The 1986 Harrison Ford film The Mosquito Coast is my personal
favorite film out of the movies we have watched so thus far. I really enjoyed
the themes explored in this film. Also, the film did not have a typical
structure that most films tend to follow. I could actually tell that the film
was based on a novel because it did not have the traditional plot structure
with a very obvious climax. The most interesting themes presented in this film
had to be the different forms of imperialism and the irony apparent in both
forms.
Theroux clearly wanted to draw
parallels between Allie Fox and Reverend Spellgood. The most obvious way that
he made the put the two on the same pedestal was the way that their followers
referred to them as “father.” This was a very interesting revelation once the
locals began to call Allie “father.” This signaled a change within Allie. He
has now become what he left America to avoid. The scene when the family and
locals first begin constriction on the utopian society reveals a lot about his
scheme. He states to the crew “I'm here to work for you. And if I'm not working
hard enough, you just tell me and I'll work harder.” This was a way that he
gained everyone’s favor. He has the kind of charisma that a politician or
dictator possesses. He tells the people what the want to hear in order to get
them to do what he wants them to do. The types of imperialism that he
represents are political imperialism and economic imperialism. He manipulates
how the people think and he seems to meet all of their needs. He is at
political odds with Reverend Spellgood and at first he delivers on his promise
of a better life for the natives of Jeronimo. His economic influence comes from
his monopoly of food and ice production. He is the only one who has the ability
produce the ice.
Reverend Spellgood, “the fire and
brimstone missionary,” (Pfeiffer 159) represents a different kind of
imperialism – religious imperialism. He entered the jungles of Central America
with the agenda of converting the natives to Christianity. His promise of
eternal salvation and amenities of the modern age convinced the natives as the
ice did for Allie. The scene where the Foxes disembark from their raft onto the
Spellgood camp is a perfect exhibition of this type of coercion. As the family approaches
the chapel they observe the natives thoughtlessly watching a large television with
a prerecorded sermon playing. The sermon features Spellgood talking to the
natives like little children. This is another commonality that Allie and
Spellgood share: they both view the natives as savages that can be easily
manipulated.
Yunuen Cacique-Borja,
ReplyDeleteI also really liked this movie, but I did not like Allie at all. While I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the twists I could not stand Allie. He reminded me of an evil genius (which he was) that could just not compromise. He was the sort of evil genius that saw himself as God and thoroughly thought that he was making you a favor by honoring you with his presence. Thus everything that he created burned down in flames because it was made for the wrong reasons. The movie did have good allegories with imperialism though. The Reverend also represented white supremacy. The reverend’s mission in Mosquita was to convert the savages into ethical and moral persons. But what is the definition of an ethical and moral person? Is there a universal definition that applies in all situations at all points in time? Can the morals of an African tribe be compared to the morals of a Native American tribe? What are morals and why do we seem to think that morals and clergy are somehow tied? All of these questions are constantly being disregarded when missionaries convert the “savages.” Instead we find ourselves implementing superiority based on race and religion.
Jonathan Lam
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that it is also my favorite film of all of the ones we have watched so far. Putting the two on a pedestal indeed represented the two forms of imperialism unveiled in the film. However, I feel that the Reverend was placed on a higher pedestal than Allie because the Reverend had God, an omnipresent being backing him up, in addition to an already established religious order in the communities. I think it is very interesting how you compare his charisma to that of a dictator or politician because, as you mentioned, the locals calling him father signaled a change within Allie into a dictator. Contrary to dictators though, Allie did not use physical force to maintain his ways but instead chose to use his mind and the potential of inventions that he could bring. He proved himself with building FatBoy for making ice, and once the local natives saw that he had achieved this, this instilled an almost prophetic belief that he could make miracles happen. Indeed, the ice brought in an economic imperialism, and essentially, he took power as a dictator, thus employing political imperialism. The Reverend does show religious imperialism but does not portray himself to be a dictator. However, he still won over the natives with his own charisma and modern conveniences too.