Role of Documentaries
Documentaries act as mirrors of truth in action. They show the activities and real-life scenarios of regular people, unmasking the rawness of everyday struggles and challenges. Most people live their lives unaware of what is happening around them.
Stories told in documentaries put faces to events, humanizing stories and evoking deep emotions in viewers. This movie shows how Mexicans are treated, especially by their employers (A Day Without a Mexican 00:03:56-00:04:01), who view them as cheap labor due to their immigration status as illegal immigrants. From a viewer’s perspective, such characterization enlightens the audience on the challenges faced by Mexicans living in America.
Definition of Corporation
Based on the film, a corporation is a private organization that employs people to provide labor that facilitates the production of goods and services. These corporations are primarily owned by employers who often seek cheap labor and end up hiring undocumented Mexicans since they rely on their services for a lower fee. For instance, McClaire and Sons is a lucrative farm in California that employs numerous Mexicans as crop harvesters and collectors.
Similarly, corporations help families hire domestic workers of their choice. When the senator dismisses the workers sent to his house, his wife explains that “if we use regular Mexicans, it’s going to cost a lot more” (A Day Without a Mexican 00:07:06-00:08:01). This shows the wife’s disregard for the labor and effort Mexicans provide.
Ethical Dilemmas
One ethical dilemma shown in the film is a law officer’s responsibility to report and discourage a colleague’s biased behavior. At the border patrol, one officer witnesses his colleague harassing a Mexican immigrant and fails to reprimand or report him to his superiors. He also lets one of the immigrants go. At the same time, he bundles the rest into a van (A Day Without a Mexican 00:35:18-00:36:08).
This shows a lack of ethical responsibility by the border patrol officer because his continued ignorance of his colleague’s behavior may lead to the loss of lives and ultimately endanger the lives of the people he has sworn to protect. The other ethical dilemma highlighted in the film is corporations’ dependence on Mexican labor, with disregard for better working conditions and minimum wage. Most corporations in the movie industry employ illegal immigrants because they can provide cheap labor under poor working conditions, as they are aware of their immigration status and can, therefore, not be held accountable for infringing on the rights of their employees.
Other Entities
Apart from corporations, government agencies pay people for their services. For instance, the film explains that 20% of K-12 teachers are Mexican (A Day Without a Mexican 00:43:50-00:44:52). Similarly, the Entertainment industry heavily influences labor distribution and the economy as a whole. At the beginning of the film, a Mexican reporter is in charge of directing the ‘The Buenos Diaz Report’ (A Day Without a Mexican 00:03:11-00:04:55).
Furthermore, one TV reporter is asked by her employer to use her Mexican accent to show the audience their support for Mexicans (A Day Without a Mexican 00:30:22-00:32:18). In this film, Mexicans provide labor for different entities, including private and public organizations. These organizations influence how labor is distributed by using illegal immigrants as cheap labor to avoid paying extra fees.
Work Cited
A Day without a Mexican. Directed by Sergio Arau, AltaVista Films, 2004.