English Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2009
Publication Source
Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture
Abstract
Alfonso Cuarón's Y Tu Mamá También was one of a series of hit movies from Mexico in the early years of the millennium. From the beginning, the movie generated shock and scandal for its representations of graphic sex, but more than that for its representation of queer desire between the emerging young stars Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal. As the two established their careers, they continued to answer questions about Julio and Tenoch, the two adolescent, urban cowboys they played in Y Tu Mamá También. The road movie as coming-of-age story on its own would not produce any disconcerting effects on any audience, but this film proves a scandal because of its representation of the love that binds Julio and Tenoch. From the beginning of the film their love is colored by eroticism and, by the end of the film, that eroticism becomes explicit. Cuarón reports in interviews that the final love scenes received mixed responses. For some spectators, the sight of the two boys kissing is to be celebrated, a response confirmed in a review in The Advocate. For yet others, the kiss activates homophobic revulsion.
Inclusive pages
149-162
ISBN/ISSN
0024-4414
Document Version
Published Version
Copyright
Copyright © 2009, Listening Inc.
Publisher
Duquesne University
Volume
44
Issue
3
Peer Reviewed
yes
eCommons Citation
Slade, Andrew, "Mixing Mourning and Desire: Alfonso Cuarón's 'Y Tu Mamá También'" (2009). English Faculty Publications. 37.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/eng_fac_pub/37
Comments
From Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture (subsequently renamed Listening: Journal of Communication Ethics, Religion and Culture). The document available for download is provided with the express permission of the publisher.
Permission documentation is on file.