Saturday, May 15, 2010

Questions on the Funding of Machete

Drudge is now posting on the Machete film we've been talking about since last Monday.  Drudge links to this article at InfoWars which asks:

Why does such a production warrant the support of the people of the State of Texas? Will people standby as as tax breaks and other valuable resources– such as shooting access at the State Capitol, which likely required closing it off from the public– are poured into the creation of divisive, reductive and ultimately offensive portrayal of Mexicans and Americans alike, whether white, black, brown or otherwise.

At issue is the fact that the film was filmed mostly in Austin, Texas and received tax incentives and location access from Governor Rick Perry's office as likely many other films produced in the state do.  There's a similar set up in Louisiana which has brought a booming film industry to Shreveport.  (Right now Nicholas Cage is filming a movie a couple of blocks from my house which makes getting to and from point A to point B a challenge).

Perry's office was contacted by Infowars for clarification on the funding question and has received conflicting information, the latest being "that Rodriguez has applied for Machete funding but has not yet received any funding from the commission because the film must be completed first."

There's no question that the film encourages a race war.  Go to YouTube and search for a Machete trailer and you can find one but they're constantly being pulled.

There are reports from those who have seen early screenings of the film that it is much more "racially inflammatory" that the trailer suggests.  The trailer shows machete wielding Hispanics ready to do battle as one of the female leads stands with arms aloft shouting "Viva La Raza!" and "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us!"

InfoWars has video clips here and links to the leaked script.  Disturbing as it all is, you can't buy much better press for a film than this, but the timing for such a film could hardly be worse.

I'll post the trailer again, but it may not work long:

1 comment:

Shelly Kauffman said...

Seriously, a race war? The right wing needs a hobby. It's supposed to be an exploitation film. Paying homage to the low budget, over-the-top films from the 70's. Even the marketing of the movie is set up to be this way.