Group B responses and questions

Questions to answer for February 12th:

1. How is the film PM a study about textures?

The film PM is a study about textures because of the way it was filmed, through primitive means of production through the use of an old wire recorder, a 16mm hand camera costing only $500. By using this type of film, the spectator is really able to see what the film itself is made of through its physical sense, while also gaining an understanding of the of time period and place in which it was shot. The article says that it is a “moving mural,” in which the viewer is able to really see the techniques and materials used to make the work a piece of life-like art.

• Margo Friedland

2. How does the primitive form of production reflect Cuban life and place within modernity?

Because of the censorship set by the Film Insitute and the high-level of Government control in television, media production in Cuba was highly concentrated on the socialist subjects during the 1960s. Anything deemed to be anti-socialism was banned from showing to the public and only the ones approved by the officials were allowed to publish. The primitive form of production during this time period could be seen as the reflection of the primitive Cuban lifestyle- a lifestyle where the citizens were heavily controlled and oppressed by the Government.

- Qing Yu

3. How did censorship and extortion effect available media and reflect political agendas?

The Comision Revorsora was a censorship office that used to just eliminate clips showing images of soft core porn. However, after the Film Insitute took control of the Comision Revorsora, they banned any films they considered to be counter-revolutionary or politically dangerous. They had control over everything that had to do with films, from making pictures, to importing them, distributing them and exhibiting them. This monopoly power gave them the ability to pick and choose media that only reflected their political agendas and to censor everything that went against their beliefs.

• Halle Lucas

4. How did Castro exert power through television?

Castro’s use of television was similar to Hitler’s use of the PA systems during the 1930’s in Germany. Surprisingly enough, there were more televisions in Cuba in 1960 than there were in Italy, so Castro was able to reach a large audience through the TV. It was here that he could show his dominance and power, as well as express his own political agenda.

-Marilyn Head

5. How did  television and print agencies threaten Cuban ideals?

Television and print agencies threatened Cuban ideals because they had the ability to disseminate information quickly and easily to the masses domestic and abroad. A regime that wants to keep it’s dealings and, more specifically negative aspects a secret is wary of keeping media under close watch. In the article it give many examples of people being exiled for filming things that they shouldn’t have. One which stands out is Orlando Jimenez- Leal, who was caught recording footage of the Presidents shaky hands while giving a speech, something which in the regimes eyes showed weakness. This act caused him to leave Cuba.

-max

New Questions for February 24th:

1. What is “imperfect cinema” according to Julio Garcia Espinosa? How does he predict art creation and spectatorship will change in the future? -Halle Lucas
2. What are the three problems that Espinosa believes comes with producing cinema? Can these problems be overcome? How are these problems portrayed in Cuban cinema? - Margo Friedland
3. According to Espinosa, why is the revolution the most important factor in cultivating a national Cuban cinema as well as Cuban popular art in general? Why is the revolution itself an expression of culture? - Marilyn Head
4. According to Espinosa, who are the audience for “imperfect cinema”? Please elaborate your answer.  

Group A Responses and New Questions

What kind of effects on Cuban cinema and society did US aid have at the turn of the 20th century?

·      Havana’s population exploded to half a million

·      The first projection of cinema in this bustling, transforming Havana were scraped together affairs. Moving pictures were sometimes shown infront of “legitimate” theaters.

·      The Reciprocity Treaty in 1903, which dissolved Cuban trade and investment barriers, would eventually include significant reductions in duties and taxes charged to US film companies

How did the culture of Hollywood (in the 1920s) influence the way Cuban women dressed and behaved, and how did this Hollywood culture in Cuba help to sell US products?

·      Many Cuban women fought nature and exhausted bank accounts for sex appeal, glamour, and flapper like looks. Also thinness, lightened skin, blondness, up-to-date fashions and updated kitchen through U.S. imports.

·      U.S. products often relied on Hollywood salesman ship. Hollywood culture not only sold U.S. products but also inculcated ‘consumerist forms of social identity.’

What was the “Grupo Minorista”, what were their political views, and what was their goal/purpose?

·      A subsection of the Generation of ’30 colleagues. Its members were cultural critics and radical activists, leading the charge of mass organization and protest. Their policies called for the transformation of Cuban consciousness through the ‘revision of false and wasteful values.’

·      Endeavored to speak to and for the majority, forward a vision of an independent Cubanland

New Questions for "Mea Cuba," February 12th:
How is the film PM a study about textures
How does the primitive form of production reflect Cuban life and place within modernity?
How did censorship and extortion effect available media and reflect political agendas?
How did Castro exert power through television?
How did  television and print agencies threaten Cuban ideals?

Group D's Responses and New Questions for feb 5th readings

1. What was the Cuban government trying to accomplish by making tourism their main focus for the economy?

Interest in the Cuban tourism industry largely stemmed from a fluctuating sugar market that the island had very much relied on prior to the 1920s. Government officials and tourism promoters alike looked to facilitate a boom that would lead Cuba and its capital city of Havana towards becoming a kind of American Riviera or “Paris of the western hemisphere.” By bringing in wealthy tourists, including many Americans looking to avoid alcohol prohibition in the United States, Cuba had the potential to flourish economically - these tourists provided a flow of money to hotels, casinos, clubs, and other sites of attraction (eg, Hershey’s model town).

2. What are the similarities and differences between the tourism boom of the 1920's and of the 1950's?

“The rationale for tourism in the 1950s mirrored that of the 1920s: an alternative revenue source when sugar slumped at the close of the Korean War; foreign investment collaboration; collapse brought about by revolution and the loss of investors’ cash.”

The main difference can be found in the new demographics and the industry’s impact on Cuban society circa 1950. Thousands of middle/working class tourists would travel to Cuba on a regular basis using paid vacation time or package deals supplied by travel companies and airlines. Pan American Airways alone provided sixty to eighty round-trip flights a week from Miami to Havana at a reasonable fare. “Good times came in packages that looked more and more like the United States and less like an exotic foreign country. A mixed blessing for Cuba, 1950s tourism undeniably contributed to anti-Batista sentiment. Nevertheless, when revolutionaries chased Batista and the gangsters out, they tried to hold on to tourism.” Fidel Castro, even as he rallied against the US in the late 1950s, remained friendly towards travelers and believed that tourism could become Cuba’s largest business even after doing away with prostitution and gambling.

3.  What was the first philanthropic society and what were its goals?

Pro-Arte Musical was the first philanthropic society. It was created by Maria Teresa Garcia Montes de Gilberga in 1919, and it had “an openly nationalistic musical agenda.” The goal of the society was to promote Cuban music while also enhancing or elevating public taste.The society believe in conservative nationalist goals, and thought that the public should be listening to more “quality music.” The Pro-Arte Musical established a fund that helped bring about concerts featuring “notable foreign concert musicians” to Havana. The society also helped the formation of the first symphony in Cuba.

4. What are some of the complexities and ironies of afrocubanismo music and how did Ignacio Villa personify these? 

Afrocuban forms had the potential to serve as a barrier to national disintegration and the possibility of cultural subsumption by the United States. Although the music of afrocubanismo artists ultimately proved most effective in symbolizing Cubanness during the machadato, it was not the only form of nationalist composition. Pervasive biases against Afrocuban street culture among middle-class musicians problematized the acceptance even of salon rumbas, congas, and related musics as national expression. Many patriotic songs avoided racial references completely. Some works invoked the common struggles of the revolutionary war, the writings of Marti, or depicitions of the countryside in order to inspire nationalist sentiment. 

5.  In the context of musical expression, what was the essential conflict between nationalist aspirations and sociocultural attitudes in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century?  

Indigenous nationalism provided an alternative basis for constructing Cuban cultural heritage and offered an outlet for nationalist expression during a period of intense censorship by colonial authorities.  Patriotic sentiment could be expressed only through metaphor or indirect allusion. Reimagining the past and their relationship to it, advocates of musical indigenismo generated a considerable body of work inspired by historical figures.

NEW QUESTIONS:

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

What kind of effects on Cuban cinema and society did US aid have at the turn of the 20th century?

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

How did the culture of Hollywood (in the 1920s) influence the way Cuban women dressed and behaved, and how did this Hollywood culture in Cuba help to sell US products?

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

What was the “Grupo Minorista”, what were their political views, and what was their goal/purpose?”

Q for “Visual Arrangements, Sonic Impressions”:

What were some consequences that resulted from the sever between Cuba and the United States and how did music help alleviate tensions?

Questions for: Rosalie Schwartz, “The Invasion of the Tourists" and Robin Moore, “Nationalizing Blackness: The Vogue of Afrocubanismo,”

1. What was the Cuban government trying to accomplish by making tourism their main focus for the economy?
   
   
   
   2. What are the similarities and differences between the tourism boom of the 1920's and of the 1950's?
   
   
   3. What was the first philanthropic society and what were its goals?
   
   
   4. What are some of the complexities and ironies of afrocubanismo music and how did Ignacio Villa personify these? 
   
   
   5.  In the context of musical expression, what was the essential conflict between nationalist aspirations and sociocultural attitudes in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century?