came down.
00:19:09.719 --> 00:19:10.719
Everybody\'s freaking out
00:19:10.743 --> 00:19:12.943
Because we didn\'t know what
was next, you know?
00:19:12.967 --> 00:19:15.067
Are there gonna be more attacks?
00:19:15.091 --> 00:19:17.191
So that was a scary time.
00:19:17.215 --> 00:19:20.615
And I think a lot of us just wanted
to go home and be with our families
00:19:20.639 --> 00:19:22.639
But we... Not many people left,
00:19:22.663 --> 00:19:24.963
a lot of us stayed in
school the whole day.
00:19:24.987 --> 00:19:27.687
So that was a very odd day.
00:19:37.485 --> 00:19:41.385
In your American History class,
the teacher asks the students
00:19:41.409 --> 00:19:45.409
if they have any idea why this
could have happened.
00:19:49.573 --> 00:19:55.173
One student answers:
“Because we are free and they are jealous.”
00:19:57.712 --> 00:20:03.151
\"Good evening, today, our fellow
citizens, our way of life
00:20:03.763 --> 00:20:06.031
Our very freedom came under attack
00:20:06.428 --> 00:20:10.453
In a series of deliberate, deadly,
terrorist acts
00:20:13.777 --> 00:20:17.894
America was targeted for attack because
we\'re the brightest beacon for freedom
00:20:17.926 --> 00:20:23.509
and opportunity in the world. And
no one will keep that light from shining.
00:20:25.784 --> 00:20:27.938
Immediately following the first attack,
00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:31.655
I implemented our government’s emergency
response plans.
00:20:32.495 --> 00:20:35.531
Our military is powerful and is prepared
00:20:36.897 --> 00:20:43.725
We will make no distinction between the terrorists
who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
00:20:46.157 --> 00:20:48.638
America and our friends and allies,
00:20:48.804 --> 00:20:52.225
join with all those who want peace
and security in the world
00:20:53.023 --> 00:20:56.506
and we stand together to win
the war against terrorism.
00:20:58.483 --> 00:21:01.178
This is a day when all Americans
from every walk of life
00:21:01.209 --> 00:21:04.107
unite in our resolve for justice and peace.
00:21:06.515 --> 00:21:08.721
None of us will ever forget this day
00:21:09.157 --> 00:21:16.285
yet we go forward to defend freedom
and all that is good and just in our world.
00:21:16.982 --> 00:21:21.390
Thank you. Good night and
God bless America.\"
00:21:29.954 --> 00:21:34.354
A few days later, the school
organizes an American pride day.
00:21:34.479 --> 00:21:39.979
And asks that all students come dressed
in the colors of the United States flag.
00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:46.480
It hasn’t even been a whole
month since you arrived,
00:21:46.781 --> 00:21:52.481
but you dress yourself in red and blue
and pose for this picture.
00:21:58.194 --> 00:22:00.694
October 7, 2001
00:22:01.194 --> 00:22:04.994
From: fe_az@hotmail.com
00:22:05.018 --> 00:22:08.118
To: jujuca@zipmail.com
00:22:08.790 --> 00:22:12.390
SUBJECT: It\'s me again!
00:22:14.132 --> 00:22:17.332
\"Hi Ju, did you receive
my birthday card?\"
00:22:17.356 --> 00:22:22.156
\"I sent it late because I
couldn’t go online on the 27th.\"
00:22:22.601 --> 00:22:26.801
\"Well, today is Sunday and
the US bombed Afghanistan..\"
00:22:26.927 --> 00:22:31.427
\"Man, what the fuck. Now there’s going to be a huge war,
I don’t even know what to expect!\"
00:22:31.770 --> 00:22:34.670
\"Well honey, gotta go. Write me, ok?\"
00:22:34.694 --> 00:22:36.694
\"XOXO, Fe.\"
00:23:29.726 --> 00:23:32.626
I am Janette Astrin.
00:23:32.650 --> 00:23:35.450
I was the host mother of
one of your friends
00:23:35.474 --> 00:23:40.674
when she was living with us,
from Germany, and you would come over,
00:23:40.698 --> 00:23:46.698
and delight my house, and it was so cool to have
you around and the girls and with my daughter.
00:23:46.722 --> 00:23:48.722
So that\'s how we met.
00:23:50.446 --> 00:23:54.746
I remember one time when Kathy
was here. She mentioned...
00:23:54.770 --> 00:23:56.370
This is so funny...
00:23:56.394 --> 00:23:58.394
I was taking the garbage.
00:23:58.418 --> 00:24:00.818
And we had to take it down to a dumpster.
00:24:00.842 --> 00:24:03.742
We drove our garbage down there
and she goes:
00:24:03.766 --> 00:24:08.466
\"Are you kidding me? You don\'t even walk
it down there?\" And I\'m like: \"No\".
00:24:08.490 --> 00:24:10.390
And you know, where we lived
00:24:10.414 --> 00:24:12.914
the high school was across the street.
00:24:12.938 --> 00:24:16.438
We drove Lacie to school and
picked her up,
00:24:16.462 --> 00:24:18.362
most times.
00:24:20.143 --> 00:24:23.033
Do you ever go hiking in the
mountains in Mesa?
00:24:23.073 --> 00:24:25.329
I\'m kind of a girly girl. I don\'t hike.
00:24:25.346 --> 00:24:29.456
My husband would love for me to,
that\'s why I tell him: \"call your guy friends.\"
00:24:29.503 --> 00:24:30.637
I don\'t do boots.
00:24:30.744 --> 00:24:32.884
You know. Unless they have heels.
00:24:32.977 --> 00:24:35.679
But no, I don\'t hike. I don\'t enjoy that.
00:24:35.812 --> 00:24:42.036
My hiking is going to the mall and walking around.
That\'s kind of your typical American answer.
00:24:42.489 --> 00:24:43.856
Sad, but true.
00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:51.480
Around here in Mesa, we do go out
and enjoy listening to local bands,
00:24:51.504 --> 00:24:56.004
we like to eat...
Pam and I tend to enjoy
00:24:56.028 --> 00:25:01.628
cooking, and enjoy wine, staying here
at the house, doing home projects...
00:25:01.652 --> 00:25:04.052
I know that sounds rather boring.
00:25:04.076 --> 00:25:07.176
That would probably be it...
00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:12.200
As far as shopping goes, like I said...
shopping is kind of limited.
00:25:12.224 --> 00:25:16.324
Just depends on what I\'m looking for, but...
00:25:16.348 --> 00:25:23.048
There really isn\'t. Other than that,
I don\'t have really a favorite place...
00:25:23.072 --> 00:25:25.072
We don\'t go out that much!
00:25:25.096 --> 00:25:29.796
We\'re boring!
We\'re really boring!
00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:38.839
And how was it growing up in Mesa?
00:25:39.564 --> 00:25:40.684
Hot.
00:25:41.712 --> 00:25:44.273
No. I liked growing up here.
00:25:44.663 --> 00:25:50.663
Other than it being a bazillion degrees out,
that\'s really the only downside of living in Arizona.
00:25:51.945 --> 00:25:53.765
I like it here.
00:25:54.121 --> 00:25:58.946
Probably because I\'ve lived here my whole life.
I like it, I\'m used to it, it\'s comfortable.
00:25:58.971 --> 00:26:03.089
My friends, everybody that I grew up
with for the most part...
00:26:03.113 --> 00:26:07.307
I only know a few people that have
actually left, even the state.
00:26:07.323 --> 00:26:10.002
Almost everybody still lives in Mesa.
00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:14.279
I feel like Mesa is overall a great
place to have a family.
00:26:14.829 --> 00:26:20.029
It\'s got a good balance to it,
which is hard to find.
00:26:20.354 --> 00:26:25.112
The balance between the crime, the schooling,
00:26:25.628 --> 00:26:32.046
and the amount of opportunities and
the growth around Mesa and other areas,
00:26:32.128 --> 00:26:35.273
that it does leave a lot of opportunities
for people to grow up here
00:26:35.296 --> 00:26:39.432
and contribute and build upon
what is already here.
00:26:39.436 --> 00:26:46.921
So it does leave a lot of room for a good future,
for a family to grow and live.
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.399
Did you always dream of having a family?
00:26:51.737 --> 00:26:55.900
You know, I knew from day one
I knew I always wanted a family.
00:26:55.923 --> 00:26:59.093
I knew I always wanted one child.
00:27:00.110 --> 00:27:01.930
Not three of them.
00:27:02.017 --> 00:27:08.397
But I did always know that I did want to get
married, and I did want to have a house.
00:27:08.620 --> 00:27:14.970
Have a stay-at-home wife where she takes care
of the kids and I was the main provider of all that.
00:27:15.995 --> 00:27:18.095
Really? So you want to have, like,
00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:21.927
a wife that stays at home, takes
care of the kids, and you go work.
00:27:21.953 --> 00:27:24.053
That\'s something that you still want.
00:27:24.481 --> 00:27:26.581
Yeah. I\'ve always wanted that.
00:27:27.038 --> 00:27:32.006
And, as of right now,
it\'s pretty much what I have.
00:27:40.714 --> 00:27:42.534
How do I like Mesa?
00:27:44.388 --> 00:27:46.326
It\'s not my favorite place.
00:27:46.365 --> 00:27:50.032
Arizona...My wife and I have discussed
this numerous times.
00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.981
We\'ve both lived out here over 20 years.
00:27:53.180 --> 00:27:57.736
And well, Arizona, and particularly Mesa,
00:27:57.823 --> 00:28:03.301
it\'s a wonderful place to raise a family, but it\'s
never felt like home for either of us.
00:28:03.325 --> 00:28:06.825
It\'s always felt like a stopping
point. But yet we\'ve been here over 25 years.
00:28:06.890 --> 00:28:09.919
I\'ve made my career here,
and I\'m very happy here.
00:28:09.958 --> 00:28:13.958
There\'s been nothing wrong with it, but it\'s
also been something missing.
00:28:13.983 --> 00:28:19.324
There\'s an aspect of the desert that my
wife says is not tangible.
00:28:19.353 --> 00:28:24.318
Because it\'s so hard.
It\'s hard to be part of it.
00:29:21.076 --> 00:29:25.776
BRAZIL BRINGS US BARROS
00:29:27.776 --> 00:29:32.776
Barros really likes Arizona, but she misses
her house, her friends, and everything in Brazil.
00:29:34.076 --> 00:29:37.776
In the story that the school
newspaper wrote about you,
00:29:38.831 --> 00:29:44.531
you say your favorite activities in Mesa are
talking on the phone to your friends in Brazil
00:29:44.953 --> 00:29:47.253
and writing letters to them.
00:29:52.749 --> 00:29:57.149
I look at this newspaper and ask myself.
00:29:58.782 --> 00:30:04.382
Who is that smiling girl who
says she\'s addicted to shopping?
00:30:28.376 --> 00:30:32.576
You feel you\'re in a place different
from everything you\'ve ever known.
00:30:35.045 --> 00:30:38.445
But what you, or anyone else, don\'t yet know...
00:30:38.469 --> 00:30:42.469
is that you\'re in the most conservative
city in the United States.
00:30:47.859 --> 00:30:51.359
Two of the most renowned universities
in the country said that,
00:30:51.383 --> 00:30:53.383
but that would be much later.
00:31:04.681 --> 00:31:09.381
Perhaps this information alone won’t
help you much right now.
00:31:11.537 --> 00:31:13.937
But for me, it changed everything.
00:31:16.219 --> 00:31:18.419
Because of it, I...
00:31:19.272 --> 00:31:20.672
You...
00:31:21.452 --> 00:31:25.852
decide to go back there and
write this letter to yourself.
00:31:28.805 --> 00:31:33.605
Your first-hand experience of American conservatism
will be useful to you in the future.
00:31:33.832 --> 00:31:35.532
Unfortunately.
00:31:39.020 --> 00:31:43.420
I saw it in an online article saying
00:31:43.444 --> 00:31:46.744
that Mesa was one of the most
conservative cities.
00:31:46.768 --> 00:31:49.468
I\'m surprised you saw that too.
00:31:50.392 --> 00:31:54.792
So is that what it says?
Mesa is the most conservative city...
00:31:54.816 --> 00:31:56.816
It really is.
00:31:58.540 --> 00:32:02.040
I guess that kinda means a good thing?
You know?
00:32:02.664 --> 00:32:07.264
Good for Mesa, I guess.
Yes, that\'s good for our reputation.
00:32:09.788 --> 00:32:11.788
Can\'t be the number one in education,
00:32:11.812 --> 00:32:15.912
at least we can go ahead and be
number one in being backwards.
00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:26.258
To be conservative is more kind of...
00:32:26.734 --> 00:32:31.686
just even kill, you don\'t
strongly believe...
00:32:32.205 --> 00:32:36.463
in a lot of things. I mean, you\'re not radical
about any one thing, you\'re more...
00:32:37.228 --> 00:32:38.799
I mean, you can see both sides.
00:32:38.824 --> 00:32:42.013
You can go either way, you have an open mind.
00:32:42.037 --> 00:32:43.626
It\'s what I think conservative is.
00:32:43.642 --> 00:32:45.925
It\'s more open-mindedness about...
00:32:46.391 --> 00:32:49.724
You can say \"Oh, I can see how you
could feel this way\"
00:32:49.922 --> 00:32:52.935
Or if somebody disagrees:
\"I can see your point of view\"
00:32:52.974 --> 00:32:56.736
But being conservative is meaning
you have an open mind:
00:32:56.741 --> 00:33:00.700
\"Yeah, maybe that is right\" or \"maybe
he\'s right or maybe she\'s right\"
00:33:00.728 --> 00:33:04.325
That\'s my thoughts on it.
00:33:04.349 --> 00:33:06.908
And do you consider yourself conservative?
00:33:07.989 --> 00:33:10.189
I\'m very open-minded, yes.
00:33:14.554 --> 00:33:18.222
Part of that, that we are maybe the
most conservative...
00:33:18.270 --> 00:33:23.870
Mesa is one of the largest cities in Arizona,
I think we\'re maybe the third or fourth,
00:33:23.937 --> 00:33:29.611
is there is a lot of Mormons and
LDS, \"Latter-day Saints\".
00:33:29.891 --> 00:33:37.001
When you say to somebody that you\'re from Mesa, they
automatically think that maybe...
00:33:37.060 --> 00:33:40.507
LDS, and I guess they\'re more conservative.
00:33:40.548 --> 00:33:44.895
It\'s the only thing I would know. I don\'t
really have much answer to that.
00:33:53.659 --> 00:33:58.159
Mesa is a very religious city
and you have many Mormon friends.
00:34:00.331 --> 00:34:04.231
Your first family attends a
Catholic church every Sunday,
00:34:04.255 --> 00:34:07.155
and that\'s the highlight
of the weekend for you.
00:34:13.091 --> 00:34:18.691
You pretend you took First Communion
so you can eat the host and drink wine at Mass.
00:34:22.183 --> 00:34:26.083
Church is the only place
where you can legally drink.
00:34:31.048 --> 00:34:36.048
And why did you decide to get baptized?
How did you get in contact with the Mormon church?
00:34:37.157 --> 00:34:41.733
A guy that I was seeing at the time was Mormon.
00:34:42.292 --> 00:34:48.255
I don\'t know, and a lot of my friends,
a lot of my really good friends are Mormons.
00:34:48.497 --> 00:34:51.286
I\'ve been around Mormons my entire life.
00:34:51.364 --> 00:34:54.827
It\'s Mesa, so it\'s just kind of there.
00:34:55.549 --> 00:35:00.985
And I\'ve always liked it. When growing up, I saw
how people were different if they were Mormon.
00:35:01.905 --> 00:35:05.649
Just little stuff, like I said,
it\'s moral and values.
00:35:05.658 --> 00:35:08.524
And I like that a lot.
00:35:08.676 --> 00:35:14.377
So it was my choice to kind of get
in contact with him just to get more information.
00:35:14.692 --> 00:35:20.056
I don\'t practice really.
I still drink occasionally.
00:35:20.782 --> 00:35:22.805
Not that I don\'t believe in it.
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:26.797
Just that there\'s a lot of things
that I do that they frown upon.
00:35:43.662 --> 00:35:48.929
Being a part of that religion, being a part
of something, means a little more to me.
00:35:48.995 --> 00:35:54.288
Because the main founder of the church,
LDS Church, is Joseph Smith.
00:35:54.390 --> 00:36:00.292
And I\'m actually 7th generation bloodline from him,
so I\'m a direct descendant of his.
00:36:00.334 --> 00:36:02.249
So it\'s kind cool knowing that...
00:36:02.299 --> 00:36:11.706
You still got deep roots that helped build cities.
The Mormons travelled around this country.
00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:15.999
They\'re really big on family,
00:36:16.232 --> 00:36:18.937
family backgrounds for helping
out one another.
00:36:18.944 --> 00:36:22.286
So for Mesa to carry on and be conservative...
00:36:22.443 --> 00:36:26.780
you can really say that they\'re trying
to take care of their fellow neighbor.
00:36:31.329 --> 00:36:32.863
So you\'re a Mormon?
00:36:32.908 --> 00:36:34.385
- Yes, I am.
- Oh, I didn\'t know.
00:36:34.411 --> 00:36:36.641
Yeah, I\'m LDS.
00:36:37.395 --> 00:36:40.577
You wouldn\'t have known having
fun with me back in the day.
00:36:45.009 --> 00:36:48.075
I want to show a picture that I found.
00:36:50.222 --> 00:36:52.932
You were riding around in my truck!
00:36:53.006 --> 00:36:55.807
- Oh my goodness!
- Do you know what we were going to do?
00:36:55.855 --> 00:37:00.622
I\'m gonna have to say...
Them red shades...
00:37:00.646 --> 00:37:05.078
We were going to the Lake?
Or party?
00:37:05.102 --> 00:37:07.475
Yeah, exactly we were going to the Salt Lake.
00:37:07.625 --> 00:37:08.792
The Salt River?
00:37:08.816 --> 00:37:10.816
Yeah, the Salt River.
00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:18.640
I was clean shaved there. I love it!
00:37:23.299 --> 00:37:26.399
I was surprised when I found this photo.
00:37:28.603 --> 00:37:33.203
It looks as if you two were really close friends,
but I know you weren\'t.
00:37:35.678 --> 00:37:40.478
I see you wanting a photo with the cowboy,
so you could show it to your friends back in Brazil.
00:38:27.054 --> 00:38:38.718
O say, that star-spangled banner
00:38:42.380 --> 00:38:50.095
O\'er the land of the free
00:38:51.030 --> 00:38:57.295
And the home of the...
00:38:57.832 --> 00:39:02.574
Brave
00:39:30.482 --> 00:39:33.998
E.J. was the first cowboy you met
00:39:34.389 --> 00:39:37.889
and his image will always
come back to your memory.
00:39:45.376 --> 00:39:47.876
You don’t like Western movies yet.
00:39:47.900 --> 00:39:51.600
So you don’t really understand anything
about the conquest of the American West.
00:39:56.022 --> 00:40:00.022
This is why I want to tell
you about Manifest Destiny.
00:40:05.929 --> 00:40:10.229
A 19th century founding myth which affirms
that the people from the United States
00:40:10.253 --> 00:40:15.053
were divinely ordained to settle
in the lands of North America,
00:40:15.092 --> 00:40:17.992
spreading democracy and capitalism.
00:41:28.740 --> 00:41:32.604
This is a shooting range
and that\'s what I like to do.
00:41:32.628 --> 00:41:34.679
A lot of people like to do, obviously,
you can hear.
00:41:34.679 --> 00:41:36.980
Just shooting on your days off.
00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:41.095
It\'s a stress reliever, this is
your first time shooting, but...
00:41:41.095 --> 00:41:43.224
it gets the blood going.
00:41:49.492 --> 00:41:50.992
Look.
00:41:51.016 --> 00:41:53.416
How much rounds did you put in?
00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:57.440
You shot a whole .40
and two .9.
00:41:57.977 --> 00:42:01.776
I always take it. My gun is
with me at all times.
00:42:01.794 --> 00:42:03.473
Sleep, bed, everywhere.
00:42:03.724 --> 00:42:05.511
- Really?
- Oh yeah.
00:42:05.793 --> 00:42:08.523
Like I said, he was my friend and
that\'s the reason he got killed.
00:42:08.558 --> 00:42:12.565
He got a home invasion. That
happens all the time.
00:42:13.135 --> 00:42:17.235
Shootings happen all the time,
some shootings over nothing.
00:42:17.803 --> 00:42:21.000
Yeah, I always take it.
Always, always.
00:42:21.041 --> 00:42:23.457
It\'s funny because my
momma used to ask me,
00:42:23.496 --> 00:42:25.561
so I would just go to the gas station:
00:42:25.580 --> 00:42:28.589
\"Why are you taking your gun? You don\'t
need your gun, you\'re just going to get gas\"
00:42:28.673 --> 00:42:31.099
And I\'d go \"that\'s when something happens\".
00:42:31.271 --> 00:42:37.359
It\'s better... what\'s the old saying?
It\'s better to have it and not need it.
00:42:37.454 --> 00:42:39.554
Than need it and not have it.
00:42:40.737 --> 00:42:44.237
But I love it. Like I said I love
having my guns, I love the option of it.
00:42:44.309 --> 00:42:47.809
Obviously you need to be safe about it.
It is a gun.
00:42:48.309 --> 00:42:52.543
I\'ve had two guns go off in my lifetime, unexpected.
00:42:53.315 --> 00:42:57.203
And you know, God forbid.
00:42:57.239 --> 00:42:58.629
- I had a friend...
- How was that?
00:42:58.761 --> 00:43:01.281
One of them was my rifle.
00:43:01.339 --> 00:43:05.123
Someone must have been touching it,
because I never have bullets in my gun.
00:43:05.148 --> 00:43:06.968
I just went to pick it up.
00:43:07.192 --> 00:43:10.592
And I just had my hand on the trigger
and BAM. It went off.
00:43:10.618 --> 00:43:15.380
I was in my bedroom.
So yeah, that was pretty crazy.
00:43:15.531 --> 00:43:20.183
And the second time was just the same thing.
I think we went shooting...
00:43:20.348 --> 00:43:22.772
and someone didn\'t clear the gun correct.
00:43:22.939 --> 00:43:24.658
And that\'s how one of my cousins got shot.
00:43:24.687 --> 00:43:28.474
Ironically. They went shooting and
they didn\'t clear the gun.
00:43:28.561 --> 00:43:30.273
And she was in the passenger seat.
00:43:30.335 --> 00:43:34.927
And my cousin just went to go pull the case
and it wasn\'t a hard case, it was vinyl.
00:43:35.029 --> 00:43:39.915
And he pulled the case, the gun was in the case,
and he pulled the trigger by accident
00:43:39.940 --> 00:43:41.397
and he shot his sister.
00:43:41.553 --> 00:43:44.833
And she got shot.
00:43:44.907 --> 00:43:50.967
But yeah, accidents happen and
you need to be safe and smart.
00:43:51.067 --> 00:43:54.467
But I don\'t think they should
be taken away altogether.
00:43:56.232 --> 00:43:59.426
I think it\'s very important.
I love living in Arizona.
00:43:59.426 --> 00:44:02.259
Because there are a lot of states
that are real strict on gun control.
00:44:02.596 --> 00:44:09.162
And still to this day... the \"wild west\".
We\'ll fight for what we need to fight for.
00:44:34.092 --> 00:44:40.392
Instead of Disney, the entertainment in Mesa
were thematic Wild West amusement parks.
00:44:46.404 --> 00:44:52.204
Some are actually ghost towns, which
flourished back in the mining days.
00:44:55.522 --> 00:44:59.122
Others are entirely fake,
but “historically faithful”
00:44:59.146 --> 00:45:01.746
As their creators like to emphasize.
00:45:08.174 --> 00:45:11.474
An electric chair in the sheriff\'s station,
00:45:15.646 --> 00:45:18.746
the cannon used in the
film \"Wild Wild West.\"
00:45:22.309 --> 00:45:25.809
An ATM machine camouflaged
in dusty tones.
00:45:28.349 --> 00:45:32.049
A tavern where you can eat pizza.
00:45:51.623 --> 00:45:57.023
I\'m still fascinated by this ability to
transform everything in reproduction.
00:45:59.458 --> 00:46:00.958
History.
00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:03.299
Everyday life.
00:46:04.237 --> 00:46:05.637
Trauma.
00:46:06.324 --> 00:46:07.524
Guilt.
00:46:26.678 --> 00:46:29.737
A lot of people are scared
of the fact that...
00:46:29.763 --> 00:46:33.263
What I call the Chicano element,
the Mexican-American element,
00:46:33.285 --> 00:46:36.385
is growing and will continue to grow,
00:46:36.450 --> 00:46:41.870
whether Donald goes ahead and builds the best,
the very best, expensive, most famous wall.
00:46:41.921 --> 00:46:46.121
He\'s gonna make it bigger than the
Great Wall of China, according to him.
00:46:46.490 --> 00:46:49.590
People are going to find a way to come over.
00:46:49.599 --> 00:46:54.264
It has been happening forever. Since
the Spanish controlled Mexico.
00:46:54.273 --> 00:46:56.435
It just happens.
00:46:58.685 --> 00:47:03.755
My name is Miguel Eduardo Provencio Villa
Verde de Casillas.
00:47:03.795 --> 00:47:09.913
I got to know Fernanda because she was at
the same school where I taught at the time.
00:47:09.938 --> 00:47:17.938
And I got to know her in the classroom of a former
student-teacher of mine, her teacher, Mr. Boatman.
00:47:17.967 --> 00:47:21.867
And I asked her last name, or her first name.
I can\'t remember.
00:47:21.876 --> 00:47:24.176
And I asked \"is it Brazilian?\"
00:47:24.235 --> 00:47:27.035
And you said yes, and I said:
00:47:27.116 --> 00:47:29.155
\"How are you today?\"
00:47:29.210 --> 00:47:33.381
And we just started talking
in Portuguese.
00:47:33.440 --> 00:47:36.740
And he\'s looking at me all strange, like:
00:47:37.863 --> 00:47:39.470
\"You know Portuguese?\"
00:47:39.523 --> 00:47:44.670
And I felt like telling him \"Yes, you don\'t?
Everybody should know Portuguese!
00:47:44.723 --> 00:47:46.543
...Or another language\"
00:47:46.824 --> 00:47:50.124
But I can\'t believe that was
15 years ago.
00:47:50.198 --> 00:47:52.024
My goodness gracious.
00:48:08.793 --> 00:48:11.577
It\'s weird, because I have a
couple of different versions.
00:48:11.620 --> 00:48:15.120
Obviously I got what I was taught in school
and then I got my grandparents\' version.
00:48:15.180 --> 00:48:18.493
And how they went through all the racism,
because they did when they came here.
00:48:18.531 --> 00:48:20.753
My grandparents were born in the 1920s.
00:48:20.801 --> 00:48:25.939
So when they came up, it was in the
1940s, 50s, 60s, it was real bad.
00:48:25.989 --> 00:48:27.177
As far as racism.
00:48:27.439 --> 00:48:36.550
So I got like a legit story. This was
Mexico\'s and the Indians\' land. And it got took.
00:48:36.705 --> 00:48:40.205
Like I said, I didn\'t do good
in my younger years.
00:48:40.399 --> 00:48:44.799
That\'s where most of the drugs come from.
To be honest with you.
00:48:45.223 --> 00:48:49.523
Other than marijuana, which is legal now,
it\'s being grown in the U.S.
00:48:49.598 --> 00:48:56.323
Other than that, that\'s where you get everything.
Straight from Mexico. Coke, meth, pills.
00:48:57.529 --> 00:49:00.258
Anything you want.
00:49:00.290 --> 00:49:06.641
And all the connections I\'ve had for all
that stuff, it\'s all been through Mexican.
00:49:06.647 --> 00:49:08.215
And that\'s sad to say, because I\'m Mexican.
00:49:08.245 --> 00:49:11.045
I have lots of friends that are Mexican.
00:49:11.077 --> 00:49:13.377
My daughter is half-Mexican.
00:49:15.930 --> 00:49:18.530
It\'s just part of the culture around here.
00:49:19.035 --> 00:49:25.108
I think what\'s frustrating is
some people expect...
00:49:25.327 --> 00:49:29.243
They get very disappointed, I guess, that we
don\'t have stuff in Spanish for them.
00:49:29.275 --> 00:49:33.316
I think we accommodate to it too much.
00:49:33.505 --> 00:49:36.833
Like there\'s certain parts of town where
you can\'t... I can\'t even go shopping...
00:49:36.864 --> 00:49:38.964
because everything\'s in Spanish.
00:49:39.041 --> 00:49:40.829
Like, I don\'t know what this is.
00:49:40.853 --> 00:49:44.453
Cowboy comes from the
Spanish word \"Vaquero\".
00:49:44.877 --> 00:49:49.877
And the first cows were brought
over by the Spaniards.
00:49:50.001 --> 00:49:55.101
When they had one of a fleet
went down in a storm.
00:49:55.125 --> 00:50:01.825
Some of the livestock they brought,
including cattle, wound up in Texas.
00:50:01.849 --> 00:50:05.949
And from there, if you\'ve ever
heard of longhorn steers.
00:50:05.973 --> 00:50:07.973
That\'s where it comes from.
00:50:07.997 --> 00:50:12.948
With longhorn steers, you needed
people to rope them.
00:50:12.972 --> 00:50:16.872
And hence \"vaqueros\" came about.
00:50:16.896 --> 00:50:19.596
That\'s pretty much it.
00:50:19.620 --> 00:50:23.920
So every time I see a rodeo, I\'m thinking:
\"that\'s Hispanic\".
00:50:23.944 --> 00:50:30.944
It\'s very simple. You guys didn\'t invent it.
We was first.
00:50:38.649 --> 00:50:41.048
I don\'t know why we need to be
helping out other countries.
00:50:41.080 --> 00:50:45.171
Nobody else really does this stuff. You don\'t
hear about France, or Brazil
00:50:45.192 --> 00:50:48.883
going and bailing out and giving
billions of dollars away.
00:50:48.911 --> 00:50:50.969
We\'re already in debt.
00:50:51.290 --> 00:50:53.037
I mean, that\'s nice.
00:50:53.092 --> 00:50:57.824
But we don\'t have the money to
go and help these people.
00:50:58.085 --> 00:51:01.597
Can\'t we move them to another country?
00:51:01.667 --> 00:51:04.067
Do they have to come here?
00:51:04.141 --> 00:51:06.661
And we\'re gonna give them housing?
00:51:06.828 --> 00:51:08.762
I want a free house.
00:51:08.971 --> 00:51:10.424
Why do they get a free house?
00:51:10.459 --> 00:51:16.817
They weren\'t even born here. They don\'t
pay taxes. That\'s not really fair.
00:51:16.989 --> 00:51:18.651
I want a free house.
00:51:24.803 --> 00:51:30.603
You met Kristen during the all-women
interior design classes.
00:51:34.146 --> 00:51:39.446
I liked her straight away because she was bawdy,
and seemed she didn’t quite fit in there.
00:51:43.078 --> 00:51:45.978
She was like your American mirror.
00:51:54.042 --> 00:51:57.542
I see in her a life that
could have been ours.
00:51:58.003 --> 00:51:59.803
but wasn’t.
00:52:31.133 --> 00:52:33.233
I like Trump because he\'s
00:52:33.488 --> 00:52:38.211
made a lot of statements about what
he is going to do when he becomes president.
00:52:38.233 --> 00:52:43.089
As far as the illegals here,
and Arizona specifically.
00:52:43.253 --> 00:52:48.848
We have a real bad problem with people
trying to come across the border from Mexico
00:52:48.875 --> 00:52:51.679
and there you have the drug cartel.
00:52:51.748 --> 00:52:57.350
It gets a lot into our system,
to our schools, to our children.
00:52:57.386 --> 00:52:59.409
And it\'s just sickening.
00:52:59.696 --> 00:53:01.305
But how do you stop it?
00:53:01.444 --> 00:53:06.861
On the other hand, those are the people
that come in here and they will do the jobs
00:53:06.901 --> 00:53:09.481
that the Americans will not do.
00:53:09.543 --> 00:53:11.487
They think \"I\'m not gonna do that\".
00:53:11.538 --> 00:53:13.238
Landscaping or...
00:53:13.276 --> 00:53:19.156
Even our waterfall we had put in,
they were all Spanish-speaking people.
00:53:19.233 --> 00:53:22.733
And they do a beautiful job.
00:53:23.274 --> 00:53:28.308
And they don\'t cost as much. They will do the job,
like I said, that Americans will not.
00:53:50.170 --> 00:53:54.470
In this place, you perceive yourself
as Latina for the first time.
00:53:58.408 --> 00:54:04.108
In Brazil, you enjoyed your white and
class privileges without questioning yourself.
00:54:05.202 --> 00:54:07.402
But it\'s different here.
00:54:10.651 --> 00:54:13.851
On top of the veiled comments,
which you constantly hear,
00:54:13.875 --> 00:54:16.575
one specific episode marks you.
00:54:19.211 --> 00:54:22.817
You receive an anonymous phone
call in which a young male voice
00:54:22.841 --> 00:54:27.441
says you are an “illegal alien”
and tells you to go back to Mexico.
00:54:30.739 --> 00:54:35.939
You suspect of a boy from school, but you
feel so ashamed for having even received this call,
00:54:35.964 --> 00:54:38.264
that you decide not to investigate further.
00:54:42.293 --> 00:54:46.093
I want to let you know that alien
is not really an insult,
00:54:46.117 --> 00:54:51.417
but rather an official term used by
the government for immigrants.
00:55:24.722 --> 00:55:32.696
\"Alien\", I think a lot of it
is just because people don\'t want...
00:55:32.793 --> 00:55:35.831
Again... they just don\'t want to learn.
They\'re not accepting.
00:55:35.931 --> 00:55:37.994
You know: \"You look different than us.\"
00:55:38.017 --> 00:55:43.562
Or if I can shout louder than you,
that makes me more American.
00:55:47.521 --> 00:55:49.621
I know, right? That\'s mean.
00:55:49.702 --> 00:55:55.206
No, I don\'t know. I guess it\'s
because they\'re not part of America.
00:55:55.242 --> 00:55:57.339
They\'re from another country.
00:55:57.348 --> 00:56:02.120
No. I do not know the answer
why we do that.
00:56:14.339 --> 00:56:19.336
I know to you it sounds like from outer space,
when they say \"alien\"
00:56:19.381 --> 00:56:22.362
I think it\'s a technical term...
00:56:22.786 --> 00:56:30.186
I know it\'s been considered somewhat
politically incorrect to say \"alien\".
00:56:30.210 --> 00:56:40.310
I\'m not even sure what the politically
correct... reference is.
00:56:41.434 --> 00:56:49.534
We\'ve heard \"illegal alien\",
\"illegal resident\"...
00:56:49.558 --> 00:56:52.758
It\'s a term that\'s been around.
00:56:52.834 --> 00:56:57.385
For many decades. I don\'t think it\'s a new term.
I\'m not sure where it originated.
00:56:57.390 --> 00:57:02.180
I think it\'s just technical, alien
meaning they\'re not of here.
00:57:02.257 --> 00:57:03.256
They\'re foreign.
00:57:03.297 --> 00:57:08.809
So they\'re an alien, coming to our land,
our country.
00:57:09.021 --> 00:57:13.371
Everything has gone so
politically correct. \"PC\".
00:57:13.433 --> 00:57:15.633
That it\'s just really...
00:57:20.498 --> 00:57:25.797
I don\'t understand... they can\'t
call it like it is.
00:57:25.896 --> 00:57:30.698
They just want to soften it.
But it\'s still the same thing.
00:57:42.053 --> 00:57:47.453
Things don’t work out with your first family,
and you blame yourself for a while.
00:57:50.258 --> 00:57:54.658
After six months living
with them, one day you lie.
00:57:57.744 --> 00:58:02.244
You say you’re going over to friend\'s house,
but you actually head over to a party.
00:58:04.439 --> 00:58:11.339
They find out, call the police, and claim you\'re
a fugitive trying to stay illegally in the country.
00:58:15.827 --> 00:58:21.827
The entire Mesa police looks for you, until
a police car takes you back to their house.
00:58:25.511 --> 00:58:30.311
The condition imposed by the student exchange
agency to prevent you from being deported
00:58:30.640 --> 00:58:35.040
is to have you on probation
for the rest of your stay.
00:58:42.868 --> 00:58:46.268
Seeing your 15-year-old
handwriting impresses me.
00:58:48.807 --> 00:58:53.807
I can’t remember having signed
this document nor its content.
00:58:54.893 --> 00:58:58.593
But your signature is
proof that this happened.
00:59:04.781 --> 00:59:09.281
Not long after, you have to
spend Christmas with this same family.
00:59:12.062 --> 00:59:16.362
It\'s a horrible experience and all
you want is your real family.
00:59:19.714 --> 00:59:21.614
Yet,
00:59:22.028 --> 00:59:24.028
when looking at this photo,...
00:59:25.349 --> 00:59:27.749
it seems like you\'re happy.
00:59:30.257 --> 00:59:34.357
You seem cheerful on almost
every picture taken there.
00:59:34.381 --> 00:59:36.881
You smile so wide your eyes close.
00:59:40.060 --> 00:59:42.360
You think you can fool me.
01:00:02.026 --> 01:00:05.326
When you move into
Vic and Pam\'s house,
01:00:05.576 --> 01:00:10.576
the exchange agency forces Vic to store
his collection of over 30 guns
01:00:10.600 --> 01:00:13.400
outside the house, in a storehouse.
01:00:17.079 --> 01:00:20.579
His weapons closet becomes your new wardrobe.
01:00:25.197 --> 01:00:28.597
I realize now that this measure
was not for your own safety,
01:00:28.621 --> 01:00:33.021
but to prevent a foreigner
from having access to weapons.
01:00:36.809 --> 01:00:38.809
You are the danger.
01:00:45.543 --> 01:00:49.343
Now, you\'ll finally appease
your teenage curiosity...
01:00:49.367 --> 01:00:52.067
and see Vic\'s famous weapons.
01:00:53.465 --> 01:00:59.877
Well, what I did was I tried to
bring out a variety of firearms.
01:00:59.885 --> 01:01:04.249
This would be kind of typical
types of gun.
01:01:04.281 --> 01:01:07.905
There\'s thousand of different
types of guns out there.
01:01:07.925 --> 01:01:11.942
But just to give a variety of
what a lot of Americans might have.
01:01:12.024 --> 01:01:17.666
America has the number 1 gun ownership
in the world.
01:01:18.717 --> 01:01:25.651
And per capita basis, out of every 100 citizens
in America, there\'s 112 guns out there.
01:01:25.722 --> 01:01:30.521
So there\'s more guns per capita
than citizens.
01:01:32.820 --> 01:01:36.273
This is what we call an AR style, an AR-15.
01:01:36.329 --> 01:01:41.605
Again, it\'s very popular here in America.
01:01:41.649 --> 01:01:43.469
It\'s a semi-automatic.
01:01:43.522 --> 01:01:50.270
It has a magazine that you
put here to feed, this one\'s a 223.
01:01:52.941 --> 01:01:57.841
Some people call them assault rifles.
It\'s just a rifle, a semi-automatic.
01:01:58.302 --> 01:02:02.339
It\'s very popular for a number of reasons.
01:02:02.368 --> 01:02:07.485
A lot of people just buy them for home protection.
01:02:07.640 --> 01:02:12.122
It is adequate for home protection, for people
that want something for self-defense.
01:02:12.205 --> 01:02:16.875
But also it\'s very popular, they do
competitive shooting with them.
01:02:16.876 --> 01:02:21.247
Also, it\'s very popular with women.
Because it\'s so light.
01:02:21.335 --> 01:02:29.187
It\'s not... You don\'t feel the recoil
that you would from larger firearms.
01:02:42.903 --> 01:02:46.303
There was one day that it was
optional to go to school.
01:02:46.335 --> 01:02:50.535
And it was the two year commemoration
of the Columbine shooting.
01:02:50.559 --> 01:02:52.259
Do you remember this?
01:02:52.283 --> 01:02:57.283
I think that they...
I don\'t remember.
01:02:57.307 --> 01:03:00.507
I guess they had kind of a scare.
01:03:02.031 --> 01:03:06.831
For a while, because a lot
of people felt that...
01:03:07.155 --> 01:03:09.955
maybe some of the schools were targeted.
01:03:09.979 --> 01:03:15.079
No, I think that they found a note
in that at school. If I recall.
01:03:15.103 --> 01:03:20.703
And they passed on to the parents,
they made it optional.
01:03:20.727 --> 01:03:24.827
It seems to me that there was...
01:03:24.851 --> 01:03:30.951
random threats around the country...
01:03:33.275 --> 01:03:38.775
of other people trying to
mimic what had happened.
01:03:38.799 --> 01:03:41.399
That\'s the only thing I can remember.
01:03:48.009 --> 01:03:51.009
Good morning, Skyline!
It\'s Friday.
01:03:51.033 --> 01:03:54.433
Approach for the morning announcements.
01:03:54.457 --> 01:04:00.857
Good morning, students.
01:04:01.481 --> 01:04:06.581
I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America
01:04:06.605 --> 01:04:09.405
and to the Republic which it stands.
01:04:09.421 --> 01:04:15.021
One nation, under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
01:06:43.373 --> 01:06:45.673
In the year you were born,
01:06:45.697 --> 01:06:50.397
the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard
wrote a book called “America”.
01:06:50.421 --> 01:06:58.021
He tried to understand the North American spirit
through a trip across the West of the USA.
01:06:59.607 --> 01:07:01.107
According to him,
01:07:01.420 --> 01:07:04.120
American culture is an heiress of the desert.
01:07:09.848 --> 01:07:13.248
I was there 15 and 30 years later.
01:07:13.272 --> 01:07:16.572
and Baudrillard\'s words
still resonate with me.
01:07:21.493 --> 01:07:25.993
If we return after another 15 years,
when we\'re 45 years old.
01:07:26.017 --> 01:07:28.417
What will we find?
01:07:30.571 --> 01:07:32.571
The same images?
01:07:33.235 --> 01:07:35.635
The same sand-colored houses?
01:07:37.580 --> 01:07:40.680
The same people in somebody else’s skin?
01:07:43.220 --> 01:07:48.520
In 1986, Ronald Reagan was
President of the United States,
01:07:49.536 --> 01:07:53.336
In 2001, George W. Bush.
01:07:54.101 --> 01:07:59.401
and in 2016, two months after
concluding this footage,
01:08:00.308 --> 01:08:02.708
Donald Trump was elected.
01:08:25.599 --> 01:08:28.099
In the future, from
where I write to you,
01:08:28.182 --> 01:08:31.482
I do not bring good news.
01:08:33.560 --> 01:08:35.560
In Brazil,
01:08:35.584 --> 01:08:39.884
Our cultural colonialism
came to collect the bill.
01:09:23.630 --> 01:09:28.030
This is the only picture I found
where you\'re not smiling.
01:09:30.850 --> 01:09:35.150
I\'m struck by your confused
and frightened look.
01:09:36.166 --> 01:09:38.166
Where did you end up?
01:09:51.111 --> 01:09:55.311
What you don’t understand is that for them,
any small town in America...
01:09:55.335 --> 01:10:00.935
is closer to the center of the world than Sao Paulo
or any South American capital.
01:10:05.138 --> 01:10:08.338
That is why you can’t
understand where you are,
01:10:08.455 --> 01:10:12.555
and why they still don’t know
where I come from and who I am.
01:10:20.430 --> 01:10:25.230
When you live in a country,
you don’t just learn the language.
01:10:26.058 --> 01:10:28.058
So I ask myself:
01:10:28.808 --> 01:10:30.908
what did you learn over there?
01:10:33.353 --> 01:10:35.053
But also,
01:10:36.389 --> 01:10:39.389
did they learn anything from us?
01:11:06.914 --> 01:11:10.714
You went to Arizona because you
wanted to live in a movie.
01:11:12.127 --> 01:11:15.227
But it gave you something
much more powerful.
01:11:17.618 --> 01:11:19.718
You made your own film.
01:11:47.083 --> 01:11:53.083
ARID ZONE
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 76 minutes
Date: 2019
Genre: Expository
Language: Portuguese; English
Grade: High School, College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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